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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Agree these are fabulous. For the flour I used 3/4 cup of wheat the rest all purpose white flour and I also used avocado oil. I thought the amount of sweetness was fine but I also think they was be totally ok without the syrup at all. They were much less dense than some of the other banana muffins I’ve tried. These are def my go to banana muffins from now on!
I made these and the blueberry muffins for my 9 month old. We are doing baby led weaning and I want him to have easy lunch items for when I’m at work that are still healthy. I went pretty scant on the maple syrup and skipped the topping sugar. He loves them! So do I.
Wonderful, Kait! Thank you for taking the time to review.
Does it makes sense that this made way more than 12 muffins for me. I have18in the oven and more to add afterwards
Hi Giselle, that is funny! Perhaps your muffin tins are smaller than mine, or you didn’t fill your cups as high as I did?
Made them today. Just lovely!
Tried it and it sticks to the muffin liner ??? How can this be resolved used self raising flour and followed rest exact added 3/4 choco chips
Hi, I’m sorry you had issues. Did you grease your liner? I don’t typically recommend self rising flour.
What flour would you recommend ? I only have plain flour ? Will that work fine? I normally make them for kids
Hi, All purpose can work here too.
i made this recipe with the apple sauce for oil substitution that was given for a low fat recipe. i also used mini muffin pan because i enjoy the chewiness of the outter edge of banana bread. speaking of texture-great call on the oatmeal in the recipe. the cook time was 15 minutes for the minis. thanks for this outstanding healthy recipe.
Baked these muffins and they were delicious! Thanks for sharing the recipe. I added 1/3 cup of chocolate chips because I like the banana-chocolate taste. They came out very moist. I used olive oil and half-and-half of maple sirup and honey to sweeten.
You’re welcome! I’m glad they were perfect, Linda.
These were delicious. I followed your recipe exactly but also added 1/3 cup of mini semisweet chocolate chips. The maple syrup is a great addition. Your recipes always turn out well. Thanks for keeping us well fed during these times. Since this started, I’ve been making a new recipe every time I cook – and it’s really made our days better :)
Hello! Just wondering if I can grind instant oats to make oat flour to substitute the whole wheat flour here! We don’t have whole wheat flour at home but we have some leftover instant oats. Also, we don’t have other oils at home, only canola. Does it greatly affect the nutrition level? Thanks!
Hi Clarissa, oat flour would work well here! I hope you love it. Oats and wheat have different nutritional informations so it would be impacted.
Hey Kate, just made them this morning. They were delicious!! Although I think the oat flour made it a tiny bit soft, so it isn’t as structured. However I really love how light it is!! Absolutely love this recipe :) thank you
Thank you for your feedback, Clarissa!
Love these muffins but they turned out a bit dry. I used gluten free flour, maybe that could be why? I’ll have to redo the recipe and see!
What a delicious muffin! The second muffin recipe of yours I’ve tried. Both (healthy apple is the other) are perfect. Thank you.
I loved these, and loved the order you instruct to blend the ingredients. I used honey, and swapped oats for chocolate chips and walnuts… so moist and so delish! I didn’t add sugar to the top cuz they’re sweet enough for me. Thank you for a great easy to follow recipe.
Delicious! I used 1/3 cup honey and added chocolate chips for the kids.
Delicious and healthy and the best part is only one bowl to wash!!!
Note: I would also use less maple syrup next time (maybe 1/3 cup) because my bananas were very ripe and I used dark chocolate chips. Will add nuts next time to balance flavours.
Thanks for another great recipe!
Love this recipe! Was out of whole wheat, so used regular white flour. I added 2/3 cup each pecans and raisins. I might cut back maple syrup next time if I add raisins. Love I can get the 2X recipe! I had lots of ripened bananas! I love making muffins…Also, liked using coconut oil and oatmeal…healthy! Well received by family and neighbors.
I just put my third batch of these in the oven, I love them so much! Thank you. The coconut oil doesn’t make them too coconut-ty, which I love.
I’m a wuss when it comes to whole wheat flour so I do half a cup of whole wheat, quarter cup of milled flax seeds and then a whole cup of white flour. They come out beautifully!
Thank you so much, I love them.
I’m trying them right now! They’re in the oven as we speak so fingers crossed they turn out alright… I’ve never baked anything before lol. Just a question, does the recipe work with any fruit or just bananas? I’m so-so with bananas but wondering if I could use mangos instead next time! Thanks :)
Hi! This one is designed specifically for bananas. Mangos in a muffin would be interested.
I have been making these for my 3 and 5 year olds. Thank you for providing a healthier recipe that tastes great. We are a chocolate family so, of course, I added chocolate chips :)
REALLY needs baking powder or SOMETHING to help them rise. These are 1 step up from pudding.
Hi Lee, the baking soda does that? Did you miss that ingredient? I’m sorry this didn’t work for you.
Hi Kate, any suggestions on baking time for jumbo muffin tins? Guessing this recipe would yield 5-6 of those?
Thanks,
Valerie
Hi Valerie! You will need to increase the time, but I’m not sure by how much. Keep an eye on them.
Hi!this muffins a awesome and I love them cuz they have no sugar. It perfect for our diet thanks so much ! شكرا لكي
Love your recipes! The healthy zucchini bread is a favorite of my family! Thanks for the great kitchen inspirations.
Hi! I’m wondering if it works to double the recipe? Do you have to make any adjustments?
Thank you!
Hi Emily! No need to adjust the ingredients. Obviously, just have another muffin pan.
Have you ever made this as banana bread?
