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.
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.
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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.
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.