Healthy Banana Muffins are super tasty with a light, tender crumb. Made with everyday ingredients, they’re free from butter and refined sugars!
Looking for banana muffins? Try Peanut Butter Banana Muffins, Flourless Banana Muffins, or Chocolate Banana Muffins for a chocolatey twist!
Healthy Banana Muffins
My kids go through muffins so fast that I’ve started making big batches and freezing them. These Healthy Pumpkin Muffins have been a favorite lately, but with some overripe bananas on hand, I decided to try a new take on banana muffins.
Using this Banana Crumb Muffin recipe as a base, I made a few swaps: less oil, Greek yogurt for extra protein, no refined sugar, and lots of bananas. The result? Absolutely delicious!
Ingredients In Healthy Banana Muffins
- Ripe bananas: About 2 medium or large bananas make 1 cup.
- Large egg: Adds flavor, color, and texture to muffins.
- Coconut oil: Adds a hint of coconut.
- Honey: Naturally sweetens muffins without sugar.
- Greek yogurt: Makes muffins creamy and moist. Try honey vanilla yogurt for extra flavor.
- Vanilla extract: Adds a hint of flavor; optional.
- Flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt: Key ingredients for baking muffins.
- Ground cinnamon: Swap with pumpkin or apple pie spice if you like.
How To Make Healthy Banana Muffins
- Prep Pan: Tap the pan upside down to shake off extra flour for an even coating.
- Mash Bananas: A mixer makes it easy to mash bananas and get rid of lumps.
- Wet Ingredients: Cool the oil first so it doesn’t cook the egg.
- Dry Ingredients: Measure flour carefully to keep muffins soft and fluffy.
- Wet and Dry: Don’t overmix; stop as soon as you can’t see dry flour.
- Fill Muffin Cups: Use a scoop to make all muffins the same size.
- Bake: Turn the pan halfway through baking so everything cooks evenly.
Variations
Switch Things Up
- Chocolate Chips: Mix 1/2 to 1 cup of mini chocolate chips with dry ingredients.
- Nuts: Add a little finely chopped nuts, oats, or sunflower seeds on each muffin.
- Coconut: Add 1 tsp of unsweetened coconut flakes to each muffin.
- Crumb Topping: Mix 2 tbsp each of brown sugar and white sugar with 6 tbsp flour, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, and 3 tbsp butter. Sprinkle on muffins before baking.
- Dried Fruit: Coat 1/2 to 1 cup of dried cranberries or raisins with dry ingredients.
- Mini Muffins: Use a small muffin tin and bake for 12-14 mins until a toothpick comes out clean.
More Baked Goods
- Healthy Banana Bread made with Greek yogurt
- Chocolate Chip Muffins with mini chocolate chips
- Lemon Zucchini Bread with a lemon glaze
- Healthy No-Bake Cookies with coconut
- Healthy Blueberry Muffins made with Greek yogurt
Healthy Banana Muffins
Healthy Banana Muffins with no added butter or refined sugars. These muffins are delicious, light, and tender, and use natural ingredients!
Equipment
- Muffin pan 12 cavities
Ingredients
- 1 cup very ripe bananas about 2 bananas
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup melted and cooled coconut oil
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1/4 cup honey vanilla Greek yogurt I recommend Greek Gods yogurt
- 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup nuts or 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips or 1/2 cup coconut flakes, optional, see note 1
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray all 12 cavities of a muffin pan with cooking spray and lightly flour. Shake out any excess flour and set aside.
- Mash 2 very ripe bananas to get 1 level cup of mashed banana (see note 2). Mash well to get rid of any/all chunks. Add to a large bowl. Add in the egg, melted and cooled coconut oil, honey, Greek yogurt, and vanilla extract. Whisk until combined and smooth.
- In a separate bowl, add baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt to a large bowl. Add in flour (spoon flour into the measuring cup and level the top) and optional nuts or mini chocolate chips. Stir until combined. Add wet into dry ingredients. Mix until just combined. Do not overmix; this will cause deflated or dense muffins.
- Divide the batter evenly among the 12 muffin cups. Each muffin cup should be pretty much filled to the top and all the batter should be used. If desired, add a sprinkle of coconut on top of each muffin. Bake for 18–23 minutes or until a toothpick when inserted into the center comes out dry or with a few moist crumbs. Remove and allow to cool 5 minutes before removing the muffins and transferring to a cooling rack.
Video
Recipe Notes
Note 1: I love these muffins and have tried them so many ways! I’ve made them plain, with mini chocolate chips mixed through, with chopped nuts mixed through, and with coconut on top. The step-by-step pictures in the post show the process for making these muffins plain. The first and last shot in the post showcase the muffins with coconut flakes added before baking.
Note 2: To make sure the banana is mashed well and you don’t end up with big chunks in your muffins, mash the ripe bananas with a hand or stand mixer. To do this, peel the bananas, break them into large chunks, and beat them with the mixer until well mashed.
Nutrition
Serving: 12muffins | Calories: 152kcal | Carbohydrates: 16.9g | Protein: 0.9g | Fat: 9.5g | Cholesterol: 15.7mg | Sodium: 9.1mg | Fiber: 0.5g | Sugar: 14.3g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
These muffins sound delicious. Just wondering if I could substitute apple sauce for the yogurt. My family has a dairy sensitivity.
Thanks for the healthy recipe!
I’m sorry I haven’t ever tried that, I don’t think the two are a great substitute for each other though (yogurt is going to be thicker and more substantial while applesauce would act more like an oil). Wish I could be of more help.
Can you do a sub for the flour – Almond or Coconut?
I haven’t tried either in this recipe so I’m not really sure. I know both absorb a lot more liquid than regular flour so the muffins would need some tweaking
Great muffins! Followed the recipe and they turned out delicious. Very moist, not too dense, and subtle flavor. I might add a little more cinnamon next time. Nutritious too! Thanks for recipe!
I’m so glad you enjoyed these! You should definitely try it with more cinnamon if you’d like more flavor! 🙂 Thanks Carol!
I just made these muffins and they are the best muffins I have ever had and so few calories. I am going to add raisins next time. I would have like to have had the nutrition facts though.
I made these muffins tonight and they are delicious! These are so moist and light and will definitely make these again.
Ahh i’m so glad to hear! Those sound like some awesome substitutions! Glad you enjoyed! 🙂
I am going to try to make these for my 13 month old baby girl, but she is allergic to eggs. Do you know if they will still work out if I just omit the eggs? Or is there anything I should add in place of the egg?
They won’t work without the eggs, but you could try replacing it with a “flax egg”. I’m not really sure how that will perform without trying it first though. Wish I could be of more help!
These were amazing! Made them this morning, and even minus the vanilla extract, they came out perfect. My toddler is scarfing them down for breakfast. I also didn’t bother completely mashing up the banana, so they came out a bit chunkier, but still delicious.
So happy to hear that!! Thanks so much for the comment 🙂
Hi Chelsea! I love your recipes specially the healthier versions. Would love it if you could indicate the calorie count per serving ? More power to you! Keep ’em coming!
I just made these and they are great!!
Awesome!! Thanks for the comment 🙂
Just made these for my 2 year old and myself and they are delicious and filling! Lately when I do a search for a recipe I type it in google images and browse the photos. So today I typed in healthy banana muffins and when I find the one that looks like what I want, I go check it out! I lucked out and picked yours first, it had all the stuff I wanted and didnt have the stuff I dont want! Anyway, thanks for sharing!
Yeah!! That is so great to hear 🙂 It’s the best when you don’t have to make a grocery store run! 🙂 Thanks Gretchen!!