Hi! I have a banana bread recipe.
I just made these banana muffins! They are fabulous! I love your recipes! Thank you!
I love this recipe. It is so simple and delicious. It’s perfect for breakfast in the morning.
Absolutely love these! I’ve made the muffins and bread more times than I can count this year. The recipe is perfect and foolproof. Also made a double batch for a friend who recently had a baby and they were a hit. Perfect one handed snack! I love that they are customizable and appreciate all the variations you made note of. We like to add walnuts and chocolate chips to half the batter for different types. Thanks so much!
We live at 8,700′ in the mountains and this recipe comes out fluffy and raised without any tweaking! They are delicious with walnuts, a personal favorite addition. Also I used Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 flour as we have family members that are GF and they still are soft and not grainy. Yummmm
Hooray! Thank you for sharing. I know others will find that helpful.
I made these to use up 3 overripe bananas.
I used a mix of maple syrup and honey as I didnt have enough maple syrup. Left them in for 25 mins…. they are so soft fluffy and moist. Yum
I just made this recipe in a rectangular baking tray with sultanas and pecans! It is deliciously light and just sweet enough. I didn’t have wholewheat flour so added a milled linseed mix for some fibre. A big thank you from England xx
I mixed half syrup with half honey for the sweetener. They turned out great the only thing was they turned out a bit dry, I might have cooked too long?
Kids gobbled them up regardless!! I like how easy this was too.
That’s great, thank you for sharing! I appreciate your review, Kayla.
Really tasty, healthy muffin. Actually gets a nice high top! We added some walnuts for fun. My toddler loves them too.
Thanks so much for sharing such wonderful recipes. Love these muffins!
I tried the recipe with applesauce just now and it was pretty good! I used Manuka honey combined with honey with cinnamon and added dried cranberries and chopped walnuts for texture and it was yummy
: ) I baked them for 24 min and it came out pretty perfect.
Thanks for the great healthy recipe!!
These muffins were delicious, healthy and so easy to make. Amazing recipe!
I made these muffins yesterday evening. I used whole wheat flour and added one cup of walnuts. They came out perfect. Ate one fresh from the oven and it was delicious. They were quick and easy to make. It was light and fluffy I will definitely be adding this recipe to my favirite list. Thanks
I’m glad this recipe has made your favorite list, Robina! I appreciate your review.
Just made these muffins and am beyond delighted! Because it is all I had on hand, I used finely ground Almond Flour.
¿puedo utiizar solo harina de avena?
Hi! Oat flour will work too. Check out my How to Make Oat Flour guide.
We love these muffins! They are not too sweet and the texture is perfect. Somehow with your recipes I get a sense of where I can be flexible. So when I found I was short on mashed bananas, I topped them up with squash, cross referencing your pumpkin muffins.
My only difficulty was figuring out whether to add the dry ingredients to the wet or vice versa. I checked out other recipes and went with dry to wet. As I don’t make muffins very often, I find this is an important step because if you get it wrong, you end up with ruffins – rubber muffins! Adding this instruction between points 3 and 4 might be helpful. Thank you for another great recipe.
This is my Go-to snack/sweet treat recipe. As a Weight Watchers member, the muffins come in at only 2pts,which is awesome as muffins can be up to 30pts EACH! Mind you I tweak the recipe by using 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce in place of oil & use a NO SUGAR ADDED maple syrup (locally produced which I love).
I take these to work for break time, or for breakfast when I’m in a hurry.
They’re delicious & so good for me..
Healthy and delicious! Thanks for a great recipe I will definitely make again and again!
These are delicious!!! Followed recipe exactly and I added chocolate chips and pecans. Can’t wait to make again, thank you! Would it be ok to add an extra banana or would it throw it off? I had four bananas but didn’t want to mess anything up…PS Glad Cookie of doing well :-)
Delicious and moist! I actually didn’t have any bananas on hand, so I used applesauce in their place. And I replaced half of the flour with coconut flour, too. Worked out well!
Thank you for your review, Rachel!
I made these with bananas that were just to ripe for me to eat on their own. Luckily I pretty much had all the other ingredients at hand. I do have to admit I used half honey and half maple syrup as I only had just enough of each left.
They were so yummy. Even my partner, who oddly does not like bananas (how I know!), thought they were lovely.
My son loved them also. He is 12. They are so moist and your mouth just waters as soon as you take a bite.
I waited to review as I froze the rest of the batch (double bagged) and I am only getting round to eating one that was defrosted. Freezing it and defrosting does not seem to have changed them all. They were just as tasty! What a great thing to have in the freezer. Thank you for sharing. I posted my pic on Instagram
Perfect texture, sweetness and taste. I love that its a healthier alternative to the classic banana bread/cake recipe. I used honey as sweetener and topped it with oats and chocolate shavings.
love these and specially my toddler, I added one tablespoon of crunch peanut better and they were yum
I made these exactly as the recipe says. They are delicious, moist and fluffy. Oh I did use sugar free maple syrup. Do you know what the calorie for muffin is?
I made these once with chocolate chips and they reminded me of the banana bread that I loved when I was younger made by my mom’s best friend. So warm and delicious!
This is one of my favorite healthy bananas muffin recipes. I follow the recipe exactly except if I don’t have coconut oil I sub with applesauce. My favorite add in is walnuts. Unless I am baking for grandkids then I add mini chocolate chips:) They really are delicious.
I’m glad you enjoy them! Thank you for your review, Nanny.
The whole family loves these including my 15 month old! Easy and healthy and flavorful