The perfect solution for overripe bananas! This no-fail recipe for easy and healthy Banana Nut Muffins come out perfect. They're soft and dense, filled with ripe banana flavor and nutty goodness, and perfect for breakfast, snack, or dessert.
Looking for a quick and healthy treat? Check out my Healthy Blender Chocolate Muffins for a simple, chocolatey snack that’s naturally sweetened and gluten-free!
During the week, I am a happy camper with any of my make-ahead breakfasts like my frozen breakfast burritos, egg whites scramble with sweet potato hash, breakfast sandwiches, or my quick and trusty smoothies.
And a big cup of coffee. Duh.
However, there are times when I want something different for breakfast. Something that can easily pass as dessert, but it’s still healthy and nutritious. Something like my protein pancakes. Or like these healthy banana nut muffins or my Healthy Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins.
These easy banana muffins are a wonderful use of extra bananas that are too ripe to eat raw but too good to be thrown away. So, if you have ever wondered what to do with ripe bananas, these banana muffins are your answer. It's basically what a ripe banana was born to become.
In This Post You'll Find:

Reasons You'll Love It
- Uses leftover bananas and turns them into greatness.
- Perfect texture.
- A good way to get healthy carbs and replace other muffins with too much sugar.
- It's a great meal prep idea.
These little banana nut muffins are great for grab-and-go breakfast, but they are also amazing for a sit-down and enjoy with a cup of coffee at breakfast, especially during weekends when mornings are less hectic.
This is a simple banana nut muffins recipe and the muffins come out perfect: soft but dense, filled with banana flavor and, of course, nutty goodness. Honestly, the muffin batter is simple to make - you're gonna love it. It's even easier than my peach muffins, and those are super easy!
Watch Me Make Easy Banana Nut Muffins
This recipe is quite easy to make—you don’t need a mixer or to dirty many dishes either. It’s an all-around winner for everyone.
If you’re looking for a twist on these tasty muffins that also happens to be healthy too, check out my Healthy Chocolate Chip Muffins recipe, too! So good!

Ingredient Notes
- For Gluten-Free Diets: Replace spelt flour with almond flour to make the muffin batter gluten-free
- For Vegan Diets: Replace egg with flax egg or an additional mashed banana
- For Paleo Diets: Replace spelt flour with Almond Flour
- For Nut-Free Diets: Replace walnuts with dark chocolate chips
- Don't Like Coconut Oil? Replace with additional mashed banana - it's hard to believe that you can simply mash bananas and it will replace oil, but it's true.
How to Make Banana Nut Muffins Healthy
Initially, this banana nut muffin recipe was not on the healthy side, but I revamped it and now the banana walnut muffins are totally healthy and nutritious.
Here's how I did it:
- I used spelt flour instead of all-purpose flour. (More on why here)
- I removed the butter and added one more banana.
- I used coconut oil to grease the muffin tin instead of butter or vegetable oil. (More on why here)
- I sweeten it with ripe bananas instead of added sugar. This recipe originally called for brown sugar, but I have realized it's just as delicious without any added sweetener. (More on why here)
The easy banana nut muffins remained easy to make. But now they are also healthy. I’d call that a happy win, wouldn’t you?
Walnuts Vs Pecans
Sometimes, I sprinkle some crushed walnut bits on top of a few of them before baking and that adds a nice little touch as well. And a crunchy texture. <-- LOVE
Pecans and walnuts are both healthy and yummy. Some people think they are the same thing, but they are not. There are a few differences between them.
- The first thing you’ll notice when you analyze walnuts vs pecans is the taste. Pecans are slightly sweet, while walnuts are slightly bitter. That’s why most people prefer roasted walnuts to raw walnuts.
- And, while both of these nuts bring amazing health benefits, particularly heart health benefits, their nutritional profile is not the same.
- Pecans have higher levels of vitamin E compared to walnuts. But walnuts are higher in Omega 3 and fatty acids.
- A cup of walnuts = 765 calories, 18 grams of protein, and 8 grams of fiber while a cup of pecans = 753 calories, 10 grams of protein, and 10 grams of fiber.
Depending on your flavor preferences, you can opt for either pecans or walnuts. I prefer raw walnuts in my banana nut muffins, but the choice is yours. Heck, you could even leave them out or replace them with chocolate morsels, if you'd prefer!

How To Make Banana Nut Muffins
Alright, so I am saying these banana nut muffins are easy and I mean EASY to make.
How to make banana nut muffins:
- Preheat the oven;
- Grease the muffin tin;
- Mash the bananas with a fork or potato masher;
- Add the egg and vanilla over the bananas and stir until combined;
- In a separate bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and sea salt until well mixed;
- Add the dry ingredients over the banana mixture.
- Stir to combine. Here comes the tricky part – do not over-mix. The less you stir the mixture at this time, the fluffier the muffins will be when baked. It’s not that tricky after all, is it?
- Fold in the nuts;
- Transfer the mixture to the muffin tin;
- Bake.
Woo-hoo! Your healthy banana nut muffins are ready! So. Easy.
They also make a great breakfast meal prep idea if you want to prep ahead.

How Long To Bake Banana Nut Muffins
Bake these healthy banana muffins for just 20-25 minutes. Use a toothpick to check if the muffins are done. That means you can be up and running with these babies in less than 40 minutes! Aaaaaaand, go!
If the toothpick comes out clean and tops are golden brown, your banana muffins are ready. The interior of the muffins has to be soft.
Make sure to not over-bake otherwise the muffins will be dry and not as good.


