Bursting with banana flavor, these banana nut muffins are simple to make and stay moist for days! Toasting the nuts adds a wonderful flavor, and this recipe is so easy to switch up by using different nuts or adding a crumb topping.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Add walnut pieces to a dry (ungreased) rimmed baking dish in a single layer (I like to use a 9" metal cake pan). Toast for 9-12 minutes, or until the walnuts become fragrant and have turned a darker brown. Stay close by during this process as they can go from nicely toasted to burnt quickly.
Once toasted, immediately transfer them to a plate/bowl to cool so they don't continue toasting on the hot pan. If making the muffins right away, increase oven temperature now to 375°F.
To make the muffins:
Preheat the oven to 375°F. Grease a muffin tin or add paper liners and set aside for now.
Mash bananas very well using an electric mixer until fairly smooth and creamy. Measure out one cup of the mashed banana and add it to a mixing bowl. To the bowl add the buttermilk, melted and slightly cooled butter, brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla extract. Beat until all of the ingredients are well combined and smooth.
To a separate mixing bowl add the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg. Whisk to combine evenly.
Pour the mixed wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients. Stir until the dry ingredients have just mixed in, taking care not to overmix. Some lumps in the batter are okay. Fold in nuts.
Evenly distribute the muffin batter between the prepared muffin tin wells. If you'd like to add a crumb topping, prepare that now (linked in the ingredients section) and scatter it evenly over top of the muffins.
Bake for 17-20 minutes, or until the tops spring back when pressed and a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Let muffins cool in the muffin tin for 5 minutes, then remove them and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
Ingredients NotesButtermilk: To make a cheater version of homemade buttermilk, add 2 ¼ teaspoons of white vinegar or lemon juice to a liquid measuring cup, then pour in the milk of your choice up to the ¾ cup (six ounce) line. Let sit for 10 minutes to thicken slightly (it won't be as thick as store-bought buttermilk) then add into the recipe.Butter: Allow the melted butter to cool slightly before adding it to the recipe to prevent its heat from cooking/scrambling bits of the egg.Recipe Tips
Remove the muffins from the baking pan after five minutes to prevent the muffin exteriors from overcooking and becoming tough.
Lightly spray paper muffin liners with cooking spray to help the muffins release cleanly from the paper.
Mini muffins: If baking these into mini muffins, reduce the cook time to 9-11 minutes.Storage instructions: Let the muffins cool completely before storing. Line the top and bottom of an air-tight container or bag with paper towels to absorb excess moisture from the muffins, lightly pressing the paper towel along the tops of the muffins. If not planning to eat the whole batch in a day or two, I recommend freezing the excess as soon as possible after cooling to maintain freshness.Nutrition: The nutritional information displayed is an estimate for one muffin without crumb topping.
Nutritional information is provided as an estimate. As it can vary due to many factors (brands used, quantities, etc.), we cannot guarantee its accuracy.