Maple-Sweetened Banana Muffins
These whole wheat, maple-sweetened banana muffins are the best! So fluffy and moist, I bet no one can guess they're healthy muffins. Easy to make, too.
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on August 30, 2024
Meet the banana muffins of my dreams. They’re fluffy, whole grain, naturally sweetened, totally delicious banana muffins. They’re also about as healthy as muffins can be. The recipe calls for basic ingredients and you can mix them all together in one bowl. Too much to be true? Nope.
These muffins are a derivative of my super popular banana bread and pumpkin muffin recipes. If you love these, you certainly don’t miss the blueberry muffins in my cookbook.
Muffins aside, can I tell you what else is exciting? I got a new camera! Can you tell? Bueller? Bueller? Well, that’s ok. I can, and I’m thrilled about it. I bought my old camera during my last year of college and it was the best investment I ever made. Eight years and 88,000 (that’s eighty-eight thousand) photographs later, it was time to upgrade.
My new camera and I are still getting acquainted. I haven’t found the best settings or figured out all the fancy-pants features just yet (anyone want video?). We’ll get there. Photographing these banana muffins was a learning experience. A very tasty learning experience.
The Best Banana Muffins
Here are a few reasons to love this banana muffin recipe (which happens to be more nutritionally redeeming than most):
- These muffins are easy to make with basic ingredients. Only one bowl required!
- They’re made with 100% whole grains, yet they’re fluffy and delicious. No one will know the difference.
- They’re also naturally sweetened with maple syrup or honey, rather than loaded with refined sugar. The maple syrup (or honey) offers a touch of extra flavor, which I love.
- A touch of cinnamon offers some warming spice flavor. These muffins will make your house smell amazing!
- These muffins freeze well, too. Just defrost individual muffins in the microwave for 30 to 60 seconds, or until gently warmed through. You don’t want to overdo it.
Please let me know how your muffins turn out in the comments! I love hearing from you, and hope these banana muffins are your new favorite.
Craving more wholesome banana treats? Don’t miss my banana oat pancakes, vegan banana scones, healthy banana bread and banana cake with cream cheese frosting.
Watch How to Make Banana Muffins
Maple-Sweetened Banana Muffins
These whole wheat, maple-sweetened banana muffins are so fluffy and moist, I bet no one can guess they’re healthy muffins. They’re easy to make, too, with basic ingredients and only one mixing bowl! Feel free to add mix-ins of your choice, like chocolate chips or toasted nuts. Recipe yields 12 muffins.
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup melted coconut oil or extra-virgin olive oil*
- ½ cup maple syrup or honey
- 2 eggs, preferably at room temperature
- 1 cup packed mashed ripe bananas (about 3 bananas)
- ¼ cup milk of choice or water (I used almond milk)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon, plus more for sprinkling on top
- 1 ¾ cups white whole wheat flour or regular whole wheat flour
- ⅓ cup old-fashioned oats (optional), plus more for sprinkling on top
- 1 teaspoon turbinado (raw) sugar or other granulated sugar, for sprinkling on top
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit (165 degrees Celsius). If necessary, grease all 12 cups of your muffin tin with butter or non-stick cooking spray (my pan is non-stick and didn’t require any grease).
- In a large bowl, beat the coconut oil and maple syrup together with a whisk. Add the eggs and beat well. Mix in the mashed bananas and milk, followed by the baking soda, vanilla extract, salt and cinnamon.
- Add the flour and oats to the bowl and mix with a large spoon, just until combined. If you’d like to add any additional mix-ins**, like nuts, chocolate or dried fruit, fold them in now.
- Divide the batter evenly between the muffin cups, filling each cup about two-thirds full. Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with a small amount of oats (about 1 tablespoon in total), followed by a light sprinkling of sugar (about 1 teaspoon in total). Bake muffins for 22 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean.
- Place the muffin tin on a cooling rack to cool. You might need to run a butter knife along the outer edge of the muffins to loosen them from the pan. These muffins will keep at room temperature for up to 2 days, or in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. They keep well in the freezer in a freezer-safe bag for up to 3 months (just defrost individual muffins as needed).
Notes
Recipe adapted from my healthy pumpkin muffins.
*Oil options: I love coconut oil here. I used unrefined coconut oil and can hardly taste it in the final product. Olive oil might lend an herbal note to the muffins, if you’re into that (although, I tested with California Olive Ranch’s “Everyday” variety and couldn’t even taste it). Vegetable oil has a neutral flavor but the average vegetable/canola oil is highly processed, so I recommend using cold-pressed sunflower oil or grapeseed oil if possible.
**Change it up: You could really go crazy with add-ins here. Fold in up to ¾ cup chocolate chips, chopped dried cranberries or crystallized ginger and/or chopped nuts like pecans or walnuts. With add-ins, your muffins might require the full 25 minutes in the oven. Another idea? You could top your muffins with my maple glaze from my pumpkin scones recipe to make them more decadent.
