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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Wow, what a delicious recipe! What’s even more amazing is that I forgot to add the milk and it still turned out fantastic! I added chocolate chips and they turned out moist and not too sweet. I will definitely make these again! (I might even add the milk next time!)
Just made these tonight with Trader Joe’s gluten free flour and they are amazing!! So moist and flavorful. Will be making these again!
If you love baking but are trying to be healthy, you have to try this recipe! Just baked these today with some modifications: 1 cup plain flour + 3/4 cup whole wheat flour, added mix ins (chopped walnuts and chopped up dark chocolate), honey instead of maple syrup, baked for 20min (cause my muffin cups were smaller).
These turned out much better than I expected, because so far almost all my healthy baking attempts haven’t produced tasty results. Replacing sugar with honey and replacing plain flour with whole-wheat flour usually leads to dense baked goods for me. But I really love how moist these are even through there’s no butter and sugar. Will definitely be baking these again – can’t wait to try this with maple syrup and some chopped up pecans!
Loved this recipe! I added 1/2 cup of chocolate chips and it was amazing.
These were to most moist and delicious muffins I have had. I make a lot of different ones but will definitely keep this recipe.
I just made these to use up some bananas andto try making flax eggs with the flax meal I bought yesterday for another recipe. My husband couldn’t believe it when I told him they were dairy-free, sugar-free, egg-free, and made with all whole-wheat flour. These little gems are a keeper, and I feel good about sending them to work with my husband for a quick and easy morning pick-me-up! Great recipe – thank you!
Delicious! I added some hemp protein powder, but other than that, followed the recipe exactly. Happy to have a yummy and feel good healthy breakfast.Thank you!
You’re welcome, Danelle! Thank you for sharing.
Amazing! Was hesitant how it would turn out with all the healthy substitutions and hands down my new go to recipe and super healthy! I used the coconut oil and was happily surprised that you cant even taste it, did 1/4 cup honey and 1/4 cup syrup and didnt have whole wheat flour so used 1 cup reg white flour and 3/4 almond flour, and added some walnuts and omg!! So good, thanks for the recipe!
These look Amazing! Definitely going to make them! It would be great if you could provide the metric version of the recipe as well for those of us who prefer that method of baking. It will save lots of folks like myself from having to do the conversion on my own. Thanks for sharing!
Hi Fino! I appreciate the feedback. I haven’t found a plug-in I love yet, but appreciate you still using my recipes even with having to convert!
These are very good lists of flavor and super moist
I’m glad you loved them, Emily! Thank you for sharing.
Second time making these muffins and they are delicious.
I added some raisins. Didn’t have quite enough bananas to make one cup so added a little applesauce to make the one cup.
Delicious and a huge hit at my house.
Thank you,
Andrea
This is our go-to banana muffin recipe. My 5-year old daughter and husband both love these muffins. It’s a great way to use up bananas. We like to make mini-muffins and freeze them. We add whatever fruit, nuts, etc., on hand and sometime I will add chia seeds.
I just tried this recipe for the first time in addition to your blueberry muffin recipe and was so pleasantly surprised at how they turned out. I was nervous about not using sugar but I can’t even tell! They are so delicious and I can feel good about eating them for breakfast to start my day right! I just have one question about the bake time/temp. I read in the blueberry muffin recipe you adjusted the baking temp from 325 to 400 and the baking time from 22-24 minutes to 16-19 minutes. Is it intention that this recipe wasn’t updated or is it just an older recipe?
Hi Kamryn! I’m happy you loved it. I love how observant you are! They needed an adjustment in baking time to get just right given the slightly different ingredients. Blueberries were a little tricky.
What can I use instead of bananas? I have a great deal of difficulty digesting bananas—they sit like a rock,quite uncomfortably, in my stomach for ages!Perhaps pumpin puree?
Hi Judy! I wouldn’t suggest these muffins if you can’t have bananas. I would suggest my pumpkin muffins if you would like that flavor.
These were amazing! Will definitely be making these again, added some ground nutmeg and a half cup of blueberries. So easy and delicious thank you for the recipe!
I’m glad they still worked with their additions!
