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These soft, moist, easy banana nut muffins are loaded with banana flavor and studded with walnuts for a little crunch. No need for a mixer – just use one bowl and stir everything together with a wooden spoon!

If you love baking with bananas as much as we do, you should also try my Best Banana Bread Recipe, and Coconut Lime Glazed Banana Bread!

banana walnut muffins in a baking pan and two out, one sliced in half

Easy banana nut muffins are perfect for breakfast or as an after-school snack! And they freeze well, which is perfect for busy mornings when you need something on-the-go!

Everybody needs a good way to use up bananas that end up getting overly ripe sitting on the counter. My girls go through phases where they are obsessed with bananas and can’t get enough of them and then suddenly they decide they don’t want anymore and I’m left with a bunch of bananas turning spotty before I know it.

When that happens and the bananas are past their prime, nobody in our house will go anywhere near them.

That’s when I either peel, slice, and freeze the bananas or bake up a batch of coconut lime glazed banana bread or these easy banana nut muffins. The frozen bananas can be used in recipes in the future and are perfect for smoothies, too.

3 stacked banana walnut muffins

This is my favorite basic banana bread recipe that I have been making for years. It uses lots of bananas for major banana flavor, which is great because when we have overly ripe bananas, it’s usually a bunch of them, not just one or two.

And since I’m a big fan of nuts in basically everything, I add some chopped walnuts and bake it in muffin pans instead of loaf pans for easy, single servings that I can throw in the freezer and reheat one or two for quick weekday breakfasts or after school snacks for my girls. They freeze really well for 2-3 months and are delicious with a glass of cold milk or some fresh fruit.

I love, love, love breaking warm banana nut muffins open and spreading a little strawberry jam on the inside before eating it for that delicious strawberry-banana combination.

a baking pan with walnut banana muffins and bananas off to the sides

How to Make Banana Nut Muffins

  1. Mash 3-4 ripe bananas in a large mixing bowl with a fork. Add the melted butter and stir them together with a wooden spoon.
  2. Stir in the sugar, egg, and vanilla, then sprinkle the baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt over the wet ingredients and stir to combine.
  3. Add the flour and nuts at the same time, and stir just until no streaks of flour remain.
  4. Divide the batter between 12 greased muffin cups and bake at 350 degrees F for 20 to 24 minutes until golden brown.
banana walnut muffins in front of a muffin tin

Tips for the Best Banana Nut Muffins

  • There is just a hint of cinnamon in these moist banana muffins, which really makes a difference and they have beautiful, golden brown muffin tops. You can sprinkle a few extra chopped walnuts on top of the muffins, if you want, and they get nicely toasted in the oven while the muffins are baking.
  • Don’t get too hung up on the number of bananas. If you only have 2 bananas, that will work too, there will just be slightly less banana flavor in these muffins.
  • Like almost any muffin recipe, overmixing the batter can cause them to be dense, rather than light and tender.
  • Fill the muffin cups mostly full before baking. I prefer to spray my muffin cups with cooking spray rather than use muffin liners for these banana nut muffins.
  • You could easily make this recipe into a loaf of banana nut bread by pouring the batter into a loaf pan and baking for 50 to 55 minutes in a 350 degree oven, until a tester inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.
banana walnut muffins and whole bananas to the side

More Muffin Recipes You Are Sure to Love

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banana walnut muffins in front of a muffin tin
Yield: 12 muffins

Easy Banana Nut Muffins

These soft, moist, easy banana nut muffins are loaded with banana flavor and studded with walnuts for a little crunch.  No need for a mixer - just use one bowl and stir everything together with a wooden spoon!

Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
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Ingredients

  • 3-4 ripe bananas, mashed
  • 1/3 cup butter, melted
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts, plus extra for topping if desired

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a muffin tin by lightly greasing the cups or lining them with paper liners.
  2. In a large bowl, combine the melted butter and mashed bananas and stir with a large wooden spoon.
  3. Stir in the sugar, egg, and vanilla, then sprinkle the baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt over the banana batter and give it another stir to combine.
  4. Add the flour and nuts last and stir just until no streaks of flour remain.
  5. Evenly divide the batter among the cups of a lightly greased muffin tin. If you want, sprinkle the top of each muffin with a few additional chopped walnuts before baking.
  6. Bake for 20-24 minutes, until golden brown on top and a toothpick inserted in the middle of one of the muffins comes out clean.

Notes

If you want to make a loaf of banana bread instead of muffins, just pour all of the batter into a lightly greased loaf pan and bake for 50-55 minutes, or until a sharp knife inserted near the center of the loaf comes out clean.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

12
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 355Saturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 31mgSodium: 183mgCarbohydrates: 44gFiber: 3gSugar: 17gProtein: 7g
© Amy
Cuisine: American / Category: Bread