Pumpkin Banana Muffins are moist, soft, loaded with warm cinnamon spice and the perfect combination of banana and pumpkin flavors. It has a natural sweetness to it along with warm Fall flavors.
Pumpkin Banana Muffins are perfect for Fall baking, and makes the best grab-and-go breakfast…or even dessert. Top these banana pumpkin muffins with butter, or cinnamon butter when they are warm…they are so dreamy and delicious!
If you love all things pumpkin, don’t forget to also check out these favorites on the blog: Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bread, Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Scones and Best Easy Pumpkin Pie.
The BEST Pumpkin Banana Muffins
Just like my Pumpkin Banana Bread, these Pumpkin Banana Muffins are great for when you don’t want too much of either a banana or pumpkin flavor in your muffins…or when you just want both and cannot decide.
While these Banana Pumpkin Muffins are yummy all-year-round, I especially think about them as soon as the weather turns nice and crisp in the Fall.
I absolutely love filling up my home with the aroma of these soft, moist and delicious pumpkin banana muffins. That gorgeous smell of pumpkin and banana baking in the oven and permeating my entire house is what my Fall-loving heart needs.
If you are wondering, yes it’s still warm in Texas in September, but a girl can dream…and pretend that Fall is here.
There’s no secret that I am kinda into these Pumpkin Banana Muffins.
But there are reasons behind these strong emotions. Let me explain the many reasons why pumpkin banana muffins are the absolute gem:
- The pumpkin and banana combination is unreal. And magical. In fact, I like it more than regular pumpkin muffins and banana muffins.
- Only one bowl needed. Yep – mix everything into one bowl and transfer it all to muffin tin. Makes the process easy and quick!
- Only 15 minutes active time – super simple! You’ll never look at pre-mix mixture the same way again…
- Uses pantry-friendly ingredients – pumpkin banana muffins are a great way to use up leftover bananas as well.
- Perfect grab-and-go breakfast and snack. Great for kid’s lunch boxes, make ahead for breakfast on busy mornings, or a great snack to keep at hand! Although I should warn you, based on my previous experiences, these things don’t last long if they are lying around in your house!
Ingredients
One of the nice things about pumpkin banana muffins are that they are made with pantry-friendly ingredients. Those overripe bananas you have lying around? They have a purpose here too!
That makes this one of those things that you can probably whip together without planning ahead much…because you may already have all of these ingredients in your pantry or fridge!
These are the ingredients you will need to make pumpkin banana muffins:
- Mashed bananas – brown, fully ripe banana works best for this – they produce the BEST flavor. When I mash the bananas I prefer to leave them slightly chunky so you can taste chunks of bananas in the muffins.
- Pumpkin puree – I get the canned ones. Libby’s is my favorite, and you can find them pretty much at any grocery stores in the U.S. You can also make your own using this recipe if you prefer.
- All-purpose flour – use gluten-free flour or wheat flour if desired
- Baking powder – rising agent for the muffins
- Baking soda – another rising agent
- Ground cinnamon – feel free to add more if you like a strong cinnamon flavor! You can also substitute with pumpkin pie spice if you’d prefer.
- Granulated sugar – you can also use brown sugar, or a combination of both. If you like your muffins less sweet, reduce the amount of added sugar.
- Salt – a little pinch of it is necessary whenever you bake to enhance all the other flavors.
- Vegetable oil – canola oil or any neutral oil works fine as well.
- Vanilla extract – pure vanilla extract gives the best flavor!
Let’s Make Banana Pumpkin Muffins
To make pumpkin banana muffins, start by bringing together the dry ingredients – flour, baking powder, baking soda, ground cinnamon, sugar, salt.
Combine everything in a bowl, then add in the wet ingredients – vegetable oil, vanilla extract, eggs, pumpkin puree and mashed ripe bananas
At this point you will need a 12-cup muffin pan.
Line each muffin cup with muffin liners, then fill each cup with mixture until it is ~3/4 of the way full.
If you are not using muffin liners, you’ll want to grease each cup generously so that it’s easy to remove each muffin.
Mixture will yield approximately 12-16 muffins. I usually cook it in two batches if there is leftover mixture.
Bring these bad boys into the oven, bake at 350F for 25 minutes.
Check for doneness by inserting a toothpick to the center of one of the pumpkin banana muffins. If toothpick comes out clean, you are all set!
Let pumpkin banana muffins cool on the muffin tin for 3 minutes, then remove muffins and let cool on cooling wire rack for 10-15 minutes so that muffins would set.
And then voila.
FEAST AWAY.
They come out moist, soft, flavorful and truly exceptional. Every bite makes my Fall-loving heart super happy. 🧡
Variations
If you want to jazz these muffins up further, one of my favorite things to add to these muffins are chocolate chips. Simple fold in chocolate chips at the end when mixing the batter and prepare to take these muffins to the next level!
