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.
Felicia says
I’ve always got a random banana or 2 left over. So glad I found this recipe. I even roped in my grumpy teenage son to do this as it’s so easy. I had some poppy seeds which I added in. Also, I inserted half a square of dark chocolate in the middle. It was soft and moist. I’m never ever binning bananas again. I reduced the sugar a lot as I prefer my muffins less sweet. What a winner.
Tina K. says
I have tried this recipe time and again and it’s just fab! Really like the light airy texture as opposed to the denser traditional banana bread with butter and whole egg, also, hot tip! If you don’t know what to make with the remaining egg yolk, make her chocolate chip cookie recipe, also delicious!
JS says
An amazing recipe! My housemates have all made banana bread using different recipes, and I said I would bake some this week, but with only one banana, I almost bailed out. My housemate noted that one-banana recipes are a thing, so I found this one and decided to give it a go. By no means am I a baker, and I have never made banana bread, but this recipe was super easy to follow and didn’t take up too much of my study time. I would 100% recommend this recipe! 🙂
Jane says
What a wonderful recipe!!!. It deserves 10 stars. I one ripe banana.and 45 mins before a friend was coming for afternoon tea. I googled ‘one banana muffins’ and saw your recipe. I couldn’t believe how quick and easy it was to make, and in one bowl so there was minimal mess and clean up.
I used one egg as it was quicker than separating, (and by mistake used 1/3 cup sugar instead of 1/4). I would normally have added chocolate chips as a variation, but wanted to make it healthier so mixed in 1/3 cup blueberries instead of 1/3 cup choc chips. I didn’t have paper cupcake liners so just greased the muffin tin generously with butter., and the mix made 5 good sized muffins. I also decided rather than cinnamon sugar or streusel on top that I’d improvise something with rolled oats. So I mixed together a little bit of cinnamon with about 5 tsps of rolled oats, and rubbed in a small amount of soft butter to make a kind of crumble topping (just enough to slightly moisten the oats). I gently sprinkled a pinch or two (probably a teaspoon but I didn’t measure) of the topping mix over each muffin. They cooked perfectly in a fan forced electric oven at 160C for 20 minutes. The blueberry juice seeped a tiny bit near the bottoms which made it slightly more difficult to get them out of the tin. That probably wouldn’t have been an issue with the original banana recipe, or the banana & choc chip variation.
Tip: Next time, if adding blueberries again, I’d grease the muffin tin well but cut little circles out of baking paper and put them on the bottom of the muffin tins before adding the mix, so the juice wouldn’t stick and they’d be easier to get out when baked.
Now I’ve discovered your site, I’m looking forward to some baking mischief, and trying more of your recipes. Thank you Tracy.
Carla says
Was looking for a recipe for my lone, very ripe banana. Found this one and tried it out. I’m vegan, so I substituted the 1 egg white for 2 tbsp of aquafaba. I also added dark chocolate from a bar I chopped up. These muffins turned out delicious and I’m glad I made them! Will be coming back to this recipe for when I find myself with another lone, very ripe banana.
Kathy says
Thanks for this recipe! I was going to throw my very ripe banana away and then decided to check for a recipe for one ripe banana. Awesome! Thanks so much! I’m definitely the chocolate chip type! 🙂
Allison says
Subbed flax for egg, did half whole wheat and half white flour, cut the sugar by a “smidge” and subbed coconut oil. Turned out delicious!!
Tracy says
So glad you enjoyed them!
Leslie says
We LOVED these! An amazing way to use up those brown bananas! We used Stevia Granulated Sugar and Hersheys sugar free chocolate chips!
Tracy says
Thanks, Leslie!!
Amy L says
Delicious, light and fluffy, and so simple. Perfect way to use that sad looking banana on the counter. I followed the recipe exactly, making sure to spoon/level the flour. Turned out so scrumptious. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Tracy says
Thanks, Amy!!
Nicole says
Just made these and they are delicious and so easy to make! Made them as mini muffins and 18 minutes was perfect. Definitely my new go to recipe when I have a ripe banana 🙂
Audrey says
I love this easy recipe so much! Now I can stop throwing away my lonely banana! The muffins are amazingly moist and yum!
Sarah says
These are so good! I had a banana that was too ripe to eat and so I decided to make this small batch of muffins! I love that the recipe does not have butter as it keeps the calories down a bit… They were so moist and delicious!
josie says
loved them easy to bake wish i knew how many carbs are in tham btw recommend dark chocolate chips
Amber Wiebe says
Toddler went into the kitchen looking for eggs to bake muffins, I found This recipe and told her what to do!
She whipped them up and wow they’re delicious!!
Will be making bigger batches before baby arrives to freeze!
Tracy says
I love that!! So glad you guys enjoyed them!
Laura says
My twin toddlers are picky eater. I came across this recipe by accident and figured why not. Needless to say, I’ve been making them muffins using this recipe for awhile now. Even tonight. They asked for banana muffins and I happened to have 3 ripe bananas. Thank you for this!!
Tracy says
Thanks, Laura! I’m so happy to hear it!
jenna says
ok slow the heck down… dont be like me and say “whatever a whole egg should be fine”… sure its fine.. but they would be better with just the white. the batter was just a tad too liquid. they still taste great but texture would be better if i listened to the instructions lol… i also added macadamia nuts along with dark chocolate chips.. that WAS a good decision.