I’m going to start this by saying that I am not an expert baker. I really don’t bake often, but I started playing around in my kitchen the other night with a bunch of brown bananas that I had, and I made these banana flax muffins that I ended up liking so much that I just had to share. Using a ton of mashed banana in the batter creates a soft, sweet, and moist muffin with very little added sugar and oil—two ingredients that are usually found in abundance in muffins.
This post contains some affiliate links, which means that we make a small commission off items you purchase at no additional cost to you.
Reasonably Delicious
These Banana Flax Muffins are not like those giant cupcake-in-disguise muffins that you find in your local cafe. They’re a bit more reasonable, with a moderate sweetness and just the right amount of moisture. So like, if the giant cafe muffins were a pair of Louboutin stilettos that you pine after, these Banana Flax Muffins would be the cute pair of leopard print flats that you actually wear on a regular basis. Fun, but still reasonable enough for daily use.
Add a Streusel Topping
Okay, if you want to make these muffins just a little more fancy, I suggest adding a streusel topping. You can find a recipe for a simple streusel topping in my Streuseled Sweet Potatoes recipe. Simply mix up the streusel and sprinkle it over top of each muffin before baking. Super easy and it adds a bit more flair.
Can I Use Whole Wheat Flour?
I’ve only tested these muffins with all-purpose flour, but generally speaking, when you replace all of the all-purpose flour in a recipe with whole wheat you get a heavier, drier, more dense end product. It’s probably possible to tweak the recipe to make it work with whole wheat flour, but that would take some testing. Just doing a straight substitution probably will not give very good results.
Looking for a great banana bread recipe? Check out my Yogurt Banana Bread!
Banana Flax Muffins
Servings 6Ingredients
- 3/4 cup mashed ripe bananas* ($0.34)
- 1 large egg ($0.25)
- 2 Tbsp brown sugar ($0.08)
- 1/2 tsp vanilla ($0.14)
- 2 Tbsp olive oil ($0.32)
- 1 cup all-purpose flour ($0.11)
- 1 tsp baking powder ($0.04)
- 1/4 tsp salt ($0.02)
- 1/4 cup ground flaxseed ($0.12)
- 1/4 cup chopped walnuts (optional) ($0.57)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425ºF. In a medium bowl whisk together the mashed banana, egg, brown sugar, vanilla, and olive oil.
- In a separate medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, salt, flaxseed, and walnuts.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl of dry ingredients and stir them together just until no dry flour remains on the bottom of the bowl. Avoid over stirring the batter.
- Line six wells of a muffin tin with paper liners, then divide the batter evenly between the six wells. It should fill the wells almost to the top.
- Transfer the muffins to the oven and bake at 425ºF for five minutes, then reduce the heat setting to 350ºF without opening the oven door, and bake for an additional 20 minutes.
- After baking, remove the muffins from the tin to allow them to cool. Enjoy the muffins immediately, or allow them to cool completely and then store in an air-tight container in the refrigerator.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Equipment
- Measuring Cups Spoons
- Whisk
- Muffin Pan
- Wire Cooling Racks
Notes
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!How to Make Banana Flax Muffins – Step by Step Photos
Begin by preheating the oven to 425ºF. In a medium bowl, whisk together 3/4 cup mashed ripe banana, 1 large egg, 2 Tbsp brown sugar, 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, and 2 Tbsp olive oil.
In a separate bowl, stir together 1 cup all-purpose flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 cup ground flaxseed, and 1/4 cup chopped walnuts.
Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl of the dry ingredients, and stir them together just until no dry flour remains on the bottom of the bowl.
Make sure not to over stir the muffin batter, as this can create a rubbery texture in the baked muffins and an unusual peaked shape in the muffin tops.
Line six wells of a muffin tin with paper liners, then divide the muffin batter between the six cups.
Bake the muffins at 425ºF for five minutes, then lower the temperature (without opening the oven door) to 350ºF, and bake for 20 minutes more.
Remove the banana flax muffins from the tin to allow them to cool (leaving them in the tin lets condensation collect and can create soggy bottoms.
Enjoy the banana flax muffins warm, or allow to cool completely and then store in an air-tight container in the refrigerator.