Serving suggestions: These muffins are great on their own, with a pat of butter, or spread with almond butter. They would also be fantastic with homemade pecan butter or coconut butter.
Make it egg free: Substitute flax eggs for the regular eggs.
Make it vegan: Substitute flax eggs for regular eggs, use dairy-free milk like almond milk and use maple syrup instead of honey.
Make it gluten free: Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free all-purpose blend works well instead of the whole wheat flour.
Make it nut free: Use a nut-free milk.
Make it oat free: Simply omit the oats.
Make it lower in fat: I would argue that this bread contains a healthy amount of fat, but you can replace the oil with applesauce if you’re following a low-fat diet.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
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Followed the recipe, except added a few chocolate chips and used a mini muffin pan. Easy and delicious! New favourite muffin recipe!
I love to hear that, Lynda! Thank you for your review.
I omitted the oats due to personal preference but otherwise made exactly as written. I normally skip the cinnamon in banana bread, but it blended into the background here. Another perfect recipe, Kate!
Thank you for sharing, Jen!
I have made your banana bread recipe countless times and shared with friends, it’s my favourite! I just use white flour, and have made with either olive oil or coconut oil and honey or maple syrup or a mix of both. This time I wanted to try muffins and they were great. I didn’t have any mix-ins this time like chocolate or oats, but they were still delicious. Will definitely make again :)
Great to hear, Sarah! Thank you for your review.
Your banana nut bread is my go to recipe. Have it memorized!
I love to hear that, Amy!
These muffins are a delight! I followed a comment and started at 425 for the first 5 min then 350 for 15 minutes. I added in DF mini chocolate chips and walnuts.
Just made these tonight and they’re fantastic! Not too sweet, perfectly crusted top, and fluffy inside! I only had 2 bananas and white flour. I added crushed pecans and some hemp seeds to up the protein. Incredible recipe!!
These are perfect. Even better the next day. I made with all Whole Wheat flour and it was fabulous. I also added pumpkin seeds tot eh good just press in lightly so they don’t fall off. Delicious,healthy and filling.
Great to hear, Kerry! I appreciate your review.
Followed the recipe exactly as it’s written but added a cup of crushed walnuts. Can say with certainty that these were the best banana muffins I’ve EVER made. Thank you for this recipe!
Thank you for your review, Maria!
I’ve been making this muffin recipe for a few years now when I wanted something sugar free for my kids. Now we all love them. I usually take out a bit of the wheat flour and replace with more oats, and add in ½ cup dark chocolate chips and ¼ cup blueberries, bake for 25 mins and immediately take out of the pan and let cool on baking rack. Perfectly moist and delicious!
These were delicious! Thank you for sharing!
Great to hear, Shelley!
By far the most delicious, healthy muffin I have ever tried and tasted. Wow!!!
I love to hear that, Denise! I appreciate your review.
Seriously these Muffins are incredible! I baked some last night, I add choc bits. They are gone today. I have baked another two batches today but changed up the flavours a bit, orange and poppyseed and raspberry white chocolate. They are delicious. I just didn’t add the banana and I added 1/2 an orange zest with its juice at the milk stage and the 1 tbs poppyseed with the flour and oats. For the raspberry white choc I used the recipe without banana and folded through 1 punnet halved fresh raspberries and 1/3 white choc bits.
Thanks for the amazing recipe
Great to hear, Pamela! I appreciate your review.
We love these and add choc chips my kids have one for breakkie with greek yogurt on
How many calories roughly per muffin?
Hi Sophie, the nutritional information is below the notes section of the recipe.
My favourite banana muffin recipe! What sets this one apart from the dozens of others I have tried is the decadent fluffy texture that is achieved WITHOUT REFINED SUGAR! I think the reason why it works so well is the oats which add a little structure to the batter, kinda like aggregate in concrete. We have tried all kinds of mix-ins with success, perhaps a less conventional one is hemp hearts to further boost the nutritional value.
Do you also have this recipe in grams and millilitres? I have made it before and kids liked them, but find it hard estimating cups!
I don’t, sorry! I know others have used online conversion calculators.
I make these all the time and they are fab! My whole family loves them, including my 5 year old. I was just wondering if you have any information regarding the calories, grams of carbs, etc., basically the nutritional information for these? Sorry if I missed it somewhere! Thank you ☺️
Hi Nicola, The nutritional information is below the notes section of the blog.
I made these tonight for my kids lunches and had the sudden urge ti experiment a bit with toppings. I did the crumb topping, did some with just a sprinkle of oats and cinnamon, and some with toasted coconut!
But then I had a stroke of genius!
Banana and MARSHMALLOW.
