These pumpkin banana muffins are light, buttery heaven! They’re filled with sweet bananas, pumpkin puree, and the best blend of fall spices. Top them with a rich crumb topping and a slice of banana for the final touch. Enjoy them all season long for breakfast or dessert.
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📋 About the Recipe
- An upgraded banana bread recipe! Most of us love a banana muffin year round, but the start of fall means it’s time to include pumpkin in everything - including the banana muffin. You’ll love this fall twist so much, you'll be making them all year long!
- Ready in less than an hour. If you avoid baking because it takes too long, this is the recipe for you. All you’ll need is 30 minutes to get these muffins in the oven and a few mixing bowls to make both the banana muffins and the homemade crumb topping.
- Freezer friendly. Make as many batches of these banana muffins as you’d like and stash the extra in the freezer for later. Wrap them individually so you can remove one at a time from the freezer for a quick and easy breakfast or snack. Make a batch of pumpkin zucchini muffins or pistachio muffins too to have plenty of freezer options!
🛒 Ingredients
A few notes about the ingredients:
- Banana - In order to make the sweetest banana muffins, wait for your banana to get ripe and spotty before using them in your muffin batter. As bananas ripen, they become more sweet and add the perfect natural sweetener to these muffins.
- Butter - I always recommend unsalted butter, but salted butter can be used in a pinch. If using, omit the additional kosher salt.
- Pumpkin puree - This recipe is made with 100% pure pumpkin puree. When shopping for pumpkin puree, always check the ingredients. If you accidentally buy pumpkin pie mix or pumpkin pie filling in a can, your muffins are going to be overly sweetened.
- Milk - For the perfect batter consistency, you’ll need ¼ cup of milk. You can use your favorite milk or whatever you have on hand. If you use a non dairy milk, make sure it is unsweetened so the flavor of your muffins is not altered.
- Rolled oats - In addition to all purpose flour, rolled oats are essential to making a homemade crumb topping. For best results, use rolled oats NOT instant oats.
📓 Instructions
- Preheat and prep. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and spray a muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray or line with 12 muffin liners.
- Whisk together the dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together the all purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, kosher salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. Set aside.
- Whisk together the wet ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, melted butter, pumpkin puree, mashed bananas, eggs, milk, and vanilla extract.
- Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Whisk until just combined - avoid overmixing.
- Prepare the muffin crumb topping. In a medium bowl, combine the cold butter, flour, brown sugar, oats, cinnamon, and kosher salt. Using a pastry cutter or a fork, cut the butter into the other ingredients until it creates a pea-sized crumb.
- Fill the muffin pan. Scoop the muffin batter into the prepared muffin pan. Fill each muffin cup almost to the top. Spoon the crumble overtop each and place a slice of banana on top of the crumble.
- Bake. Transfer the muffin pan to the oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean with just a few crumbs.
- Cool the pumpkin banana muffins. Allow the muffins to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn the muffins out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
⁉️ Substitutions and Alterations
- How to use pumpkin pie spice instead: If you’d like, you can substitute ¾ teaspoon of store-bought pumpkin pie spice in place of the called for ginger and nutmeg.
❄️ How to Store
Storage: Since these muffins contain fresh slices of banana on top, they are best stored in the refrigerator to preserve the ingredients. If stored in an airtight container, these pumpkin banana muffins will last for up to 7 days. If you prefer to store your muffins at room temperature, you can do so, but they should be eaten within 1 to 2 days.
Do pumpkin muffins freeze well? Yes! Most muffins will freeze well, including these pumpkin banana muffins. To freeze, wrap each individual muffin in plastic wrap and place together in a zip top bag. Thaw the muffins on the counter or in the refrigerator overnight. Then, once the muffins are defrosted, prepare the glaze and top the muffins as usual.
🔍 FAQs
No, I do not recommend replacing the banana with additional pumpkin. The banana not only adds flavor, but is an additional natural source of sweetness. If you were to replace the banana with additional pumpkin puree, the bread would be fairly bland tasting.
Although bananas are a main ingredient in this recipe, they can most likely be substituted with unsweetened applesauce if needed. I haven't personally tried this, but applesauce bakes similarly to bananas and should add the sweetness that is needed. Make sure to use unsweetened applesauce because sweetened applesauce will make your muffins too sweet.
Yes! We typically think of smoothies or other cold recipes when we think of frozen bananas, but they can be used in baking too. If you thaw frozen bananas in the refrigerator or at room temperature, they will become very soft again and easy to mash. Once soft, mash them and add the frozen bananas to your recipe as called for.
💭 One More Tip
Use room temperature eggs. Eggs that have come to room temperature will mix into the muffin batter more easily and make for softer, fluffier muffins. Before baking, allow them to sit on the counter for about 30 minutes.
🍴 Related Recipes
Share your cooking with me! If you make this recipe, I'd love to know! Tag @yourhomemadehealthy on Instagram or leave a comment with a rating and some feedback at the bottom of this page!
Pumpkin Banana Muffins
Equipment
Ingredients
For Pumpkin Banana Muffins
- 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg*
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger*
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
- ½ cup 100% pure pumpkin puree
- ½ cup mashed banana (about 1 ripe medium-sized banana), plus 1 extra banana for slicing and topping
- 2 large eggs
- ¼ cup milk
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
For the Crumb Topping
- 4 tablespoons (½ a stick) unsalted butter, cold
- ½ cup all purpose flour
- ¼ cup light brown sugar
- ¼ cup old fashioned rolled oats
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a muffin pan with nonstick spray or line with 12 muffin liners.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, kosher salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger.
- In a large bowl, add sugar, melted butter, pumpkin puree, mashed bananas, eggs, milk, and vanilla extract. Whisk to combine.
- Pour the flour mixture into the pumpkin mixture and whisk until just combined. Do not overmix.
- Make the crumble: In a medium bowl, combine cold butter, flour, brown sugar, oats, cinnamon, and kosher salt. Using a pastry cutter or a fork, cut the butter into the other ingredients until it creates a pea-sized crumb.
- Scoop muffin batter into the prepared muffin pan. Fill each one almost to the top. Spoon crumble over top of each and place a slice of banana on top of the crumble.
- Place muffins in the oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean with just a few crumbs.
- Allow muffins to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, before removing them and placing them on a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- Store pumpkin banana muffins in an airtight container in the refrigerator up to 1 week. Muffins are best when served the same day or the next day.
- If freezing, freeze the muffins individually wrapped with plastic wrap and placed in a zip top bag. Thaw muffins on the counter or in the refrigerator overnight.
- *¾ teaspoon of store-bought pumpkin pie spice can be used in place of the nutmeg and ginger.
Nutrition
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Vixandra says
I've got a double batch cooling on my counter right now. I grew the pumpkin myself last year, so it was good to use some of it. These are so dang good. My house smells amazing and these are delightful. My eldest is dancing around with one in joy.
Alana Lieberman says
Wow, you just made my day! I'm so happy you guys loved this recipe. Thanks for leaving a review!
Marni says
These are a MUST! I do not usually love pumpkin flavors, but the banana and pumpkin combo was amazing! I would definitely make these again.
Alana Lieberman says
That's great! I love these muffins as well. Thanks for the comment 🙂