Yum!! I doubled the recipe and after reading all the comments, I made a few changes. I had so much fun with the muffins! I used half wheat flour and half almond flour. I added some cacao powder (maybe 2 tbsp) I added an extra tbsp of brown sugar because several people commented they were not very sweet, and the recipe called for 1/2 cup of walnuts; I split them and added 1/4 of dark chocolate chips. I also added 1/2 tsp of cinnamon. And because I changed up the flour, I used slightly rounded teaspoons of the baking powder to add a little extra. I thought they baked beautifully and taste great!! Oh and because of the almond flour, I sifted all the dry ingredients! They really came out nice and fluffy! I’m excited to enjoy these and know that they shouldn’t shoot my blood sugar through the roof and there are some actual health benefits to them! Thanks for another great recipe!!
These are great! Not too sweet and the walnuts add some extra texture and flavour. They also work if you add a vegan egg alternative and still rise well. I also added a grated carrot for extra moisture and flavour. Cinnamon or nutmeg would probably work well. I’ll make them again.
This is a great recipe for people looking for a muffin that is less sweet than those cakes you get at bakeries. I added a small amount of cinnamon to the dry ingredients. The perfect thing to give me some energy before snow shoveling this lazy Saturday morning. I think I will try someone else’s suggestion of smearing some peanut butter on top when I eat the leftovers.
Okay recipe. Kind of odd to only portion for 6 servings – should have been for a dozen. I found after following the recipe the batter was flat and dry.
Added another tablespoon of brown sugar, a splash of maple syrup, a bit of cocoa powder and chocolate chips to jazz it up, and they came out great.
I tried this with oat flour to replace the regular flour and 1/4 cup applesauce to replace the egg. I feel like I could have skipped or halved the applesauce. Alternatively, maybe add a little extra oat flour. I also gave them an extra 2 minutes in the oven. Mine didn’t rise as much as the pictures, not sure if it was my choice of flour or the egg/applesauce swap but they are delicious and that’s what counts!
Excellent delicious muffins! I made them as directed with walnuts and these are going to go fast! I will definitely make again too!
I did not have some of the ingredients so I had to make due with what I had. So they became walnut raisin banana muffins. With maple syrup added in. They were great with a smear of peanut butter. Baking time remained the same. 6 muffins total.
I added a touch of cinnamon, and, as I didn’t have any, didn’t add the flaxseed. They still were quite good, although next time I made them with a bit more white sugar added (a tbsp only!). I’m adding this one to my list of uses for ripe bananas! Thank you!
This was super easy! I also added some blueberries and used some homemade rhubarb jam. Yum!
Hola
Where do I get the paper liner you used for this muffins?
They happened to have those at my local grocery store. I don’t remember which store it was (this is a few years old), unfortunately.
You can make this vegan if you use a “flax egg.”
These are incredible!!! I now get upset when people eat my bananas haha. I will say I have a hard time not getting the peaked tops, I must need a better folding technique, but they still taste great
Postpartum breastfeeding momma here! I made these amazing muffins to meal prep for a quick breakfast/easy snack. I tweaked the recipe a bit; 5 ripe bananas, added cinnamon, a little maple syrup, self rising flour (all I had), and cut the cook time by 5mins. Turned out AMAZING, nice and moist. My fiancé loved them too! This will definitely be a weekly favorite
Could I bake this into a loaf rather than muffins? How would I adjust the time? These sound so good but I threw our muffin tin out a while back and never got around to buying a new one!
That might work, but unfortunately I can’t recommend an adjusted time without actually testing it. If you decide to give it a try, let us know how it turns out!
Hi there! Has anyone tried freezing these? I am meal prepping for postpartum and hoping to include these.
The only tweak I made was to add 1/2 tsp of cinnamon, otherwise I followed the recipe to a T. These are easy, healthy and delicious! Not too sweet. I will definitely be making these again.
Sorry no. Barely sweet and dry
Perfect recipe! Just sweet enough without being too indulgent. I used 2 bananas, and baked for 5 min then 18 min and they turned out perfect. Fun trick to try: instead of liners, grease the pan with shortening, and then use cocoa powder to “flour” the greased pan- gives you the nonstick bake plus a touch of chocolate!
