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!
These were delicious! I didn’t have enough banana to fill 1 cup so I did a mix of mashed banana and Greek yogurt. They came out super fluffy and moist. Would make again!
That’s wonderful! So happy you enjoyed it and will be making it again 🙂
So delicious!!! Thanks for a great recipe! I did cut the sugar in half but that’s due to preference. I added walnuts and chocolate chips. Solid recipe! Can’t wait to try some others.
Yum! Thank you for sharing!!