It look a few times to get the timing right. But the third pan turned out AMAZING! I wish I could post photos – they are GORGEOUS!
For anyone who wants to try:
Only fill the cups about halfway full. When there’s about 5 minutes remaining, take out the pan and top them with mini marshmallows. Put them back in for the remaining 5 minutes.
If you like your marshmallows a little crispier, 7 minutes will do the trick!
I haven’t tried them yet, but like I said, they look just heavenly!
The muffins looked great, smelled divine, had a mild banana flavor, but were a little dry. I used butter, a generous 1/3 cup of honey & paper liners. They were sweet enough, but not too sweet. It made 14 & baked in 17 minutes I will make again & add chopped dates for moisture & more flavor.
Never Fail Recipe – have made these at least a dozen times, and despite modifications to allow for variety (and to use whatever ingredients I have on hand) these always turn out great!
These are yummy and not dense for whole wheat! I only used a 1/4 cup oats in batter. No oats or sugar on top. And used avocado oil. I followed another reviewers instructions and cooked 5 min at 425 and then 15 min at 350. They rose really nice and are fluffy. Thanks!
Thank you for sharing how you made this, Callie! I appreciate your review.
Does anyone know how many calories are in one muffin?
Hi Camille! The nutritional information is below the notes section.
So delicious, fluffy and healthy! my kids and I love them for breakfast or a snack :)
delightful, just follow the recipe and thank yourself later. i used whole wheat flour and it turned out delish!!
Ever heard of marry-me-chicken? Well these are marry-me-banana-muffins. They are so moist & full of flavor. I added extra cinnamon, vanilla, & chocolate chips & they are fan-freaken-tastic! This is the best banana-muffin recipe I have ever tried!
I love to hear that, Rachel! I appreciate your review.
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe !! So good and moist. Can’t wait to bring some to work for my staff to enjoy them like I did thanks again !!
By far my favorite banana muffin recipe. I think the flavors got even better after a day or two on the counter. Will definitely be making these again.
Great to hear, Juliane!
I made a 3x batch of these using 9 defrosted bananas. Midway I ran out of coconut oil so replaced 1/3 with veg oil. Also ran out of wholemeal flour so did half white flour. I used a mix of golden syrup/honey/maple syrup. I put half the batter in the muffin trays and put some frozen mixed berries (coated in flour to help them float) in some (my favourite), a chunk of chocolate in some others, and topped the last few plain ones with dessicated coconut and rolled oats (which mostly fell off after baking) all turned out delicious. A testament to you Kate for a forgiving, versatile recipe! So fun and easy to make as well, will definitely use the recipe again.
Thank you for sharing how you made this, Jaclyn! I appreciate your review.
Made this today and they turned out great! I used regular whole wheat flour. I accidentally added too many oats (oops) but they were delicious.
Love making these yummy banana muffins. They are easy and healthy. I follow the recipe. Thank you.
YOu’re welcome, Gilda! I appreciate your review.
Best healthy muffin recipe, I’ve made. Used unsweetened blueberry apple sauce instead of oil. They were very moist and tasty. Ran out of large flake oats for the topping so sprinkled with steel cut oats. Thanks for this lovely recipe.
You’re welcome, Tammy! I appreciate your review.
My family loves these. I make with a mix of oat and almond flour.
Hi Kate,
Do you know how many calories it is per muffin with the original recipe as written please?
Hi Thea, the nutrition information is below the notes section of the recipe.
This is my second time making these. I use olive oil, 1/3 cup agave nectar instead of maple syrup, and use her chia seed egg replacement. They always turn out so delicious!!! Definitely my favorite way to use up frozen bananas.
Thank you for your review, Kate!
I used greek yogurt for added protein instead of milk and it came out delicious
These have been a staple for me for a few years now. Love them!! Just wondering how I could make these high protein? I have Natural Vanilla whey protein but unable to work out how to add a scoop 30grams to the recipe. Please could you help?
Many Thanks Charlie
I haven’t tried it so I can’t say for sure. I believe others have and didn’t mind the results. I suggest checking the comments to see what others recommend.
Love this recipe! I’ve made it a number of times. Wondering if using almond flour is good? How much?
Hi Rebecca, Unfortunately, almond flour isn’t a great 1:1 replacement. You can try my Gluten-Free Banana Bread (Made with Almond Flour).
These are incredible!! So tasty, and easy to make. I only had one banana but it didn’t affect anything! I added a few choc chips and these are now my go to muffin recipe!!
I made this as written. I used evil instead of coconut oil by I used coconut oil to grease the muffin tin. They turned out great great recipe . Thank you
You’re welcome, Glenda! Thank you for your comment.
Would spelt flour work in this recipe?
It works in my banana bread, but I haven’t tried it here. Let me know if you try it!