One Bowl, One Banana Muffins
Based off my fan-favorite banana bread recipe, this is an easy small-batch 1 banana muffin recipe that only needs one banana, one bowl, and 30 minutes!
Ever found yourself with one lone, sad overripe banana, and wondered what in the world you could make with it? Sure, you could just eat it, or slice it and plop it on some oatmeal. But what's the fun in that?
Am I asking too many hypothetical questions? Yes, I am. So let's focus on the fact that I have a solution for you: banana muffins with one banana.
Linda said: “These muffins are SO good! I had one REALLY ripe banana and after a quick Google search found you and this recipe. They’re the perfect muffin – light and fluffy inside, and golden brown outside. I love that they’re not too sweet. Thank you for sharing! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐“
These banana muffins are great for so many reasons:
- They make such a good grab-and-go breakfast (even if the only go-ing you're doing is to your home office)
- If you live alone, you don't have to worry about having made entirely too many muffins that you can't get through yourself
- Since they're best the same day (still good after that, just best that same day), it's the perfect amount to add to a quick family breakfast
What can I make with one banana?
This one banana recipe makes 4 delicious, moist regular-sized muffins, or around 10-12 mini muffins.
If you have a particularly large ripe banana or you add nuts to the batter, you may end up with more than that! The nuts add a little bulk, so you get a little more bang for your batter buck.
How to make small batch banana muffins
Step 1: In a large bowl, mash an overripe banana to remove as many of the lumps as possible. If desired, run through a food processor or blender for a few seconds.
Step 2: Add brown sugar and whisk together until well combined. Add melted butter, egg white, and vanilla extract and beat with a whisk until well combined.
Step 3: Add flour, baking soda, and salt (and cinnamon, if using) and whisk again until the muffin batter is just combined.
Step 4: Pour batter into prepared muffin pan (it's best to use the center cups for most even baking), filling cups 3/4 of the way. Bake for 5 minutes at 425°F, then turn the oven temperature down to 350°F. Bake for another 16-18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the tops are set and golden.
Tips for making the best banana muffins
- You want an overripe banana. I'm talking brown, black, super spotted, just really terrible looking. Those are the best for bread and muffins and add the best flavor. I talk about “why” even more in the post for my banana bread.
- They can be easily customized to your preferences – add chocolate chips, walnuts (my personal favorite), berries, or whatever else floats your boat.
- Use muffin liners, or not. If you don't have any on hand, you can make your own muffin parchment liners or you can spray the muffin tin cups with nonstick spray.
- Fill the muffin liners almost to the top. Under-filled muffins make me sad – I'd recommend they be 90% filled. If you wanted to add a little streusel topping or chopped nuts, just sprinkle it right on top – no need to adjust the amount of batter in the cup.
- Start by baking them at 425°F, then lower it to 350°F – but leave the door closed! This helps give them little puffed-up tops instead of sad, flat ones.
What if I want more than 4 muffins?
Then you came to the wrong place because this is a small-batch recipe, silly.
I'M KIDDING. You can make twice as many muffins by just doubling all the ingredients except for the egg white – instead, just use one egg (white and yolk).
How to store banana muffins
You'll want to store the muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days (if they last that long), or in the fridge for a week.
I like to eat mine warmed up with a little tab of butter…. mmm.
To do the same, just pop them in the microwave for 10 seconds, slice, and slather.
FAQs
I typically find that 1 banana = 1/2 cup mashed banana. That can, of course, vary based on the size of the banana itself.
Store the muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days (if they last that long), or in the fridge for a week. To eat warm, pop them in the microwave for 10 seconds, slice, and slather with a tab of butter.
This one banana recipe makes 4 delicious, moist regular-sized muffins, or around 10-12 mini muffins.
For this recipe, there are approximately 211 calories in each banana muffin.
Leaving a comment and star rating is a great (and free) way to support Stress Baking. After you've enjoyed this recipe, click on the stars below and leave a comment to share your experience – thank you!
One Bowl, One Banana Muffin Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 overripe banana
- ¼ cup light brown sugar
- 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
- 1 egg white, no yolk!
- ¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- pinch salt
- pinch of cinnamon, optional
- ⅓ cup add ins like berries, chocolate chips, walnuts, etc., (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F and spray muffin tin (aff link) with nonstick spray or line with cupcake liners. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, mash banana to remove as many of the lumps as possible. If desired, run through a food processor or blender for a couple seconds.1 overripe banana
- Add brown sugar and whisk together until well combined.1/4 cup (55 g) light brown sugar
- Add melted butter, egg white and vanilla extract and beat with whisk until well combined.3 Tablespoons unsalted butter1 egg white1/4 teaspoon (¼ teaspoon) pure vanilla extract
- Add flour, baking soda and salt (and cinnamon, if using) and whisk again until just combined. If you're going to add anything like berries or nuts, fold them in now.1/2 cup (62 ½ g) all-purpose flour1/2 teaspoon (½ teaspoon) baking sodapinch saltpinch of cinnamon1/3 cup (60 g) add ins like berries, chocolate chips, walnuts, etc.
- Pour batter into prepared pan (it's best to use the center cups for most even baking), filling cups 3/4 of the way.
- Bake for 5 minutes at 425°F, then turn the oven temperature down to 350°F. Bake for another 16-18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and tops are set and golden.
- Let muffins cool in tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Video
Notes
Nutrition Facts
Nutrition Disclaimer
The provided nutrition information is generated by an automatic API and does not take variations across specific brands into account. This information is provided as a general guideline and should not be treated as official calculations. Learn more here.
I made 2x the recipe and flour with Kodiak Power Cakes Mix (1 cup) for extra protein and 1/2 chopped walnuts. For extra flavor, I added 1 tsp ground cinnamon and 1 tsp cardamom.
These are very flavorful and yummy! Despite doubling the recipe, the batter yielded 14 muffins.
I found they came out just as described and delicious. An oven thermometer is essential for my oven and your recipe is perfect.
I’m so glad that you enjoyed them!
very doughy!! I checked oven etc and left them in for an extra 4 minutes but still seemed not quite cooked. taste delicious though
Jessica, a muffin should never be *doughy*, hah- that sounds like an issue with your oven calibration (running too low) and/or with over-measuring your wet ingredients.
I’d like to encourage you to read my tutorials about calibrating your oven and how to properly measure ingredients, and give it another try:
https://stressbaking.com/how-to-calibrate-your-oven/
https://stressbaking.com/how-to-measure-ingredients-for-baking/
On a personal note, I’d also like to encourage you to be thoughtful about how you’re using star ratings when you’re assessing recipes created by small businesses – especially when you see dozens of other comments and ratings that were given 5 stars. The result you had clearly wasn’t the goal of the recipe, and browsing through the comments you’ll notice that no one else has experienced that either. As much as we like to say “the customer is always right”, sometimes things like this are just user error :)
Something I don’t think people realize is that low star reviews are hurtful for small business owners (think of it like Yelp or TripAdvisor), as it’s signaling to Google and other readers that something is low quality. We drop in the rankings, and eventually get dropped off results pages altogether, resulting in no traffic. No traffic means no ad revenue, and for recipe creators that usually means no revenue at all. And without any revenue, we’re unable to continue producing these free recipes for you all to enjoy.
All that said, I just hope you’ll consider the high impact of low star ratings on small businesses – enjoy the rest of your weekend.
Easy to put together and it tastes excellent. I decided on blueberries as my add in ingredient so yummy. This is a keeper!!!
Love these with blueberries!
I had one pitiful banana, so I searched online for one banana recipes and found this site. I was excited to see the recipe called for egg white only because I had some to use up. I added in chocolate and peanut butter chips and used an *air fryer*: 400F/200C preheat for 2 min., baked 4 min. at 400F/200C, then 11 or so min. at 325F/160C. They turned out delicious.
Thank you for sharing, I’m so glad you liked them!
To update the air fryer times/temps: I made the recipe again and didn’t pre-heat the AF, just set it to Bake at 400/200 for 5 min and then turned it down to 325/160 for 11 minutes. Because of the proximity of the fan, they do misshapen, but the taste is excellent. Both times I added peanut butter and chocolate chips
Excellent! My muffins were gone within 30 minuits. Thanks a million, got to go now have to make some more muffins………
The most dangerous part about baking these is that you’re gonna want to make more, hah!
I have made this recipe countless times and it never fails me! I do add some spices and substitute in whole wheat flour and they’re perfect every time. This time I made 22 mini muffins from the recipe!
Thank you so much for the kind words, I’m so glad you enjoy it!
