These perfectly delicious small-batch banana muffins can be made with one banana, one bowl, and half an hour.
I have two questions for you today:
Do you have one sad browning banana sitting on your counter?
Do you have a bowl and basic kitchen staples?
Yes and yes? Then you can and absolutely should make these small-batch banana muffins (or if you feel like chocolate, try these Small-batch Chocolate Banana Muffins)!
I’m all about recipes that solve problems, and this recipe solves two. It gets rid of that piece of fruit rotting on your counter and makes sure you won’t overindulge in a sweet treat because it only makes four muffins.
That’s right, just four perfect little moist and delicious banana muffins.
And they are so fast and easy to make. They literally go from banana-on-the-counter to in-the-oven in 5 minutes, because you just mash a banana, mix everything in one bowl, scoop into a muffin pan, and bake.
They come out of the oven so moist and soft and good. It’s the perfect impromptu baking project for a lazy Sunday morning or rainy afternoon.
Ingredient Notes
- One very ripe banana: Craving banana muffins but don’t have any ripe bananas on hand? Go read my post on how to quickly ripen bananas.
- An egg white: This recipe calls for just an egg white. Check out my post of Egg Yolk Recipes for ideas on what to do with the leftover yolk (I recommend a small batch of chocolate chip cookies.)
- Flour: I’ve always made these muffins with all-purpose flour, but I’ve had a number of readers tell me they turn out well with gluten-free flour, so if you’re gluten-free, measure for measure/1 to 1 should work great.
Banana Muffin Variations
- Chocolate chip banana muffins: This is one of my favorites, fold ⅓ cup of chocolate chips to the batter before you transfer it to your muffin pan.
- Cinnamon sugar crust: Sprinkle ½ to 1 teaspoon of cinnamon sugar over the top of each muffin before baking.
- Streusel topping: If you’d like to add streusel to the muffins, go make my favorite streusel recipe. The half batch will make slightly too much for 4 muffins, so you can either freeze the leftovers for a later batch or eat it. 😉
More Small-batch Muffin Recipes
- Small-batch Blueberry Muffins
- Small-batch Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Small-batch Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Small-batch Pumpkin Muffins
- Small-batch Apple Crumb Muffins
FAQ
Can I double this recipe?
Absolutely! And if doubling the recipe, you can use 1 whole egg instead of 2 egg whites. To change the recipe yield, hover over the serving size in the recipe card below or click if you’re on mobile, and slide the slider.
Can I use a whole egg instead of just an egg white?
Yes. This is the modification readers most often tell me they’ve made with these muffins, so if you don’t want to go through the trouble of separating an egg, just use the whole thing.
More Banana Recipes
- One Banana Banana Bread
- The Best Banana Pudding
- My Favorite Banana Bread
- Banana Pancakes for Two
- 20+ Banana Recipes to Use Up Your Brown Bananas
Small-batch Banana Muffin Recipe Notes
- Freezing: Banana muffins freeze well! Individually wrap muffins in cling wrap and then store them in an airtight container or freezer bag in the freezer for up to 2 months. Allow them to come to room temperature before eating.
- Storage: Store muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
- Extra bananas: Have more than one sad brown banana? Freeze the rest! Bananas freeze super well for baking. Go check out my post How to Freeze Bananas for all the freezing tips and tricks.
One Banana, One Bowl Small-batch Banana Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 large very ripe banana
- ¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg white
- 1 tablespoon and 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
- ½ cup (60g) all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon cinnamon
- Pinch of nutmeg
- ⅓ cup chocolate chips (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F and line a muffin pan with four liners (or grease).
- In a medium bowl, completely mash banana with a potato masher or fork. Add sugar, egg white, and oil. Stir with a spoon until just combined (mixture will still be lumpy).
- Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Stir until just combined. If desired, stir in optional chocolate chips.
- Divide mixture between the four prepared muffin cups, filling each about 2/3 of the way full. Bake for 18 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffins comes out mostly clean and the tops of the muffins begin to turn golden.
- Cool in the pan until cool enough to handle before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Enjoy!
Notes
- Doubling: If doubling, instead of using 2 egg whites, you can use a single whole egg.
- Storage: Store muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
- Freezing: Individually wrap muffins in cling wrap and then store them in an airtight container or freezer bag in the freezer for up to 2 months. Allow them to come to room temperature before eating.
This post may contain affiliate links, which means I receive a small commission if you make a purchase using them. There is absolutely no additional cost to you.
Cassie says
Delicious recipe and the perfect texture! I just made them for the second time, used half a scrambled egg I had stored away from earlier in the day instead of an egg white. I add toasted and chopped pecans and they are really great! I love your small batch recipes and am planning on trying your cinnamon rolls out next this weekend. It seems we have a similar taste for sweets :3
Tracy says
So glad you enjoyed them, Cassie, and hope you like the cinnamon rolls!!
