Studded with coconut flakes and chopped pecans, these moist banana bread muffins are a quick and easy breakfast treat ready to eat in just 30 minutes.
I’m a recipe junkie. I’m perpetually flipping through cookbooks and food magazines and frequently perusing numerous food blogs for inspiration. And as much as I love developing a recipe on my own, sometimes I just want to recreate something delicious I see from a food blogger online. This Toasted Pecan and Coconut Banana Bread recipe from fellow food blogger and baking goddess Naomi, from Baker’s Royale is a prime example. I already have a favorite banana bread recipe that’s pretty hard to beat, and a chocolate chip version I love, but Naomi’s additions with toasted coconut and pecan tops totally enticed me, and I had to try her recipe.
When adapting her recipe, I made it into muffins instead of loaf bread. This inspired the stripped-down version of these basic banana muffins. And for a more tender crumb, I added butter to her original recipe which she went without. What I didn’t skip out on was the nutty pecans and coconut mixed into the batter with me adding sprinkles of more on top. With a perfectly raised dome, these muffins are individual servings of banana bread bliss.
What’s in These Banana Bread Muffins
These easy banana muffins don’t require any special ingredients, making them a good recipe to have up your sleeve when a banana bread craving hits. Here’s what you’ll need to make toasted coconut banana bread muffins:
- Sweetened shredded coconut
- Chopped pecans
- All-purpose flour
- Baking soda
- Kosher salt
- Cinnamon
- Nutmeg
- Ripe bananas
- Granulated sugar
- Egg
- Buttermilk (use regular milk or dairy-free if preferred)
- Butter (feel free to use coconut, canola, or vegetable oil if you’re dairy-free)
- Vanilla extract
How to Make Banana Bread Muffins
This recipe for banana bread muffins makes a muffin that’s ready to eat in just about 30 minutes, and in three easy steps. Here’s how to make them:
Whisk together the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
PRO TIP: Reserve some of the coconut and pecans for sprinkling on top of the muffins before baking.
Beat the eggs and bananas together until combined. First, mash your bananas, then combine all of your wet ingredients and incorporate them with a mixer. Gently fold the dry ingredients into the wet.
Grease or line a muffin tin, and scoop or spoon the muffin batter into a prepared muffin pan (you can spray the pan or use foil or paper liners). I use a jumbo 6-muffin tin for extra large muffins filling them halfway with a 3-ounce scoop. If using a regular muffin-sized 12-cup tin, fill each a little over halfway as well.
Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and the edges begin to pull away from the sides of the tin. Cool on a wire rack.
Can I Freeze Banana Bread Muffins?
These banana muffins are terrific for freezing. Allow them to cool to room temp before sealing them inside a freezer bag. To reheat, either set them on your counter to thaw or gently reheat them in the microwave.
You can store these banana muffins in Tupperware at room temperature for a few days, but they’ll keep longer if you store them in the refrigerator.
Can I Add Other Mix-Ins?
Other flavor mix-ins are welcome in this recipe. Think chocolate chips, dried fruit, various nuts, and so forth. Be careful to not go overboard with the amounts or you’ll have more mix-ins than muffins.
Tips for Making Banana Bread Muffins
- Use very ripe, almost black bananas for these easy banana muffins. If your bananas aren’t ripe enough, roast them in the oven for 10-15 minutes (the skins will turn black), then let them cool completely before adding them to the batter.
- I used sweetened coconut in this recipe, but I’m sure you could use unsweetened if that’s what you prefer.
- If you don’t have pecans on hand, use walnuts or another mild-flavored nut.