What a great, easy recipe! Saved my one little rotting banana lol I used some Brazil nuts since it’s what I had. They worked out great. l have already saved this in my box to use again later. I really appreciate how you listed the ingredients and amount below each instruction. It’s what made me initially choose your recipe.
I’m so happy to hear all of this – thank you so much for the kind words, Nicole!
Delicious,best muffins tender crumb, hi muffin top ,I will never use another recipe .
Worked perfectly even when I subbed birchbender paleo pancake mix for flour. Excellent go to recipe, for me it made 6 standard cupcake size. It was also forgiving when I didn’t read the “turn down to 350 after 5 min” part hah!
I’m so glad you liked them – thank you so much for coming back to leave a rating and comment, it means a lot to me!
These are PHENOMENAL!!! I’ve shared the recipe so many times! I’m attempting mini ones now but not sure how long to bake—this should be interesting! We always top with a little extra brown sugar for a nice warm crunch! This recipe is by far my favorite ❤️
Leslie you can’t be serious with these muffins!! ♀️ I’m not a baker but these made me feel like one!! I made them following your recipe and always yes to the cinnamon girl! The baking instructions were perfect. I topped them with walnuts and semi sweet chocolate chips. Perfect recipe! ♀️
I’m SO happy to hear that – thank you so much for coming back to share your experience!
Wow! Couldn’t believe how well these rose!! Definitely doing the oven temperature trick again ☺️ Thanks for a great recipe. I had a sad overripe banana that was halfway to the compost heap and this saved it in a truly delicious way. I used one small whole egg and replaced the butter with 2tbsp and 1tsp veg oil (largely out of laziness) and the end result was great. Made 6, baked 5 then 6 minutes and calculated calories at 140.
I’m so glad you liked them!
I had that 1 lonely banana on the verge of overriping! So glad I tried your recipe!
Made 5 mini muffins… cute, moist and so tasty!
I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
I would have appeciated a temperature afdustment for making mini muffins rather than a loaf. But starting at a higher temp and the loseing worked great. There is so much better/margarine in recipe that I do nor think they need butter sorrad on them.
Ok. The first and only recipe page I didn’t skip to the recipe cuz it was massively entertaining. I too stress bake, had a lowly sad banana, saw this and was drawn to it.
I added walnuts and choc chips mixed in and on top (see earlier ref to STRESS baking lol), it yielded 5 perfect muffins. I did it in my toaster oven, cuz it’s 38c/100f today so screw that whole oven thing, so it actually was done in about 10-12 minutes.
I didn’t have to taste it to know it was delicious, but I did, and it was…especially with a glass of red. Many thanks for relieving a very stressful day – curious to do this with peanut butter and oats
I want you to know that your comment made my WEEK. Thank you so much for the kind words, and I am EXTRA happy you loved the end result! Clearly I need to develop a peanut butter and oats version now ;)
I’ve made this recipe countless times. It’s an absolute favourite. Making them again today as quick-grab breakfast muffins for the week. So yummy!
I’m so happy to hear this, thank you for sharing Christina!
Made these today. Really great. I didn’t have any vanilla (have now put on my shopping list). Still came out good. Added raspberries. Will definitely make again
So glad you liked them!
I made this recipe today(doubled) and will definitely make iit again Was so quick and easy and popular with family…wanted to add a photo but cannot work out how Thanks for your recipe ..
I’m so glad you liked it, thank you so much for sharing!
Delicious! I was in a hurry and I didn’t take the time to separate the egg or melt the butter. Instead I used a whole egg and 3 tablespoons of avocado oil. The avocado oil has a neutral taste and is very healthy. These rose beautifully and filled my kitchen with a delicious aroma. I also love that I used only one bowl to make these. My family says that this recipe is a keeper.
I honestly didn’t expect this recipe to come out as amazing as it did. I specifically looked for a recipe that called for one banana since I didn’t want to put it to waste and boy am I happy. Super moist. Definitely making these again.
I’m so glad you liked them! I love when my recipes exceed expectations ;)
I never write reviews online, but these muffins were so good that I had to comment on them! I added chopped walnuts to mine and left the rest of the recipe as is. They were so tasty, not too sweet and not dry like so many other muffin recipes. Thank you! Definitely deserves a 5 star rating!
I’m so glad that you did, I can’t tell you how much I love to hear back from my readers :) Happy Holidays!
Loved the trick for getting that muffin rise! These look, smell, and taste wonderful!
I’m so glad you liked them!
