These easy banana muffins are popular for a reason! They're simple, quick and easy to make, and taste absolutely delicious. Best of all, they're a one bowl recipe with no electric mixer needed.
The muffins use overripe bananas which make them moist and fluffy! Think almost like banana bread muffins. If you've got spare bananas lying around, just grab a bowl and get baking!

Ingredients in Banana Muffins
- Overripe bananas: the mushier, the better! They should be very easy to mash. Brown and spotty is perfect.
- Canola oil: or any other flavourless vegetable oil
- Eggs
- Brown sugar: this gives the banana muffins their lovely moist and rich flavour. You can substitute with white sugar, but note the muffins may be "cakier" and more dense.
- Vanilla: high-quality vanilla is best for the best flavour.
- Self-raising flour: make sure it is in date! Or use plain / all-purpose flour plus 2 teaspoons of baking flour.
- Ground cinnamon: make sure it hasn't expired.
- Ground mixed spice: CA/US can use pumpkin pie spice.
- Salt: cuts through the sweetness and brings out the flavour. Omit if necessary.
How to make Banana Muffins
Banana muffins are incredibly easy to make, requiring just one bowl to mix all the ingredients together. With ripe bananas, a handful of pantry staples, and a quick baking time, these moist and delicious treats are a simple and convenient choice for breakfast or a snack on the go.
There's just two main components:
- Mix together the wet ingredients: in a large bowl, mash the bananas. Stir in the canola oil, eggs, brown sugar and vanilla essence and stir together until well combined.
- Add the dry ingredients: sift over the flour, cinnamon, mixed spice and salt. Stir until just combined - this is important so your muffins aren't tough and chewy!
That's your muffin batter done. Distribute the batter between your muffin liners and bake until golden. You can test the muffins with a skewer to see if they are cooked through: poke a skewer through the centre of a muffin, when you remove it there should be only a few crumbs clinging to the skewer. If there's wet batter still, bake for longer.
Top Tips and Troubleshooting
Why are my muffins dense and chewy?
This is often caused by overmixing the batter. Make sure to mix the batter gently until just combined so your muffins stay moist and fluffy.
Why are my muffins flat?
This could be for a couple of different reasons:
- Overmixing the batter: if you overmix your batter, the gluten in the batter will overdevelop, making your muffin mix dense and chewy. It also means the batter won't be able to rise properly. Only mix the batter until all the ingredients have just come together.
- Expired self-raising flour: make sure your self-raising flour (or baking powder, if using) is in date.
Why are my muffins raw in the middle?
This means your muffins haven't been cooked long enough. A lot of factors can affect baking time like your oven temperature, altitude and type of baking tin. Always test your muffins with a skewer and ensure they are baked until just a few loose breadcrumbs cling to the skewer.
Variations
- Healthy banana muffins: substitute self-raising flour for wholemeal self-raising flour and reduce the sugar by ¼ cup.
- Blueberry banana muffins: add 1 cup of fresh or defrosted (and room temperature) to the batter and gently mix in. Bake as normal.
- Chocolate chip banana muffins: add 1 cup of chocolate chips OR chopped chocolate to the batter and gently mix in. Bake as normal. You can use any combination of white, milk or dark chocolate.
- Banana nut muffins: add 1 cup of chopped, unsalted nuts of choice to the batter and gently mix in. Bake as normal.
Easy Banana Muffins
These delicious easy banana muffins are soft, moist and full of flavour. These muffins have extra flavour with a hint of cinnamon. These require only one bowl and 15 minutes of preparation time! Try these for a freezer-friendly snack or lunchbox treat.
Ingredients
- 2 overripe bananas
- ¾ cup canola oil
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
- 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
- 1 ½ cups self-raising flour
- 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground mixed spice
- 1 pinch salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (355°F). Grease a 12-hole (⅓-cup-capacity) muffin pan or line with paper cases.
- In a large mixing bowl, mash the overripe bananas well. Add the canola oil, eggs, brown sugar and vanilla essence and stir together until well combined.
- Sift over flour, cinnamon, mixed spice and salt. Stir until just combined, being careful not to over-mix the batter.
- Spoon the batter into the muffin tins, filling each about ⅔ full. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until lightly golden and a skewer inserted comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
Storage
- You can keep the muffins un-refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
- To freeze the cooked muffins, allow to cool completely then place in zip-loc or airtight freezer bags. Keep for up to 6 months frozen. To thaw, allow to defrost at room temperature for 6 hours or overnight.
Substitutions & Tips
- Flour: you can substitute 1 ½ cups of self-raising flour with 1 ½ cups of plain flour combined with 3 teaspoon of baking powder.
- Oil: you can substitute canola oil for any type of vegetable oil. Note that if you're using a rich olive oil it may change the flavour of the cake.
- Some delicious additions include: 1 cup of fresh or frozen blueberries, 1 cup of chocolate chips, 1 cup chopped nuts, 1 cup of sultanas, or ½ cup of desiccated coconut.
Nutrition Information:
Serving Size: 1 MuffinAmount Per Serving: Calories: 278Total Fat: 15.2gSaturated Fat: 1.3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 30.8mgSodium: 18.4mgCarbohydrates: 34.1gFiber: 1.3gSugar: 20.4gProtein: 2.8g
Angela says
Muffins turned out lovely. Thank you for recipe a.
Chloe says
I'm so glad you enjoyed them Angela, thank you 🙂
Maxine says
I decided to try this recipe today and voila my muffins turned out to be so tasty I ddnt add spice and vanilla essence though cause I didn't have
Aubree M. says
I had some really overripe bananas this morning so i looked up a recipe and picked this one. Before i added the bananas i was worried it was too thick, but the consistency was perfect!! I turned the oven off and left them in a while longer but these were sooo good. My whole family loved them. Thanks!
Debbie says
Please specify what is in the “ground mixed spice”. Thanks