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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I first made this recipe about a month ago, and I’ve made it at least twice more since. These are so delicious, and just what I want in a muffin! Sweet but not too much, a lovely banana flavor, and of course the oats bring a welcome texture & make them feel especially “healthy”! The recipe is simple and I’m always a fan of opportunities to use wheat flour. I shared a few muffins with my mom and she immediately asked for the recipe. I love to make multiple batches so I always have some on hand- I never eat just 1 in a sitting!
I’ve been using your website for recipes for about a year now, but these muffins gave me the courage to leave a comment/review! I love your work, Kate, & I hope you have a lovely day!
Hi Mariah, thank you so much for taking the time to share your thoughts. I’m so glad the recipe works for you.
Can I use all purpose flour?
Yes, you can substitute all purpose flour.
This is the BEST recipe for healthy banana muffins I’ve tried! 5/5! Absolutely delicious and moist. Kate, I’d love to modify this recipe to make a double chocolate healthy banana muffin. How would the ratio of whole wheat flour and oats need to change to add in cocoa powder? Thank you kindly!!
Hi Gianna, I would need to test it to be sure, but if you want to experiment I would start by replacing 1/4 the weight of flour with natural (not dutch-processed) cocoa powder and maybe add one tablespoon more liquid.
Amazing!
Very delicious and I will definitely make it again but it tastes very much like banana bread
Can I use all purpose flour for this recipe?
Hi Karissa, yes you can use all purpose flour if you prefer.
These muffins are a staple in our house! My kids are obsessed with them :)
I was wondering- Can I add a 1/2-1 tsp of baking powder?
Thx!!
Hi Li, I recommend the recipe as written.
These look amazing. Can I use buckwheat flour instead?
Hi Kate, I would not recommend substituting more than 25% of the flour for buckwheat in this recipe, as they will not turn out right. I do have buckwheat pancake, buckwheat waffle, and buckwheat chocolate cookie recipes if you enjoy the grain substitute.
Just made these muffins on Saturday. So quick to prepare and deliciously light tasting. I don’t normally have a lot of luck with my muffins rising, these turned out perfectly. Thank you Kate for sharing your delicious recipe.
Look forward to trying many more of your recipes. Just printed the green beans with almonds and feta.
Excited to try this! Can I use oat flour instead of whole wheat flour?
Hi Sophie, I have a post on tips for substituting oat flour. I also have banana oat flour pancakes recipe you may like.
How would you recommend adjusting the bake time/ temp if I made these in 5on ramekins? I’m thinking of using this recipe to make a smash cake for a first birthday?
Hi Michelle, I think you mean 5 ounce ramekins, which are slightly larger than a standard muffin tin. I would give them a few extra minutes and then start testing them with a toothpick to make sure they are done. The height of the ramekin will make a difference.
First time commenting on a recipe page because these worked really well for me after a string a failed baked goods. Instead of 1 cup banana, I used 1/2 cup banana and 1/2 cup sweet potato. They’re moist and delicious. Thank you!
These are now a staple in our home, my little 20 month old and husband love them for brekkie or as a snack. Thanks so much!
Soooo good. I’m always looking for whole grain foods to throw in lunches. These are a guilt free snack. I put 1/2 cup walnuts in.
Ok, I made a lot of alterations, but they still turned out so well! Absolutely delicious.
High altitude adjustments:
1. +1 egg yolk
2. 3/4 t baking soda (instead of 1 t)
3. +1/4 c flax seed meal (could use flour instead)
Lactation muffin adjustments:
1. +1/4 c flax seed meal (so 1/2 c total)
2. 2 Tablespoons nutritional yeast
3. +1/3 cup oats
Flavor adjustments:
1. +1/2 t cinnamon
2. +1 cup chocolate chips
That’s a LOT of changes, and it still worked, which is awesome. I made these for a new mom, so I added some ingredients that support lactation. These ingredients also increase the fiber content and add other great nutrients like B vitamins, antioxidants, and omega-3 fatty acids.
These muffins are so easy and so good! The kids LOVED them! I needed to use up some bananas and decided to go with muffins. I am so glad I found this recipe because it’s an immediate absolute favourite! Thank you so much!
Absolutely delicious, I make them gluten free using oat flour mixed with a gluten free 1:1 flour and I use honey instead of maple syrup and they still come out great. Thanks so much for sharing great recipes.
Love your recipes Kate. I’m concerned that when I played the recipe video that an Israel Foreign Affairs min video showing Israeli propaganda was playing. I think it is inappropriate for any type of political propaganda to be playing on your website. Please can you review which adverts you are allowing to play on your website.
Hi Nadine, thank you for sharing that experience. That isn’t intentional, and there are many factors that determine which ads get served to site visitors. If you have details about device, browser, location, that is helpful to be able to pass along to the ad network. If you want to email about this, you can reach out to me at hello@cookieandkate.com.
Thank you for sharing this simply DELISH recipe!! Sooo good!!
Amazing muffins. Finally, a recipe I want to stick with. Wow! I used coconut oil and maple syrup. Moist and great flavour. Thanks.
Hi,
Can you give the measurement in grams?
I’m not getting proper texture
Hello, I have some baking recipes with grams and have a long term goal of updating additional recipes to include metric weights. Thank you for sharing your interest.
We tried these from a friend and they are great! Can I bake them in the air fryer? Would it come out the same?
Hi Jolene, I haven’t tested these recipes in air fryers. If you use it for other baked goods, it should be fine. There are so many different types of models and that makes a difference.
Excellent banana muffin!
Hi! Can I substitute avocado oil? Thank you and I can’t wait to make this recipe.
Hi Joy, yes you could use avocado oil.
Oh my, I made these muffins today 6/29/25.
They taste delicious. I used Bob’s redmill all purpose flour instead of wheat. 3 tbsp of aquafaba for 1 of the eggs I added a teaspoon of raw cocoa powder and added nuts on the top instead of the oat.
So delicious thank you for
sharing.
I am have been in search of the perfect morning muffin recipe to replace my store bought muffins (less than healthy). This is the third muffin recipe I have tried in the last 30 days. This is by far the best! I will keep making this one. Thank you!