Gimme Some Oven

Classic Banana Muffins

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When I pay my visit to our local farmers’ market every Saturday morning, I always feel compelled to swing by the outdoor grocery nextdoor to pickup a basket of bananas. And why bananas, you might ask? Because for some fantastic reason, they sell 3 lbs. for $1. Who can pass up a bargain (and the potential for a delightful week of smoothies and muffins and whatnot) like that?

Needless to say, I still often have a surplus sitting around the house. So being that I’m single and usually fail to make it through an entire loaf of bread before it goes bad, I love turning this recipe into a batch of yummy muffins! They freeze beautifully, and are perfect for healthy snacking or a breakfast-on-the-run.

I should also point out that – being as bananas as I am for banana bread – I’ve been on a search for a fabulous recipe for years. And I’m thrilled to share that I finally found a winner! The flavor in these muffins is perfection, the ingredients are reasonably healthy, the texture is a nice balance between chewy and light, and they are of course deliciously moist. So cheers to the test cooks at Cooks Illustrated for getting it right!!

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Classic Banana Muffins

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  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Cook Time: 15 minutes
  • Total Time: 30 minutes
  • Yield: 12 muffins 1x

Description

The BEST recipe I’ve found for classic banana muffins! Detailed instructions and photos included.


Ingredients

Scale
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour, unbleached
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 3/4 tsp. baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 3 very ripe, mashed bananas (about 1 1/2 cups)
  • 1/4 cup plain (or banana-flavored) yogurt
  • 2 large eggs
  • 6 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and cooled
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract
  • (Optional: 1 cups toasted, coarsely-chopped walnuts)

Instructions

  1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare muffin liners or lightly grease muffin pan. (For banana bread, grease bottom only of regular loaf pan, or grease and flour bottom and sides of nonstick 9-by-5-by-3-inch loaf pan.) Set aside. Combine flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, cinnamon (and optional walnuts) in large bowl; set aside.
  2. Mix mashed bananas, yogurt, eggs, butter, and vanilla with wooden spoon in medium bowl. Lightly fold banana mixture into dry ingredients with rubber spatula until just combined and batter looks thick and chunky. Scrape batter into prepared muffin cups; bake until muffins are golden brown and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 15 minutes. Cool in pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Notes

From Cooks Illustrated

 

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14 comments on “Classic Banana Muffins”

  1. Alison – I tried these this morning and they are yum! Jon is taking the extras into his office to prevent me from eating about eight of them on my own. Thanks for the recipe!!!

  2. I LOVED these…think I have a project in mind for this weekend! :)

  3. this recipe looks fabulous, but i’m wondering if i could sub butternut squash for the banana?

    • Hey Sophie!

      Mmmm, I’ve never tried these with butternut squash, but imagine the substitution might work! Let me know if you give it a try. :)

      ~A

  4. I have some vanilla yogurt in the fridge I would really like to use before it goes bad. Will that be an alright substitute?

  5. Could “flax eggs” be substituted for the eggs in this recipe?

  6. Could greek yogurt be substituted for regular yogurt?

  7. How long for banana bread?

    • Hi Robin! Banana bread should take quite a bit longer – somewhere between 45 and 65 minutes (we’d start checking after 45 min). We hope you enjoy!

  8. Hi Ali!

    Thanks for posting this recipe! It made the best looking muffins I have ever baked! I did, however, find that after 15 minutes at 350F the muffins “felt” a bit too moist in the middle when I tested them with a toothpick… I baked them for additional 5 minutes and it seems like that was good. They’re cooling off now, looking and smelling soooo tempting!!

    • Hi Margarita! We’re so glad you enjoyed these — thanks for giving the recipe a try!

  9. I have several banana bread recipes that I’ve made time and again, but none are The One! So I got online and started searching recipes last night to use up 3 overripe bananas that I didn’t want to waste. I’ve always enjoyed your recipes that I’ve tried, so decided to go with this one – as a loaf, not muffins. This is it! I’ll never need to search again; this recipe is banana bread perfection – thank you so much! BTW, I baked it for 45 minutes in my convection oven and then another 5 minutes with the convection turned off. It came out beautifully.






  10. Ali your banana muffin recipe is the VERY best out of all the recipes I’ve tried!! I’ve made this particular muffin several times & tonight I made it using organic whole wheat flour and added 2 tbsps of ground flax & chia seeds and some chopped walnuts😋