SKINNY BANANA BREAD MUFFINS that are so flavorful and moist you would never know they are healthy (er). These banana muffins have no oil, are low sugar, and just over 100 calories each.
If you’ve followed along on TBFS you may already know my adoration for quick-bread and muffins. I’m always coming up with ways to make them healthier, so I don’t have to feel guilty eating one or giving my kids a muffin for a snack.
I find these healthy applesauce oat muffins and these skinny pumpkin chocolate chip muffins completely irresistible.
I also love how well muffins freeze. They make my life easier when I need a quick and easy snack for my family, or something to add to my kids school lunch.
Since this skinny banana bread recipe is such a fan favorite, I wanted to show you the easy steps for making the same recipe, into muffins!
How to make banana bread:
Start by adding mashed bananas, egg, a little spoonful of white and brown sugar, and cinnamon to a mixing bowl. Then add the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Then stir in two tablespoons of melted butter. Don’t over-mix the batter (you can read more about that in my notes, below).
Divide the batter evenly into a standard 12 cup muffin pan.
Once the muffins are baked you can enjoy them plain, or with a thin spread of butter.
They freeze really well if you want to make a big batch for easy on-the-go snacks or breakfast.
Tips for perfect banana muffins:
Use extra-ripe bananas:
I like to use really, really ripe bananas. Like, so ripe that the skin is black, and my husband is begging me to remove them from our kitchen counter :-). The riper the banana, the sweeter it is, the easier it is to mash, and the more sweetness it adds to the bread.
This recipe calls for 4 large bananas, which I love because it makes the muffins really moist, flavorful and sweet.
If you don’t have ripe bananas for banana bread, use this trick:
Place the bananas, peel on, on a baking sheet and bake at 350 degree F for about 6-8 minutes, or until the banana skin is dark.
Don’t over-mix the batter:
When you combine the dry and wet ingredients, you only want to stir them together until the flour is mostly incorporated. The more you mix the batter, the more gluten will develop, which will make the muffins more rubbery and dense –yuck! So, for super tender muffins, just stir the batter until the ingredients are just combined.
LOOKING FOR MORE HEALTHY SNACK IDEAS? TRY SOME OF MY OTHER FAVORITES:
- Healthy Applesauce Oat Muffins
- Strawberry Banana Protein Smoothie
- No-Bake Granola Bars
- Healthy No-Bake Granola Bites
- Tomato Avocado Melt
- Citrus Fruit Salad
FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, TWITTER, INSTAGRAM and PINTEREST for more great recipes!
Skinny Banana Bread Muffins
Recipe Video
Ingredients
- 4 bananas , about 1 1/3 cups, mashed
- 1 large egg
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
- 3 Tablespoons light brown sugar
- 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (white or whole wheat)
- 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter , melted
Instructions
- Grease a standard muffin pan (or line with paper muffin liners). Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Mash bananas in a mixing bowl. Add egg, vanilla, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and cinnamon and stir well to combine.
- In a separate small bowl stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add to banana mixture and stir, just to combine.
- Gently stir in melted butter. Don't over-mix the batter.
- Spoon the batter into prepared muffin pan and bake for 18-25 minutes. Makes 12 muffins.
Heather says
I used the whole wheat flour option, dumped everything in my stand mixer, and gave it a quick mix to combine. I used mini-muffin tins with mini paper liners to make these bite size for my daughters, who can never finish a regular size muffin, but will somehow devour 5 minis in one sitting if I’d let them. (I guess “cuteness” makes them more appetizing?) The only adjustment I made was bake time. It took 11 minutes at 350 for the minis to come out perfectly done, with a beautiful rise and texture. I will skip the papers next time, as they did stick quite a bit, and just go with a greased tin. The recipe made exactly 48 mini-muffins.
Thank you so much for this awesome revamping of traditional banana bread. It is excellent and will become part of our regular recipe repertoire!
Catherine @ To & Fro Fam says
These muffins were amazing!!! I subbed 1 c gluten free flour and half cup oats for the flour, then added some chocolate chips (because kids) and they are some of the best GF muffins I’ve ever made. My kids are huge fans too!!
Lauren Allen says
I’m so happy to hear they work with gluten free flour. Thanks for sharing!
Laura Speirs says
Yumm….
Windy says
I used wheat flour and added some applesauce and mini chocolate chips and they are AMAZING!
Mary King says
i used this recipe but used 1 c Whole wheat flour and 1/2 cup oats as someone who commented had used. I was a little skeptical of the 1 tablespoon of vanilla as had never seen that much in any recipe before. I only had 3 banana, but hey were the larger ones. Also put everything in blender at once, hoping not to over mix. They were delicious, moist and unbelievable taste! Can’t wait for my grandchildren to test them tomorrow!! Thank you for the best banana muffins ever!
Lauren Allen says
I love those adaptations! Thanks for sharing with us.
Hannah says
We love these muffins! Does anyone know the bake time for a 9×5 loan pan? Thanks!
Lauren Allen says
Yes, here’s the recipe made in a loaf pan 🙂 https://tastesbetterfromscratch.com/skinny-banana-bread/
Susan says
I used whole wheat flour and added oats and ground flax seed (and semi sweet chocolate chips) – all 3 of my very picky kids loved them!
Lauren Allen says
Thanks for sharing your adaptions! I’m happy everyone loved them!
Stacy Watkins says
Wonderful muffins! I added chopped walnuts on the top. This morning I warmed a muffin in the microwave and topped with peanut butter. Tastes like dessert!
Danette Morton says
Wow! I was skeptical, but these turned out really great. I used half wheat and half white flour. And, I added a bit of applesauce to compensate for only three bananas. Muffins were perfectly done at 20 mintues.
Alicia says
I had a few bananas that were at the point of tossing so I figured instead of wasting them I would try to make banana bread muffins!! I followed your recipe and they turned out awesome!!!! Thanks for sharing a great recipe! 🙂
Lauren Allen says
The perfect use of old bananas! Thanks Alicia, I hope you get to try more of my recipes soon.