Fall

Banana Bread Muffins

February 13, 2014
4.5
6 Ratings
  • Makes 24 muffins (or 18 muffins + 12 mini muffins)
Author Notes

Like banana bread, but ready in half the time!

To combat all the chocolate we’re inundated with around Valentine’s Day (but don’t get me wrong, I love chocolate), here’s a sweet little healthy-ish treat. Banana bread muffins, like banana bread, but ready in half the time! These are especially good as mini muffins – a 1-bite treat, perfect for snacking! Share them with your co-workers, and spread the love.

Happy Valentine’s Day! —FirstTimeFoods

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 3 3 over-ripe bananas
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 cup yogurt, optional
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar, optional
  • chocolate chips, optional
  • walnuts or pecans, optional
Directions
  1. Preheat the oven to 325*F.
  2. In a large bowl, mash the ripe bananas with a potato masher or a wooden spoon. Add in the 2 eggs, vanilla, and oil and mix to combine.
  3. In a separate bowl, combine the flours, baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon.
  4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir to combine. If adding chocolate chips or nuts, stir in at this point.
  5. Spoon the batter into muffin cups, about 3/4 of the way to the top.
  6. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.
  7. Cool on a wire rack, and enjoy!

See what other Food52ers are saying.

  • lawebs
    lawebs
  • Alexa Petrova
    Alexa Petrova
  • Tiki Tembo
    Tiki Tembo
  • FirstTimeFoods
    FirstTimeFoods

11 Reviews

lawebs January 6, 2019
So glad I didn't read the reviews first. This recipe is terrific! We aren't big fans of really sweet muffins (like the 2 cups of sugar to 2 cups of flour), and my frozen bananas were very sweet, so the four people in my house all thought these had the right amount of sweetness. I added the optional yogurt, substituted a gluten free flour mix for the wheat flour (I was out of wheat flour), added some chopped hazelnuts that I had leftover, and chocolate chips to half (one of my kids doesn't eat chocolate). This will become my go-to muffin recipe.
 
lawebs January 6, 2019
Oh, and I added 1\2 teaspoon salt.
 
Alexa P. September 20, 2017
Sorry, but I need to reenforce what tender p said: stay away. Wish I had read the comments before wasting ingredients. Not trying to offend anyone, it's simply not a good recipe for muffins. Way too dry and bland, not sure why this is one of the first recipes for banana muffins on such a well respected and quality food site. I'm not picky, but it was truly unpleasant.
 
Tiki T. December 14, 2016
My toddlers LOVE all manner of muffins but would not eat these. I usually feed them home made and almost always cut way back on the sugar. I also found these too dry & bland.
 
FirstTimeFoods December 15, 2016
Hi Tiki Tembo,

Make sure the bananas are over-ripe. (Because there’s no processed sugar in the original recipe, the bananas become the key natural sweetener.) Using bananas that are good and brown really helps. If it’s not sweet enough, you can also add a bit of brown sugar to your taste. Try adding some yogurt if the batter is too dry!

Have a good one
 
FirstTimeFoods September 14, 2015
Good point smart cookie!

Here’s a short-list of some banana bread recipes for you. All of them have at least 3/4 of sugar or brown sugar.

1. Here’s one with optional walnuts or peanuts and 3/4 cup sugar: http://www.joyofbaking.com/breakfast/bananabread.html

2. Martha’s version with an optional cream cheese frosting variation (1 cup sugar): http://www.marthastewart.com/312772/banana-bread

3. One with yogurt that I was thinking of earlier. The yogurt will keep it really moist (1 cup sugar): http://www.food.com/recipe/moist-banana-bread-108460

4. One that uses brown sugar (3/4 cup): http://www.inspiredtaste.net/25418/classic-banana-bread-recipe/

Good luck pinning down your favorite!
 
smart C. September 14, 2015
was just on the hunt for a new banana bread recipe when i stumbled across this one. not sure if i'll make it since i do prefer a more traditional banana bread sweetness/flavor, and to the tender p's point, there are no sweeteners in this recipe. typically banana bread contains sugar, brown sugar, or maple syrup in addition to the bananas themselves. even dominique ansel's famous banana bread recipe has two cups of sugar (and that's with only two cups of flour, versus the three cups of flour in this recipe). but there's plenty of room for different recipes in the world! and different opinions about them!
 
the T. September 12, 2015
Thanks for the vote of confidence but the ingredients are a problem for me, not the technique. I found that these are more like a banana flavored biscuit (even with, yes, VERY ripe, black bananas). In addition to my preference for a slightly sweeter muffin, there's no acidic element to balance out the baking soda, so there's a distinct metallic flavor that is not pleasant. Kicking myself for not noticing before baking. I usually have much better luck with Food52.
 
FirstTimeFoods September 14, 2015
Do you have a suggestion for an additional ingredient? We love trying variations and alternates! The times we’ve made them they haven’t given a metallic taste. I will say that they could probably use some yogurt in there.

Sounds like you have very particular set of preferences. That said, please don’t advise others to "Stay away" from our recipes. We’ve made these too many times with too many positive reviews by friends and strangers for you to recommend that people avoid them based on your very personal preferences. It goes against the idea of community that we, and probably Food52, try to build. Even though you’re entitled to your opinion, it wouldn’t be fair to end the experience for someone else before they even try it. If you didn’t realize, that’s ok too. There’s often a gap between intent and perception.

Next time, try first offering that positive knowledge that you clearly have, maybe in the form of a suggestion or additional ingredient, rather than a blanket 'no' vote. It would make the sharing of the recipe be much more positive, and help the community rather than the individual. Thanks!

Do you collect your recipes for yourself or for others too? If you have a blog or other space (Pinterest, etc.) that you build, we’d love to check it out or contribute in some way.

Have a good start to the work week!
 
the T. September 11, 2015
This is a weird recipe. It wasn't until I had mixed the batter that i realized there was no sweetener. Even with sweet bananas, you need a little bit of some sort of sugar! Also the moisture content is off--the batter is very thick. The baked result is very bland and I can taste leveaning. Stay away!
 
FirstTimeFoods September 12, 2015
Hi the tender p,

Thanks for trying the recipe, sorry you had a bad experience with it. The bananas are the (natural) sweetener. Make sure you definitely use over-ripe ones. The brown color is literally the sugar reacting with the air, so the browner the better. In addition, you can use milk-chocolate chips which will add some more sweetness for you.

We encourage you to give it another shot, you can do it!

- Mr. & Mrs. Smith