Cinnamon Swirl Banana Muffins are so easy, delicious, and dare I say nutritious? Great for using up overripe bananas and a swirl of cinnamon and sugar mixed right into the batter makes every bite better than the last. Breakfast is served!
Want all the muffin recipes? Me too! Start with these popular muffin posts: Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins (with the BEST lemon glaze!), Carrot Cake Muffins, yummiest Bran Muffins, Zucchini Bread Muffins, and Carrot Cake Muffins.
Is there a better grab-and-go treat than a muffin? I think not. And I simply do not make them enough, that’s all there is to it! But this past weekend I wanted to make up a big batch of muffins because we needed a few morning’s worth of simple breakfasts. Something that even the littlest one could help herself to (so long as someone is there keeping her honest at only getting one).
Plus, if your kids are into helping make all the things in the kitchen (but they are never into helping clean up are they?) then muffins are a great place to start (pancakes fit that bill as well).
We started with bananas as a main ingredient because I had quite a few overripe ones sitting on the counter and I hate to waste them. Then, adding in the cinnamon sugar was my oldest daughter’s idea, she loves anything cinnamon-sugary and always offers it as an option. I agreed those two ingredients would make a delicious combination and the rest, as they say, is recipe history!
WHAT INGREDIENTS DO YOU NEED TO MAKE CINNAMON SWIRL BANANA MUFFINS?
- Flour
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Bananas
- Plain greek yogurt or sour cream
- Brown sugar
- Granulated sugar
- Butter
- Egg
- Vanilla extract
- Milk
- Ground cinnamon
HOW DO YOU MAKE CINNAMON SWIRL BANANA MUFFINS?
Preheat that oven to 425 and let’s get going on these deeee-licious banana muffins!
Go ahead and grease a 12-spot muffin pan or line the muffin holes with paper or silicone liners. Then, mix together ¼ cup of sugar and the cinnamon and set it aside for that beautiful swirl in later.
In a medium-size bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and soda, and the salt. Take out another larger bowl and mix the mashed bananas, Greek yogurt (or sour cream), brown sugar, ⅓ cup of granulated sugar, melted butter, egg, vanilla, and milk.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until they’re all combined. Fill the muffin liners only about ⅔ full at this point. Add about ½ teaspoon of the cinnamon-sugar mixture to the top of the batter of each muffin. Use a toothpick to swirl a figure-8 back and forth of the cinnamon-sugar mixture in each batter cup.
Add more batter to the top of each muffin, covering the cinnamon-sugar swirl. Then — and here’s where we get crazy — add another ½ teaspoon of the cinnamon-sugar, swirling that figure-8 again on top.
Put the muffins in the oven for 5 minutes to bake, then change the oven temperature to 350 and let them bake for another 10-15 minutes, until a toothpick inserted to the center of a muffin comes out clean.
Let the muffins cool before you serve. You can store them in an airtight container at room temperature up to 5 days or wrapped up individually and chilled for 2 weeks.
CUSTOMIZATION IDEAS FOR BANANA MUFFINS
And now for my favorite part — customization ideas! Who doesn’t love to add a little of this and a little of that to mix up baked goods now and then?
- Add cream cheese frosting to the top of these cinnamon swirl muffins!
- Or, use a pastry bag to pipe in a dollop of the icing inside the muffin for an additional sweet treat.
- Want to make these even more sweet? Consider adding in mini chocolate chips — about half a cup will work.
- Or add cinnamon chips (again a half cup) to the batter for all you cinnamon lovers out there.
- Chopped walnuts or pecans would make a wonderful addition to these easy banana muffins.
CAN YOU FREEZE BANANA MUFFINS?
Yes, you can freeze these muffins if you like. Sometimes I make a double or even triple batch so I can have a bunch in the freezer for those unexpected guests or for when we are running out of breakfast foods.
Wait for the muffins to cool all the way before individually wrapping each muffin in plastic wrap. Then put the muffins in a Ziploc bag or other air-tight container before putting in the freezer.
These muffins will keep for about 3 months in the freezer. Allow them to thaw on the counter before eating.
HOW MANY MASHED BANANAS MAKE A CUP?
Three average-size bananas mashed up will amount to about 1 cup of banana total. Of course if yours are larger or smaller this will change a bit but you can count on about 3 bananas to equal 1 cup. If you actually measure for this recipe and you are a little over or under, that’s okay! Three bananas total will work just fine.
Servings: 12 muffins
- 1.5 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3 medium bananas, mashed about 1 cup mashed banana
- 1/3 cup plain greek yogurt or sour cream
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 6 tablespoons butter, melted
- 1 large egg
- 1.5 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons milk
cinnamon-sugar swirl
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Preheat oven to 425 degrees and grease a 12-cavity muffin pan or line with paper or silicone liners.
Stir together 1/4 cup sugar and the cinnamon and set aside.
In a medium bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
In a large bowl mix together mashed bananas, Greek yogurt or sour cream, brown sugar, 1/3 cup granulated sugar, melted butter, egg, vanilla, and milk.
Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and stir until combined.
Fill muffin liners 2/3 full. Top with 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon-sugar mixture. Use a toothpick to swirl the cinnamon-sugar into the muffin batter (I do a figure-8 with my toothpick several times in different directions).
Fill liners the rest of the way full, dividing remaining batter evenly between all of the muffins. Top with another 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon-sugar and repeat swirling technique.
Bake for 5 minutes, then set temperature to 350 and continue to bake 10-15 minutes longer until a toothpick inserted in the center of the muffins comes out clean.
Allow to cool before serving or storing in airtight container at room temperature up to 5 days OR wrapped individually and chilled up to 2 weeks.