Other yummy ingredients to add to Pumpkin Banana Muffin:
- Nuts: adding pecans, macadamia or other nuts will provide an added layer of texture.
- Chips: Add peanut butter chips or caramel chips. Or my favorite, chocolate chips!
- Dried fruit: Such as dates, raisins, cranberries
- Other spices: Adding ground cloves, allspice, nutmeg, ground ginger, or pumpkin pie spice can bring another nice dimension of flavor to these muffins.
- Other: add oats for some additional fiber and nutrients in your muffins!
Storage Instructions
These pumpkin banana muffins can be stored in an air tight container in room temperature for up to 2 days. After that, I highly recommend refrigerating them, and they should be able to last for up to a week in the fridge.
They can also be frozen – that’s a great way to keep them fresh longer. When ready to eat, thaw them completely first by leaving them in the fridge overnight.
Tips and Tricks
A few things to keep in mind when making pumpkin banana muffins:
- Mash bananas to desired consistency: If you like chunks of bananas in the muffins, don’t over-mash the bananas; instead leave some of it in small chunks.
- Use overripe bananas: The riper the banana, the better the flavor – they’re moist and naturally sweet!
- Avoid over mixing the wet and dry ingredients: Gently fold the wet and dry ingredients together until just combined. Over-mixing can lead to dense muffins and we want our pumpkin banana muffins light and fluffy!
- Use muffin liners: Makes removing the muffins a lot easier! If you don’t have muffin liners, grease the muffin tin with cooking spray before adding the mixture.
- Patience pays: It’s tempting to eat the muffins immediately when they come out of the oven, but let them sit instead so that the muffins will set. It also makes it easier to dig them out from the muffin pan and remove the wrapper once it has set a bit.
Frequently Asked Questions
Muffins actually store better at room temperature as the cold temperature in the fridge will alter the texture of the muffins. Store muffins in a air tight container or bag for up to 2 days under room temperature.
Absolutely. Make sure to cool muffins completely before bringing it into an air tight container or freezer bag. Freeze in freezer for up to 3 months. Let thaw before eating, or even pop in the microwave if you like them warm.
Yes! Make sure to refrigerate it immediately and bake within 3 days.
Great question! Use my Pumpkin Banana Bread recipe – there are slight variations to make sure bread is moist and flavorful in loaf form. It’s pretty dang delicious if I must say! 🙂
You can substitute with EVOO (extra virgin olive oil), butter, coconut oil, any neutral oil, or even applesauce.
So many! I love adding chocolate chips and nuts (walnuts, pecans, almonds); dried fruit like dates, raisins, cranberries go really well with it too! Simply add them to the mixing bowl with all the other ingredients, or put on top of the batter in the muffin pan.
Grab a few of these muffins, a cup of hot coffee, comfy couch, and a fuzzy blanket, and my Saturday morning is MADE.
Pumpkin Banana Muffins FOREVER.🧡💛
ENJOYED THIS RECIPE? Tell us what you think by leaving a rating and review below! 🤍
Other Fall theme baked goods you will enjoy
- Apple Cinnamon Bread
- Easy Apple Crisp
- Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Scones
- Banana and Date Muffins
- Cinnamon Bundt Cake
- Cinnamon Raisin Rolls
Pumpkin Banana Muffin
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil or canola oil
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 3/4 cup pumpkin puree canned
- 1 cup mashed bananas ~2 bananas
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven at 350℉.
- In a large bowl, bring together dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, baking soda, ground cinnamon, sugar, and salt. Mix well.
- Add wet ingredients – vegetable oil, vanilla extract, eggs, pumpkin puree and mashed bananas. Stir to combine.
- Line a 12-cup muffin tin with liners or grease muffin tin. Fill each cup with batter until it is 3/4 full. (See Note 1)
- Bake for 25 minutes. Remove from oven. Insert toothpick into one of the muffins and if it comes out clean, muffins are done.
- Let muffins cool in muffin tin for 3 minutes. Then remove them and let them cool on a cooling rack for 10-15 minutes.
- Serve and enjoy!
Great recipe! I used 1/4 cup brown sugar and 1/4 cup caster sugar to make a little less sugary and it was perfect! Also popped a square of good quality dark chocolate in the centre of each muffin.
YUM!! I’m drooling thinking about the dark chocolate add!
Hi! I baked these today for the first time and added walnuts! They turned out super yummy and moist, thank you so much for sharing your recipe!
Yum! Love the adding of walnuts! Thanks for sharing!
Just made these following your directions and they turned out perfect! So delish! Very moist and flavorful. My husband has had three so far (in one sitting)! Thanks so much. Chefs kiss!
Thank YOU Stacey for trying it! Love hearing that you all are enjoying this recipe so much!
These were amazing! Followed the recipe, but only baked for 20 minutes and added a few chocolate chips on top. So moist and not overly sweet. We will be baking these again and again!