What a great idea! I had one sad banana in the refrigerator for several days. I used white whole wheat flour and a whole egg. I made them in a silicone egg bite mold. Ended up with 5. Thanks for the recipe.
It’s perfect for those sad, lonely bananas! I’m so glad you liked them.
These were so good! I added 1/3 cup chopped walnuts like suggested and also added half of a dove dark chocolate in the center for extra chocolatey goodness. The chocolate was melty and the muffins were amazing served warm! This recipe is totally a keeper and I will be making it again :)
Ooooo, I like where your head is at with the chocolate :) Glad you enjoyed it – thanks for coming back to leave a comment and star rating, I greatly appreciate it!
Made 12 mini ones. Added walnuts and a few chocolate mini
Chips. Very moist you won’t be disappointed if you make them.
Can I omit the egg?
You can’t omit the ingredient altogether because you need it to help bind everything together, but you can use an egg white substitute like aquafaba if you need to!
So good. My husband don’t eat eggs so I used a egg substitute.
I’m so glad you liked it!
That’s great, I’m so glad you like them!
These are SO yummy! I made a batch of mini muffins and it was hard not to eat them all! I will definitely be keeping this recipe! Thank you!
I’m so glad you like them – thanks so much for coming back to leave a comment and rating, I really apprciate it!
I made these they are so good
So glad you liked them!
I loved these muffins! I added a handful of dried berries and cherries (like Craisins) and sprinkled some plain old fashioned oats in the tops. They’re amazing, and my wife even liked them and she isn’t enthusiastic about baked goods.
Definitely a keeper!
I’m so glad you liked them!
Great recipe! I definitely recommend! I had at brunch time and it was great! Replaced a few things to experiment and that worked out great too! Replaced brown sugar with coconut sugar and did 1 1/4 cup flour and then a 1/4 cup oats! Just to add some texture and more fiber. (these measurements is what I did for 12 serving but that’s easy enough to figure out for other sizes I’m sure) One thing I didn’t really like was the lack of banana taste so maybe next time I’ll do more overripe bananas cos these weren’t that overripe! So delicious and all my family enjoyed! Thanks so much ❣️
Glad you liked it, even with all the substitutions and not overly ripe bananas! I hope the next time you make them that they’re 5 stars for you.
@NG, Obviously deserves 5 stars, the reason they weren’t as good as your expectations derived from your own substitutions and lack of even using the integral ingredient specifically stated – over ripe bananas…
Congrats on a recipe that was written with a good sense of humour, excellent tips & instructions. I can only use the top oven & the settings have a mind of its own….but non the less the results was perfect. I topped them with a. Cream Cheese icing.
PS don’t know how to attach a photo for you.
thanks, just what I needed to make on a busy Saturday morning….staring at the one left over banana. great taste….i folded in the chocolate chips just before scooping into the muffin pan. 4 perfect size mufins.
So glad you liked them! I feel like it’s the perfect way to use up that one lonely banana :)
Thank you for such a wonderful banana muffin recipe! It’s funny that I always seem to be left with one over-ripe banana in the bunch. They were delicious! It was a crowd pleaser. Tee, hee! I used self rising flour and the whole egg plus walnuts. It turned out great….fluffy, moist, and crunchy crust!
I’m so happy to hear you like them! Thank you so much for coming back to leave a rating and comment to share your experience <3
Hi, can i make these with oat flour instead of normal?
@S, yes of course in my opinion it should work well but maybe add a bit more baking soda as the all purpose flour does help rising!
YUM! I substitute dark brown sugar (just cuz i had it) GF flour, added pecan pieces, 1 Tbls chia/flax seed and shredded coconut!
So glad you liked it!
I am a Home Economist. This is the best muffin recipe I’ve ever made. Super delicious!
That makes me so happy to hear!
Delicious! Added chocolate chips. Was able to bake in toaster oven and make good use of my one leftover banana. Definitely a keeper recipe.
Sounds delicious!
ABSOLUTELY LOVED THEM. I’ve saved the recipe and will definitely be re-making these in the future
Yay, happy to hear it!
Just made these!! Sooo good and easy simple recipe!
So glad you like them!
These are delicious! Perfect recipe to make with kids too.
I’m so glad you think so! Thanks so much for coming back to leave a comment to share your experience.
Just made these muffins because I had a banana and didn’t know what to do with it. Omg these are DELICIOUS and so easy to make. Thanks for sharing this recipe. Definitely perfect for my little family
I’m so glad you liked them, thank you for coming back to share your feedback!