I love making a double batch of these on Sundays for weekday breakfasts. I used half white, half whole wheat flour, and add a sprinkle of cinnamon. I also used whole flax seeds because I like the crunch. A great way to use up some frozen bananas.
These were amazing, tasted like a legit bakery muffin. I chopped my walnuts into tiny pieces and toasted them in a hot skillet. The batter seemed REALLY dry and I was worried I messed something up, but they came out perfect! I did top with the streusel per the recommendation in the intro.
These were okay, but they came out a bit dry. I feel like more banana and/or more olive oil would have helped.
So I made these on a whim because I have a TON of ground flaxseed in my pantry, some super ripe bananas, and we are all stuck inside for quarantine on this super rainy day. Oh my gosh Beth! Such a super easy recipe and it’s the perfect amount of sweetness. I subbed a flax egg for the egg (since eggs are hard to come by at the moment) and it worked great! I love your blog, it’s been a source of many MANY successful cooking adventures in my kitchen. Thank you thank you!
These were so easy so make and besides being delicious, there were just enough for a couple of days for my husband and me! I made them just like the recipe called for! Perfect! Now, I’ll try some variations from the comments to change them up a bit! Thank you SO much!
I measured the banana and used a large egg but batter came out very dry and i had to add 1/4 cup buttermilk, by that time batter was overmixed. Made the streusel topping which was good but recipe on the other page made too much for the 6 muffins.
SO GOOD! I’ve made these 4 times now. They’re a big hit with the husband too who was, at first, very skeptical about flax and anything healthy-sounding. Perfect for someone who is a novice baker. I can’t recommend this recipe enough!
Glad to hear it Millie! Now I need to try them on my anti-flax crew :P
So yummy! I swapped out the walnuts for semi-sweet chocolate chips and they’re delicious! I love all your recipes!
I substituted whole wheat flour for the all purpose flour, I used 3/4 whole wheat flour, added 1 tbsp milk and 1 tbsp orange juice. They turned out great! Not dry at all.
I meant to say 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
Oh also I subbed in melted coconut oil instead of olive oil
Amazing! So easy and delicious, I added frozen wild blueberries to mine and it was wonderful
You’ve already got two vegan egg baking replacements (mashed banana and ground flax) in these, so I wonder if they’d work without the egg? I’ll have to give it a try and report back!
Hi Teresa – any reports on how it went without the egg?
SO GOOD! My batter came out a bit dry, so I added another small splash of olive oil and (what was supposed to be small) splash of almond milk. These muffins are just so good! Not too sweet, but sweet enough where I actually want to eat them.
Since I was diagnosed with cancer, I am trying to eat healthier and one of the things I have been doing is adding flaxseed to my diet. I was so excited when I found this recipe. These hit the spot! My husband and my kids love them …win-win! And I have been using up all my frozen ripe bananas. These are awesome. The only change I made was to put a little lemon zest in them and I may try them with whole wheat flour next time. So many of your recipes are put in my repeat list. Keep up the good work, I really appreciate your blog.
I made these today for grab-and-go breakfasts. I doubled the recipe and was not disappointed. I rly love that your site calculates adjustments for you. This was amazing, like all of your recipes. Thank you!
PS—I used nonstick spray instead of paper cups and they were just perfect.
So good and simple. Added some dark chocolate chips, to help curve my sweet tooth.
These are moist and delicious! I love that there is flax and olive oil in them and not many ingredients. Easy to make. I doubled the recipe to make a dozen, used whole wheat pastry flour, and sprayed the muffin tin with non-stick spray instead of using muffin pan liners. Another recipe to make it into my Budget Bytes Binder!
Once again, another delicious recipe! Swapped all-purpose flour for coconut flour (just because I had some I needed to use). Subbed 1/4 cup coconut flour and one extra egg for 1 cup AP flour. These aren’t super sweet and I love that. Also used pecans because that’s what I had on hand.
Amazing!
Accidentally used three bananas instead of two and was quite happy with the result. Microwaved the bananas to increase moisture before mashing since I’d been waiting for ripe bananas for like five days. This recipe delivered exactly as promised – hearty, delicious, but not too sweet. OK, well I added chocolate chips instead of walnuts because…five kids, that’s why! :) Thanks for a great recipe!