How To Store Banana Nut Muffins
You can store these simple banana muffins in 3 different ways:
- At room temperature. Wrap in plastic wrap or an airtight container to prevent drying. Stored like this, your banana muffins will last for 1 or 2 days.
- In the fridge. Place in an air-tight container and refrigerate the muffins for up to 4-5 days.
- In the freezer. To store the banana muffins in the freezer, cool them completely, wrap them in foil or place them in Ziploc bags. Banana muffins can be stored in the freezer for up to 3 months.

More Healthy Muffin Recipes
Want more healthy muffin recipes? Duh, right?!? Here are my fave healthy muffin recipes from the blog. So many tasty muffin recipes to choose from! You might need another muffin pan!
- Healthy Blender Chocolate Muffins
- Healthy Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Healthy Egg Muffin Cups (Great for Meal Prep!)
- The Best Healthy Strawberry Muffins
- Peach Muffins (Video)
- Paleo Apple Muffins with Crunchy Crumb Topping
Are Banana Nut Muffins Healthy?
Generally, banana nut muffins are not very healthy. Muffins are one of my top fake healthy foods. BUT you can easily make them healthy and without sacrificing all the yumminess, like we did in this recipe.

Easy Banana Nut Muffins
Equipment
- muffin tin
*This post may contain affiliate links for products I use often and highly recommend.
Ingredients
- 5 ripe bananas, mashed
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups spelt flour (can also use whole wheat pastry flour)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 cup raw walnuts, chopped
- ½ tablespoon coconut oil, for greasing muffin pan
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease muffin tin with coconut oil.
- In a medium mixing bowl, mash the bananas using a fork or potato masher. Add the egg and vanilla and stir to combine. Set aside.
- In a separate mixing bowl, combine the spelt flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and sea salt. Mix well.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir to combine. Do not over mix.
- Fold in the walnuts.
- Pour the mix into the prepared muffin pan, approximately ⅔ of the way full.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean and tops are golden brown.
- Allow to cool on a cooling rack.









Julie
I made these Banana Nut Muffins last night and the were sooo good AND soooo easy! I hate to throw anything away and I had 4 banana's there I really needed to do something with. I received your email with the muffin recipe and knew I was going to use them for that. I will be making this recipe many times over. Thanks for sharing!!!
Lacey Baier
YES! Love your comment, Julie 🙂 I'm so happy you enjoyed the muffins and that you'll be making them again.
Jean
Awesome. Easiest and best I have ever made. Thanks!
Lacey Baier
Yay! I LOVE this, Jean. Thanks for your comment 🙂
Melissa
Hi! These muffins were soo good! My family loves them! Any idea how many calories each muffin has? Thanks
Lysette
This recipe was perfect. Muffins were moist and with the right amount of sweetness.
Linda
This is a great recipe. Thanks for sharing. Tried a few others but this is the best and is a hit! I used 5 medium bananas.
diba
Thank You, and would it taste bad if i used whole wheat flour
Lacey Baier
I've never tried, but it shouldn't taste bad.
Gary
I've tried other recipes and found this to be the best so far.
I used a 50/50 mix of white and whole wheat flour.
I used macadamia nuts instead.
Best results yet 🙂
Lacey Baier
Perfect! Thanks so much for sharing that 🙂
diba
Thank You
diba
hello i'm making muffins for my mom. how can i make this recipe low fat(what can i change).
Thank you,
Diba
Lacey Baier
Hi there. You can substitute applesauce for oil to save some fat. Good luck!
Myra
I made it for my mom and dad, my 2 sisters and me and it was a bomb. I will definitely make it again.
Lacey Baier
Awesome. So glad you all enjoyed them 🙂
Kelli Anderson
I made these this morning with brown sugar/splenda blend. I added a whole cup of that. Oh my goodness! Heavenly. Thanks for sharing.
Lacey Baier
Great recipe substitutions. Thanks for the feedback 🙂
Carol
Made a dozen of these this morning. When my husband finishes and says, "that was delicious", I know I have a winning recipe.
Lacey Baier
Haha, I so know what you mean 🙂
Suzanne
Love this site! These were the easiest AND tastiest banana muffins I have ever made. I didn't have butter...I ran out of a staple 😉 ...but I used canola oil instead and they came out great. Thank you!
Lacey Baier
Yay! Don't you just LOVE easy and tasty recipes? 🙂
Becca Beitel
I made these today for fathers day because my whole family loves them. I only had a little more than half a cup of walnuts but they were still really good:) I love how much healthier they are then a bunch of Other recipes I tried looking at!
Lacey Baier
Awesome!
Joan Lowder
I knew it was a good idea to hang onto to nasty bananas. Haven't made Banana bread in more years than I can remember so I decided to make muffins so I could share. I added some walnuts to the top before cooking with a smidge of brown sugar and I added Cinnamon to the batter which I mixed with a fork. Thanks for the recipe.
Lacey Baier
You're very welcome. Hooray for nasty bananas! 😉
Diarra
Hi Lacey! I bought about 1 cup of pureed bananas to try with this recipe, so do you think I could leave out the butter and bananas without compromising the muffins?
Lacey Baier
hmm..I've ever cooked with pureed bananas before, but I'd think you should be ok to try that.