Perfect healthy banana muffins! I’ve made them three times in the last three weeks. I use grapeseed oil, honey, unsweetened almond milk and whole wheat pastry flour, and I omit the oats and turbinado sugar. My kids gobble them up!
Just loved the simplest recipe ever
The result was good n yummy.
Thanks Kate
This has become our go to muffin recipe for snacks. I reduced maple syrup to 1/3 cup to save washing a second cup and add chopped dates. Yummy! :)
Loved these. Easy to make. Not too sweet. Turned out just like the picture. I made with whole wheat flour and grape seed oil. I threw in approximately 1/2 cup of combo of fruit and seeds. Thanks
Hey! I absolutely love your recipes and have been following your blog for quiet some time. Your work is delicious and beautiful!
Well, i have a question regarding this recipe. I have tried it many times and have always loved it. I was wondering if we can use coconut sugar in place of honey. Is that okay?
Hi Kamakshi! I’m glad you have been loving them. Unfortunately, the honey (or maple syrup) not only help with sweetness but the overall end result of how moist they are. To do that, you would likely need to adjust the other ingredients and I can’t say for sure how much.
I made these muffins this morning and they are great! Thank you.
Please give measures of cups in ounces or fluid ounces for us Scots.
Hi Kate! I don’t always love the taste of whole wheat flour… just wondering if you thought I could substitute oat flour? Thanks!! Love all your recipes!!
Hi Meghan! Yes, oat flour should work here too. Checkout my notes in my oat flour post.
I was looking for a healthy alternative to my normal banana cake recipe, and OMG it’s amazing! This recipe is delish highly recommended and I will definitely be making it again
So delicious! I added blueberries to it and they were delicious!
I didn’t like these :/ sorry
Hi I was thinking of making this into a banana bread instead of the muffins. But I’d probably would have to bake it for 50-60 minutes.
Any suggestions?
Thanks
Cindy
Hi Cindy! I actually have a banana bread I would recommend instead.
These are delicious!! I just put a dozen into the oven, have made them a few times. It does need a higher oven, I bakethem for 25 minutes at 375. Also, the prep time is much longer than ten minutes. But well worth it. ;-) I use 1/2 cup almond flour as part of the flour for extra protein and lower carbs. Thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe!
Thank you for sharing what you did, Nancy! I’m happy to hear you loved them. Thanks for your feedback and review.
I’d like to make these egg free but I don’t have any flax to make flax eggs. Is there anything else that would work as an egg replacer?
Thanks!
You could try a chia egg. I haven’t tried it with this recipe, but it usually works well as a replacement like flax. I have notes about it in my flax egg post. Let me know!
So I made these and completely forgot to add my oil i found it in the microwave later. They turned out great anyway. I also substituted 3/4 cup of flour with almond flour and left the sugar on the top out
This was such a good recipe! Moist, and definitely tastes like banana!
One modification I made however was just the baking temp. I really wanted very well risen muffins, but I saw that when I baked the banana muffins the first time they barely rose even though I filled the cups to the top. So I baked the muffins at 400 degrees F for 5 minutes and then lowered the temp down back to 325 until they were baked. Through this I got extremely well risen muffins! However the muffins were good with and without the rise, but if you’re like me and really want that rise, just follow what I’ve done and it works every time.
Don’t hesitate to try this recipe out, and all of Kate’s other muffin recipes for that matter! All so so so GOOD!
Really excellent muffins. Great with pecans!
Love this recipe but maple syrup and honey is a bit out of our budget now. Any idea how I could sub sugar instead?
Thanks :)
Hi Mich! I wish I could be of more help, but this recipe was created for a liquid sweetener. Changing that would impact the recipe.
Love these!
I was looking for a low carb recipe but decided to try yours. I am glad I did- absolutely wonderful! I find most low carb recipes taste like sawdust: I do not like almond flour! Next time I will decrease the amount of maple syrup-not that there is anything wrong with your recipe but unfortunately I am pre-diabetic! Glad you use whole wheat flour; for years I resisted using it now I use it all the time.
Thank you for sharing your feedback, Suzanne! I’m happy you were able to enjoy it.
So nice and healthy tasting too. I did need to cook them a bit longer than recipe says – could just be my oven though! Perfect for breakfast
Perfect !!!Looks exactly like yours. Taste amazing ! Kids 5,6 approved !
