Banana Muffins/Banana Bread – Core Recipe

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Banana muffins/loaf are a mainstay of our breakfasts – normally at the weekend – and they are an absolute favourite with our girls at any time of the day! They are buttery, light, fluffy and full of banana flavour. They are delicious served simply with butter, and perhaps some honey or maple syrup, but also wonderful when made with additional ingredients, such as chocolate, nuts and fruit. You can also add other flavourings such as lemon, orange, almond, vanilla and also spices.

Who doesn’t love a basket of fresh, (ideally) warm, muffins? They make fabulous treats and would cheer up most people’s day! We used to have a bike shop near our house, and when the girls were little, they would take their bikes there with the smallest of problems, such as tyres that needed pumping up and punctures. They were incredibly helpful and never charged us. Maybe it was the basket of warm muffins the girls would take down from time to time!!

You can make this recipe into Banana Muffins or a Banana Bread

I make this recipe as individual muffins, as well as in a loaf tin. It slices well and is fabulous toasted the next day.

A variety of recipes based on Banana Muffins/Banana Bread – Core Recipe

Although absolutely divine just as they are, you can use this Core Recipe as a base to add lots of additional ingredients and flavourings. Think of it as a blank canvas and use your imagination. Keep an eye out for these dishes:

Recipes already posted:

• Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
• Raspberry, White Chocolate and Banana Muffins
• Coffee flavoured Banana Muffins with Milk Chocolate Chunks
• ‘Good Morning’ Muffins with Oats, Carrots, Apple, Raisins, Pecans and Autumn Spice

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Recipes I plan to post:

Like the majority of my core recipes, this recipe can be adapted in many different ways. Look out for the following recipes which I will be posting in the future:

• Apple and Almond with Fresh Blueberries
• Apple and Cinnamon with Pecan Nuts and Pumpkin Seeds and a Honey and Cinnamon Butter
• Autumn Spiced with Apple Butter, Fresh Apple, Pecans and Raisins
• Banana and Blueberry 
• Banana and Blueberry with Oats, Pecans and Autumn Spice 
• Banana with a Cinnamon Centre, Crumble Topping and Vanilla Icing Glaze
• Banana with Nutella and Peanut Butter
• Banana with Pistachio, Coconut and Cardamom
• Banana, Blueberry and Pecan with Autumn Spice
• Blackberry and Apple with Autumn Spices, Pumpkin Seeds and Streusel Topping
• Chocolate Chunk Banana and Cinnamon 
• Double Chocolate Orange Banana Muffins
• Ginger and Pear with Almond and Pumpkin Seed Streusel Topping
• Orange and Banana with Orange Chocolate
• Peanut Butter Banana with Chocolate Chunks
• Roast Banana and Pecan with Rye
• Spiced Pumpkin with Blueberries and Pecans
• Spicy Pumpkin with Cream Cheese and Pecans
• Triple Chocolate Banana Muffins with Hazelnuts

How to make Banana Muffins/Banana Bread – Core Recipe

Collect all your ingredients together:

Wet ingredients –

• unsalted butter 
• browning bananas, peeled and mashed, or apple butter or pumpkin puree 
• natural yoghurt
• egg
• vanilla extract (optional)
• caster sugar

Dry ingredients –

• plain/all-purpose flour
• baking powder  
• bicarbonate of soda
• fine salt

How to make these delectable muffins:

1. Place a microwave-save mixing bowl on some electric scales and zero the scales. Weigh the cubed butter directly into your bowl and melt the butter in 15 second increments in the microwave. Alternatively, the butter can be melted in a small saucepan and transferred to a mixing bowl.
2. Add the banana, broken into pieces and mash roughly with a fork.
3. Now, with the mixing bowl sitting back on the scales, zero them and weigh in the wet ingredients – the yoghurt, egg, vanilla and sugar directly on top of the butter and banana. Beat well with an electric whisk.
4. Put a sieve over the top of the mixing bowl and put back on the scales. Zero the scales and weigh the dry ingredients into the sieve – the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt.
5. Shake onto the mixture and then fold in gently with a spatula until very nearly mixed.
6. Fold in any additional ingredients, if using.
7. Use an ice cream scoop or a spoon to divide between 6 muffin cases (you may need 7 if you have added additional ingredients) in a muffin tin. They should be ⅔ full. Or transfer to a lined 1lb loaf tin.
8. Bake in the centre of the oven for 5 minutes, reduce the temperature and cook for a further:
   • 15 – 18 minutes for the muffins
   • 30 – 35 minutes for the loaf.
9. Remove from the oven when they are cooked and leave to sit for 5 – 10 minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack.
10. To serve: serve as they are or also delicious served with –
    • Salted Maple Whipped Butter
    • Salted Cinnamon and Honey Butter
    • Butter
    • Honey/maple syrup
    • Yogurt
    • Fresh berries
    • Fresh banana
    • Ricotta cheese
    • Jam/conserve
    • Nuts
    • Seeds

NB Cooking the muffins at a higher temperature for 5 minutes, quickly activates the baking powder and bicarbonate of soda, ensuring your muffins are always light and fluffy.

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Brown Bananas

One of the key issues when baking banana muffins is using bananas at the correct stage of ‘over-ripe!’. They should be so over-ripe you probably wouldn’t eat them, the skins will be brown and the banana flesh very soft – they will however be very sweet, full of flavour and perfect for baking. Timing is therefore key!

You can freeze bananas and then cook with them

The good thing is that you can freeze over-ripe bananas if you do not want to use them immediately. Simply remove the skin, chop into 2 cm pieces, pop into a bag and freeze. Defrost before using in baking. 

The brown banana below is perfect for cooking although it doesn’t need to be quite this brown! The yellow one underneath is very nearly ready to use in cooking.

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You can also make these muffins with pumpkin puree or apple butter/sauce

Whilst this recipe is a wonderful way to use up over-ripe bananas, it also works exceptionally well with pumpkin puree or apple butter instead of the mashed banana. They both have a similar texture and add sweetness and moisture.

What is the best way to store Banana Muffins/Bread?

Like most Banana Muffins/Bread, this recipe is best eaten the day it is made. They do store well though, in an airtight container, and will keep for up to 3 days at room temperature or up to 5 days in the fridge. (Remember to take them out of the fridge and allow them to come to room temperature before eating.) Muffins and slices from a loaf can be quickly warmed in the microwave and, as I mentioned before, the slices toast well. 

Can you freeze Banana Muffins/Bread?

Yes you can! They freeze well for up to 3 months. Cover and put them in the freezer as soon as possible, but make sure they have completely cooled before bagging. Defrost in the fridge overnight. If you are making packed lunches, freeze some muffins in individual bags – pop them, frozen, into a packed lunch in the morning and they will be defrosted by lunch time. 

Freeze muffins before you cook them and then cook them from frozen

Exciting newsflash: (maybe I need to get out more!) you can freeze the muffins whilst raw and then cook them from frozen, whenever you want a fresh hot muffin straight from the oven! It’s a game changer! Mix up a batch of muffins, cook what you need and freeze the rest for another day! I do this all the time with cookies and suddenly thought, why not try it with muffins. Use the bananas up at the right time but have banana muffins anytime. For details of how to cook from frozen, please see Recipe Notes.

These muffins were cooked from frozen:

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Made this recipe?

If you make this recipe, do please tag me on instagram @daffodil_kitchen. You could also leave a comment in the box directly below the recipe.