Just love that result ! Miammm
These muffins are SO good! I had one REALLY ripe banana and after a quick Google search found you and this recipe. They’re the perfect muffin – light and fluffy inside, and golden brown outside. I love that they’re not too sweet. Thank you for sharing!
So glad that you liked them!
I put in baking powder by mistake!! Hope it works out. In the oven now.
Perfect little one banana muffins! Not dense at all. Thank so much for sharing!
So glad you liked them – thanks for coming back to share your experience!
I made these muffins today because I had one lonely banana and they are so good. I added pecans, cranberries and some chocolate chips. They made 8 medium sized muffins. Delicious!
Wow, 8 muffins? That’s twice as many as I get when I make it. Either way, I’m glad you liked them!
I just made these muffins for dinner. I made no changes with the recipe and added nuts. I was a bit rusty separating the egg. I will be making them again.
Sounds like a great dinner to me! I’m so glad you liked them, thanks so much for coming back to leave a comment and rating <3
I followed the recipe exactly except for milk instead of vanilla extract(same amount) and golden brown sugar instead of light brown sugar because that is what I had. I also made mini muffins(12) SO PERFECT!!!! Thank you for this wonderful recipe, definitely a keepsake recipe! ⭐️⭐️ P.S. It was so perfect to make it all in ONE bowl!
I’m so happy to hear this – thank you for coming back to leave such a lovely comment and rating, Yasmin! <3
All I got is dark brown sugar , can I use that? Also, why no egg yolk?
You can substitute the light brown sugar for 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar and 2 tablespoons granulated sugar. You don’t want to substitute it for all dark brown sugar as it will affect the flavor and density of the muffins.
And we don’t include the egg yolk because it adds too much moisture and makes them too heavy.
Can I replace butter with liquid coconut oil , if so is it the same amount or less?
Same amount!
I made it with too ripe banana it came out so good that my kiddo liked it a lot… he ate 3 out of 6 muffins… thanks a lot
I made 6 muffins–they were “petite,” but not mini. They were delicious. I lightly toasted some pecans in a dry frying pan to mix in: yum!
Sounds delicious! Thanks so much for coming back to share your experience and a rating.
I had one sad banana that I didn’t know what to do with. This recipe ended up making 14 tiny muffins that I planned to save for the kids breakfast or snacks during the week. We all ended up eating all but 2 as soon as they cooled lol! They were so good. Will definitely be making more!!
Haha, sounds like the same problem I have when I make them – I don’t MEAN to eat them all at once! lol
This was so helpful. Thank you for posting! I didn’t have brown sugar but cane sugar worked out well. I also used 1/4 c bread flour, 1/8 all purpose and 1/8 whole wheat. It came out incredibly moist and delicious. Definitely going to use this again. I love how you can multiply it in case I have more than one banana.
I’m so glad you liked it! Thanks so much for coming back to share your experience and leave a rating.
Mandy, Thank you for your comment, I was wondering if it was ok to use other type of sugar. I did and it turned out great! thanks
Used this recipe to bake a small loaf of banana bread, instead, and it turned out amazing!!
Yum! I’m so glad you liked it – thanks so much for coming back to leave a comment and rating.
I LOVED THIS RECIPE! So easy and I did not let my very very ripe banana go to waste! I added walnuts to the batter and then one walnut on top and it was perfect. It made the start of my Wednesday perfect.
That’s so good to hear! Thank you so much for sharing your experience and rating <3
Please change “now’ to “know” in my comment.
Thanks.
These were delicious and easy enough for my toddler to get involved making them! We added m&ms to ours as we ran out of choc chips and they were great.
I’m so happy to hear that – thanks for coming back to leave a comment and rating!
I made these muffins and they turned out great. The only thing I changed was instead of brown sugar I used honey and they still came out so delicious!
It was 2 tbsp and 2 tsp of honey with 1/8 tsp of baking soda just in case anyone wants to try it out!
I’m so happy to hear that – thanks for coming back to leave a comment and rating!
So yummy!! Doubled the recipe and added frozen blueberries to it!
So glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for coming back to share your experience and a rating!
This has become my go-to recipe! Make it every week for my 4 year old.These muffins come out soooo good! Thanks Leslie! :)
That makes me so happy to hear, thank you so much for sharing your experience! :)