Jaya says
I decided this morning I wanted some muffins but not a whole batch and I made them and they were delicious
Tracy says
So glad you enjoyed them, Jaya!!
Judy says
I would like to try them in an air fryer. Any suggestions for time and temp. Thanks
Viaichel says
I did mine but subbed with almond and oat flour it was delish!!!!!
Tracy says
Glad you enjoyed them, Viaichel!!
Danielle W says
This was my first time making banana miffins from scratch and they came out really good. I used butter instead of oil and used the entire egg not just the egg white. The kids loved them!
Tracy says
So happy to hear it!!
Cynthia says
After a quick debate about what to eat and wanting a quick break from all the zoom meetings and computer work, I decided to quickly whip this together. Not to mention, I’ve been meaning to test out this recipe and I just so happened to have one lonely banana left on the island table today… I was a bit worried at first since I didn’t have the correct muffin size, and I ended up with 9 smaller mini muffins than 4 standard sized ones, BUT they turned out FANTASTIC! 🙂 I can’t give a review on the actual recipe since I did tweak it a bit to suit my family’s taste and because I didn’t have some ingredients, but it’s perfect!
Here’s my adjustments:
– used cake flour instead of AP flour because I sadly ran out of AP flour :’)
(but it made my muffins, much softer and fluffier in my opinion)
– added 1/2 tsp of vanilla because vanilla is amazing~
– replaced the chocolate chips w/ pecans because that’s all we had haha
– and lastly i left out the cinnamon and nutmeg because I don’t have any on hand :c
Also, for anyone whose wondering, I baked mines for roughly 16-18 mins and switched from the middle to top rack while they were baking to make sure that they cooked evenly~
Can’t wait to test out more recipes from your blog! :)) xoxo
Tracy says
Thanks, Cynthia! So glad you and the fam enjoyed them!!!
Mickey says
I made these vegan by using flax egg (1 tbsp broken linseed/flaxseed and 3tbsp water) and added 75g of blueberries, also reduced the sugar and used only 45g. Ended up making 8 small cupcakes, delicious!
Tracy says
Glad you enjoyed them, Mickey! Thanks for the detailed comment!!
JoAnn says
Thanks for a perfect way to use up one sad banana! I added 1/3 c walnuts, and my husband and I give two thumbs up. Next time I’ll try less sugar – a tablespoon per muffin when I’m eating two seems maybe more than I should indulge in! Especially since I want to try the streusel, too.
Beth says
Thank you for this recipe! I had one sad black banana, and this recipe worked great!
Tracy says
So glad to hear it!
allie says
I tried these banana muffins and they were amazing! I followed the recipe exactly, except for the chocolate chips since I thought the bananas would give enough flavor, and the recipe was SUPER easy. This recipe is great because it’s super easy to follow, it tastes great, and the serving size is perfect! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! I can’t wait to try more recipes from you! 🙂
Aaliyah says
I’ve been doing this recipe for a while I’m a teenage girl seeking to learn baking and this was my first try it was sooo yummy and even my mom and siblings approved!! Thank you for this recipe!! It’s ashow stopper❤️ if I was you I would try it!!.
Tracy says
Thank you, Aaliyah!!! So glad you enjoyed it!!
Susan Bailey says
Moist, delicious and oh, so easy! Perfect recipe for using up a single brown banana. I made it with a flax egg since I had no eggs last night and it worked perfectly. Threw in a handful each of finely chopped nuts and chocolate chips. Love the cinnamon and nutmeg.
Tracy says
Thanks, Susan!! So glad you enjoyed them!!
Michele says
Ahhhhhmazing! I followed your recommendations and added chocolate chip along with a streusel topping. Best muffin recipe and yet so simple! Has anyone tried turning these into mini muffins to get more out of this recipe? Thanks for sharing.
Whitney says
I loved these! Thank you!! Also I noticed someone else posted a recipe SUPER similar to yours and I wasn’t sure if you were already aware of it?
Tracy says
So glad you enjoyed them!!! And thanks for the heads up. A lot of small-batch recipes will have really similar ingredients/steps, so hopefully that’s the case here!
Judy Kohman says
OMG! These were absolutely decadent. I had one very ripe banana sitting on my counter, so this recipe filled the bill. My banana was small, so I used the whole egg and they turned out perfectly. They looked just like the picture, the texture was wonderful and they were so moist. I added chocolate chips and that just took them over the top.
Bridget says
Just what I was looking for! So delicious. I didn’t have vegetable oil so I substituted coconut oil and yum yum yum. Thank you so much!