Yay! Thank you so much for trying it and sharing how it went!
These were so soft and fluffy! I used light brown sugar, used pumpkin spice extract instead of cinnamon because I was out! As well dark chocolate chips!!! So good!
Thank you! I’m so glad you enjoyed it and thanks for sharing your modifications!
Just made this for the first time! Baked after years with this recipe and I am SO pleased! It’s really moist, tasty, and the whole family loves it. I added protein powder for an extra boost but the base overall was great. Thank you!
It makes me so happy to hear that! Thanks for trusting and making my recipe, Sara 🙂
These are so good! They came out the perfect texture and they needed exactly 25 mins! I served them with raspberry jam on top, a delicious dessert!
Raspberry jam on top sounds amazing! Happy this turned out so well!
I’ve baked these 3 times now (delicious all three times) and in case anyone is interested, here are my notes:
– All three times I used all brown sugar, all wholemeal flour and substituted the cinnamon for pumpkin pie spice blend.
– Twice I used butternut squash puree instead of pumpkin puree.
– The third time I didn’t have neither pumpkin or butternut puree so substituted it for more bananas (1:1) and used 3/4 cup of sugar instead of 1 cup.
Baked for 7min at 425 and 17min at 350.
Thanks for the recipe, it was a hit every time!!!
This is awesome – thank you so much for sharing your notes! They all sound delish!
Thanks for adding this, love those swaps, making these for the fam but especially my muffin-obsessed toddler. I was looking for someone’s review who may have added whole wheat flour instead of all purpose as that’s all I have at the moment so this was exactly the post I needed!
Thanks MinShien for the awesome recipe and Maria for the review!
That’s great! Thanks for sharing, Mel!
Made these today with left over canned pumpkin and two very ripe bananas. They came out perfect and have just the right sweetness. I baked 24 mini muffins and 5 regular size muffins. I substituted 1/2 cup of regular flour with wheat flour, and added 1/2 cup of raisins and 1/2 cup of walnuts. Keeper recipe!
Wonderful! Thanks so much for sharing how it went and your variations – super helpful! Happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe.
I’ve been looking for a perfect pumpkin banana muffin that’s easy and delish.
This one is the Best!!
I Added dark chocolate chips and toasted pecans and it’s amazing😘
Thank you so much for the rare review! Happy to hear that you’ve enjoyed this so much! Love your additions too !
So yummy! Came together quick! The muffins have such a nice peak! Added chocolate chips, kids gobbled them down! Will definitely make again:)
Yum! Adding chocolate chips is perfect! So glad your kiddos enjoyed them.
Can I use butter or extra virgin olive oil instead? Or is there something else you’d recommend to sub vegetable/canola oil?
Either olive oil or butter works fine!
It doesn’t get any better than these! Perfection, My god, fluffy, moist and addicting! I made mine with gluten free flour Bobs red mill and added a dash of nutmeg.
Insanely good!
Thanks for sharing your gluten free modification! So helpful!! And I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe 🙂
amazing! I did change this up just a little. instead of 1 cup of sugar, I did 1/2 cup sugar & 1/2 cup of brown sugar. replaced cinnamon with pumpkin pie spice & added chocolate chips! so sor moist and delicious!!
Yum! I need to try this with chocolate chips – sounds delicious!
So easy and delicious! Ate them right out of the oven with grass-fed butter and it was the perfect treat! My picky toddlers really enjoyed them too! Will definitely be making these again!
Yum!! So happy to hear that your picky toddlers enjoyed them and you’ll be making them again! Thank you for making them!!
i love the flavour blend and how soft and moist the muffins stay. one of my new favorites to go to
That’s great, Tina! Happy to hear it came out well!
Very happy w this recipe- easy to make, delicious flavor and moist! Used coconut oil and coconut sugar
So glad you are happy with it!
I hope these come out good bc most muffins recipes I have tried they have been good but not the greatest so I’m giving yours hope!!!!!!!
Please let me know how it goes and I hope you love it!
Amazing recipe! Some modifications I made:
1/2 cup sugar
3 bananas (so a bit over 1 cup)
Baked for 5 mins at 400 and then 20 mins at 350 (I forget where I saw this trick but it really helps rise the muffins)
Thank you for this! It’s a fav now for sure.
Thanks for sharing!! So glad it’s a fav!
I baked these for my sister’s family. some of them are usually picky about spice and pumpkin. I did add 1/2 tsp of both ground ginger and nutmeg and 1/2 cup of extra pumpkin. I added 2/3 cup of chocolate chips. everyone liked them. I think with the added bananas and chocolate chips enticed them to try them 😋.
Haha I love that! Thanks for sharing your modifications! So glad everyone liked these, even though they are picky about pumpkins 😉
Made as directed with no add-ins. Came out perfect and delicious!
That’s so great to hear! Thanks, Lisa!