Can the same recipe be used for banana nut muffins?
I think you could safely call these banana nut muffins. :) What changes were you thinking?
No flaxseed; sub pecans for walnuts. Thoughts?
Leaving out the flaxseed will drastically change the texture and chemistry of how these bake, so I don’t suggest that, but swapping pecans will be fine. :)
Was wondering if I could use gluten free four? My daughter in law is vegan & GF.
Unfortunately I haven’t tested it that way, so I can’t offer any advice there.
I never tried this recipe before and
after reading this amazing post I think I must give it a try.
I hope I will make them like you.
I like these. They’re not as sweet as to what I’m used to but I’m trying to cut back on sugar so this works. I really like the added flax to it, it’s a good way to sneak a bit of fibre into my 10 month old.
These look amazing! I’ve been on a kick lately making “healthier” muffins for breakfast because they’re so easy to take to work. Are these fairly hearty and filling? Would you recommend a serving of 1 or 2 muffins to stay full till lunch?
They’re a bit on the smaller side, so I would consider this more like a snack or just part of a breakfast. Or, I suppose you could have two for breakfast. :) But whether or not it will keep you full until lunch is a bit too subjective to predict.
I think it’s that Ben Adams is a combo between that annoying person who corrects grammar errors (instead of saying “I think you may have a typo in your post”) and mansplaining.
I love the idea of the mashed banana and these look so moist! I was wondering if it would work if I replaced the flaxseed with poppyseed, or maybe just left it out entirely? I wasn’t sure if the flax helps the muffins bake properly somehow.
Also, lmao @ “Louis Vuitton”
Unfortunately the flax does play a big role in both the texture and moisture level of the muffins, so if you try to swap it out you’ll definitely end up with a very different result. :P
I have a friend allergic to bananas, could this conceivably be made with apples/applesauce?
It might work, but it’s a little too hard to guess without actually testing it.
Finally got a chance to test it, they baked pretty well :)
Awesome! thanks for the follow up! I might have to start experimenting with an applesauce version. :)
I sub pumpkin for banana in another muffin recipe I have and it works great!
Anyone try with almond flour? BF is low carb
Yep – I used almond flour. Worked great, though I’ve never made them with AP flour so I don’t know if I’m missing out on anything. I also used whole flaxseed because I don’t have ground, and used 3 large bananas because I was too lazy to measure and thought that looked right.
Hello Beth,
These muffins look so delicious. I was quite interested to know about the paper cases you used for the muffins, is it parchment? and if so, great idea, never thought about using this.
I’m not a baker either, prefer to cook meals, more savoury stuff. Except for my heritage New Zealand scones!!
I have been wanting to write for some time, as I so enjoy your recipes and writing style. I can see you put a lot of work and thought into your site, and I really do appreciate this so much.
I too am on a budget, and although I now live in British Columbia Canada, the cost of food seems pretty comparable to where you live in the U.S. Some items here are cheaper, however I feel that it all balances out, and am thankful that you are a number cruncher. Even though I am a young 73 I am learning quite a lot from you. Thank you.
I was wondering the same thing. Found these on Amazon, although I expect you can get them from other retailers. https://www.amazon.com/150-Pack-Natural-Grease-Proof-Wrappers-Birthday/dp/B07J5C9C8D/ref=sr_1_18?ie=UTF8&qid=1549941915&sr=8-18&keywords=muffin+paper+cups
….. “Louis Vuitton”.
http://us.christianlouboutin.com/us_en/
I just. I love this comment thread.
The best part is the email address entered to leave the comment, which is hidden to outside viewers, was “spellcheck@gmail.com” 🙄
PLUS, periods and commas go inside quotation marks, buddy! ;)
omg, I started thee Replies to him, but deleted them all. Sharing now for your enjoyment:
^^ Obviously NOT someone who knows what women want.
Fashionista wannabe.
‘Cause every woman drools over a pair of Louis Vuitton stilettos.
LMAO!
@Barbara LMAO yes so did I (re: starting a whole bunch of replies and then deleted them). LOL he gonna get roasted.