Another fantastic recipe from Cookie and Kate. I absolutely love this one and the muffins are PERFECT for my toddler. I have split the recipe and made 6 standard muffins and 12 mini muffins so that I could add nuts to the standard ones. Thanks so much for sharing your recipes. This is my go-to place for healthy meals.
My husband loved these muffins! I was looking for a banana muffin recipe without sugar and butter and yours came up. I used organic maple syrup, but since I didn’t have whole wheat flour, I used regular. Instead of the oil, I used applesauce. I added chocolate chips, forgot to add the oatmeal to the mixture, but sprinkled it on top. My husband said the muffins were delicious and very moist. This recipe is a keeper.
These muffins were absolutely delicious! I mixed in some chocolate chips and they tasted really good!
That’s great, Susan! Thank you for sharing.
Hi Kate,
I just made these banana muffins, so delicious.
I love how you use maple syrup for the sweetener.
I’ll have to say everything I make from your recipes is spot on!
So thank you kindly!
I used my mini muffin tins. Too cute. This is an amazing recipe. Ty
Wondering if I can add brewer yeast and flaxmeal to this recipe make it lactation muffins??
Hi! I’m not sure without trying it, sorry!
Let us know how it turns out if you try it!
With a little time on my hands, the two mushy bananas on my counter were calling out, “Not the compost heap! Let us fulfill our destiny as food!” Making these muffins was fast and easy; I used honey and added dark chocolate chips. The recipe needs no tweaking at all for delicious results.
I used King Arthur Gluten-free Flour Because I am gluten intolerant. (Olive oil & maple syrup) they came out great!
I just made these and they are delicious. I added in walnuts, and left off the sugar on the top as I think they are sweet enough and I don’t miss the extra crunch.
These are the most delicious banana muffins I have a ever made! I just can’t stop eating them and my 2.5 yr old son thinks they’re a hit too.
Hi Kate, I’ve been making these for several months now so we can eat these muffins as bike food rather than the processed overpriced options. I’ve given your recipe to many people, as well as recommending your site. I thought it high time to say thanks. My changes: 1 1/2 cups white wheat flour, 1/4 cup almond flour, 1/3 cup ground flax instead of oats (the muffins stay moist longer). My husband is allergic to coconut oil, so grapeseed oil, and I use fat-free yogurt rather than milk. 1 cup walnut pieces. Thanks again! I love so many of your recipes.
I’ve made these 3 or 4 times and they always turn out amazing. Some extra super ripe banana usually falls in for extra sweetness, and I use less honey and maple syrup than called for as a result. They come out moist and delicious every time. I wrap them up individually and freeze them, and they’re a perfect quick and healthy snack for my toddler, who loves them. Thanks for a great recipe!
Love these muffins! I made them and froze a bunch to have for breakfast during the week. Even my 2 year old likes them. Thank you for the recipe!
These were good but mine turned out a little dry. Should I use less flour? Cook a little less?
Hi Elizabeth! How did you measure your flour? Did you spoon and level off? It may have been too much flour and/or over cook.
Love this healthy version of banana muffins! Thanks for sharing!
Sooo delicious! Even my husband said they were very good and he equates healthy baking with bad baking, haha! My bananas were really ripe and watery so I didn’t add any water or milk. I added 1/2 crushed walnuts and dried cranberries and sprinkled the oats, cinnamon and brown sugar on top! Yum!
Loved this recipe – don’t get the sweet after taste. The maple syrup is yummy and they are really light and fluffy
Simple, easy to make and INCREDIBLY DELICIOUS
Wonderful feedback! I’m excited you loved this muffin recipe, Galen.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve made this fabulous recipe. My variations: 1)Sunflower seed oil, 2) a scant 1/3 cup of maple syrup is plenty, 3)scant 1/2 cup of milk chocolate chips, 4) no oats or sugar on top. Instead I add 2 chocolate chips on top to make the kids think they have a lot of chocolate. Makes 18 muffins with a #20 disher in PaperChef parchment cupcake papers (NOTHING sticks to them). 24 minutes. Rotate pans halfway through.We all inhale them. Thank you so much!