Banana Muffins

By Samantha Seneviratne

Published September 26, 2024

  • Rachel Vanni for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Samantha Seneviratne.
Media 1 of 1
Total Time
40 minutes
Prep Time
5 minutes
Cook Time
35 minutes
Rating
5(1,436)
Comments
Read comments

The quintessential breakfast on-the-go, these banana muffins are tender, light and just sweet enough. A pinch of cinnamon is all they need but ½ cup of chopped walnuts, chocolate or even candied ginger wouldn’t hurt. Starting the oven at 425 degrees gives the muffins a boost right at the start. The water in the batter (from the bananas and sour cream) turns to steam quickly and the muffins puff up and create a nice dome. Lowering the heat to 350 degrees then allows them to cook through more gradually. Just don’t forget to turn the oven down right before you pop the muffins in.

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Ingredients

Yield:12 muffins

  • 2 large eggs

  • 1 ½ cups/375 grams mashed very ripe bananas (3 to 4 bananas)

  • 1 cup/210 grams light brown sugar

  • ½ cup/120 milliliters vegetable or canola oil

  • ¼ cup/60 milliliters sour cream

  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

  • 2 cups/256 grams all-purpose flour

  • 1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder

  • ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon

  • ¾ teaspoon salt

  • ½ teaspoon baking soda

Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving

41 grams carbs; 34 milligrams cholesterol; 278 calories; 6 grams monosaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 11 grams fat; 1 gram fiber; 219 milligrams sodium; 4 grams protein; 21 grams sugar

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat oven to 425 degrees. Line a standard 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.

  2. Step 2

    In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, bananas, sugar, oil, sour cream and vanilla until combined. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and baking soda.

  3. Step 3

    Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and fold the dry ingredients in by gently scooping the banana mixture from the bottom and folding it over the top. Rotate the bowl and repeat until just combined.

  4. Step 4

    Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups. Turn down the oven temperature to 350 degrees.

  5. Step 5

    Bake until the muffins are golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with moist crumbs attached, about 24 minutes. Store cooled muffins in an air-tight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

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Ratings

5 out of 5
1,436 user ratings
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Comments

Jill

Substitutions: Reduced light brown sugar to ~1/2 c; reduced oil to 1/3 c; substituted 2% Greek yogurt for sour cream; reduced flour to 1 c and added 1 c thick-cut rolled oats; added about 3/4 c toasted, chopped pecans halfway through folding the dry ingredients in. Preheated 400F convection and reduced heat to 350F convection after putting the tin in the oven. Also: sprayed muffin tin with canola oil spray bc - they released easily even with reduced oil. Not too sweet, very good

Ciru W.

These muffins rock! I used plain yogurt instead of sour cream because that’s what I had on hand. I was wary of the 1 cup of sugar to 4 ripe bananas. I had an inkling that would produce incredibly sweet muffins. I had very ripe, nearly black bananas so I decided to reduce the sugar by half, leaving all other measurements the same. And, OMG !! so YUMMY ! and not too sweet, which is my usual gripe with banana bread. I also added a couple of dashes of all spice and nutmeg. And, threw in some toasted walnuts. These muffins are beautifully tender and keep well. Couldn’t recommend more.

tlhb

I followed the recipe exactly and the muffins are delicious. While not too sweet, next time I will decrease the brown sugar to 1/2 to 3/4 cup if using four ripe bananas again and will increase the cinnamon to 1 tsp for measurement ease. This is much better option than trying to convert a banana bread recipe to muffins. A keeper.

Tai

I did this with an old-fashioned hand whisk and the muffins were fine. The batter, using 4 bananas, was more batter than could fit in a the standard 12 muffin baking tin, and some of my muffin tops turned out lopsided. Next, time, I'll bake in two batches. Taste-wise, these are delicious.

Mary

Made these this morning, using three medium sized bananas. Muffins didn’t turn out very sweet, and they lacked some flavor depth that I think might be attributed to recipe calling for oil instead of butter. They were on the dry side when I pulled them out at 40 minutes but as far as that critique goes, I think that blame is on me for not checking earlier. Solid muffin if you like hearty rather than bread in a muffin shape.

sticks to liners

i followed the recipe but my muffins stuck to the paper liners and won’t come off clean, breaking apart at the bottom. did anyone else have this issue? was i supposed to grease the paper liners?

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