Banana muffins
Posted in cake/ muffin, Featured Articles, fruits, snacks, Vegetarian, Western
Quite often I heard from some mommies that they always run out of ideas when it comes to preparing teatime snacks for their preschoolers. I consider myself lucky as my son’s kindergarten provides teatime snacks. So far, he hasn’t complaint anything about the snack served in school. When I “interviewed” him on his preference between mommy’s cooking and school lady’s cooking, he cheerfully replied me that he liked both. I’m really happy that he can accept the food prepared by others even if my cooking is not on par with that of the school lady’s. I don’t mind it at all. At least, I have one less headache for the next two years. 
In this posting, I have a simple and easy teatime snack recipe to share with everyone. It’s so easy that even a novice at baking can excel. The entire baking process is very fast too. 1½ dozen mini banana muffins will be ready in the oven within an hour (or maybe less if you are skillful) including the cleaning up time. Definitely save you some money than buying from the local bakery shop. 
This recipe is adapted from Amy Ong of Cooking Crave, a mom with 3 lovely kids. Her food blog has a long list of kids-friendly recipes for you to try out. Remember to hop over to her blog to “dig the treasures”.
I must say that this is the best banana muffins recipe I had found so far. The muffins turned out to be very soft, fluffy and moist! The sweetness is also perfect for those without sweet tooth. So, there is no need to cut down the amount of sugar called in the recipe. I was truly satisfied with the results even at my first attempt. The only thing I didn’t follow is the baking temperature and the time required to bake. I used my own experiments to fine tune both.
In my 2nd attempt, I had added some desiccated coconuts into the batter. To my surprise, this little ingredient compliments so well with the bananas. The fragrant coconut flakes gave the muffins extra flavour and volume in the texture. Besides my family, it’s also a hit among my panel of “food taster” friends.
One important tip to get this recipe right is to use over-ripe bananas. This means that you will see many black dots appearing on the banana skin. This type of banana will be the tastiest for baking. I always have problems getting my bananas to reach this stage as they will end up in my hubby’s and son’s stomach even with many reminders and warnings to keep their distance and hands away. 
Another point to share is that I like to use small muffin paper cup for making muffins. This size is perfect for all kids who prefer little treat. It helps to minimize wastage as well, and the muffin appears more adorable. It’s also great for adults (like my hubby and myself) who can have some small bites during snack time. When the muffins were fresh from the oven, we could easily pop a few into our mouth and only felt “guilty” after that. 
I also discovered the beauty of using muffin paper cup. It can be “transformed” into a disposable plate if you open up the pleats. It saves you all the cleaning up especially during outings. Kill two birds with one stone! Doesn’t that sound great?
(Note: You can find muffin paper cups at any local baking supplies stores. I bought mine from Phoon Huat (Simei branch) and Sun Lik Trading (Seah Street)).
This super tasty banana muffin guarantees to please your preschoolers’ tummies during their breakfast and teatime, especially for the picky eaters who prefer “plain” muffins. It’s also perfect for all occasions such party, gathering and outing too. A must-try recipe for all!
>>> Click on PAGE 2 below for banana muffin recipe with step-by-step instructions and photos.………
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Hi.
Itried this recipe tonight. It’s really good! Hmmwen I went back to your site to check the picture, it’s different from mine. It’s not golden brown. Do I need to leave it longer in the oven?
Thanks
Michelle: The colour of the muffins will turn darker (ie more brownish) and more moist after one night. I took my photo the next day. You can leave your muffins inside the oven for another 6-8 minutes after the baking time with power off. So, the residue heat will help to brown the muffins a little bit. Please note that the darker the muffins, the drier they become. Thus, it’s better not to over-bake them. Hope it helps! 😉
Hi
Does your recipe still work if I halved all the ingredients?
Carrin: Yes, sure you can. Even if you stick to the original recipe, you can freeze any leftover and consume them later. 😉
[…] ayudar además a hacer estas magdalenas o incluso a ir rellenando los moldes. La hemos visto en Food-4Tots. Para 14-18 panecillos […]
My muffin doesn’t seem to rise.I don’t know where have I gone wrong.
Ivy: Sorry to hear about that. 🙁 I’m not sure how to advise you as you didn’t provide me enough information. Over or under mixing your batter could be the reason too. Maybe you go through the comments made by other readers and see whether they are relevant to your situation. Give it another go and see how it goes. Please don’t give up as this recipe has been tried and tested by many of my readers who are new in baking. 😉
Made these muffins yesterday and they taste great!
I used organic coconut oil in place of the melted butter ;D
Hi there, just baked a batch of the muffins. The texture is dense and heavy, which I guess is typical of a muffin… Am I right?
The texture however is rather chewy, I can’t say that it’s moist. Just wondering had I over mix it?
And as I remove the muffin case,it doesn’t come off clean, it has a good amount of muffin stuck to it, from the sides to the bottom of the muffin case.
Would u b able to tell what went wrong? Many thanks!
Jaclyn: For my muffins, they should not be dense and heavy. In your case, I think you may under/ over-mix. It’s quite hard for me to trouble shoot your problems as I didn’t see how you made it. Did you mash your bananas until mushy? Why not go through my recipe again, compare it with my other muffin recipes and give it another try. If you’re using a muffin pan, then you need to grease it, sieve flour on top and dust off any extra flour. Hope it helps! 😉
Sorry, I forgot to add that I used cake flour instead and replaced the butter with oil.
Jaclyn: Your substitution sounds fine to me and will not affect the muffins to be dense and heavy.
Hi there! Thanks for ur reply, I definitely will try again, cos its so fuss free! Many many thanks!
Jaclyn: Don’t mention it. You’re always welcome!! 😉
[…] bake yourself a batch of these. They’re not even that bad for you, swearsies! You can find the recipe here on Food4Tots. I would repost, but the blog is so cute, you just have to see it. I made some of […]
Hi,
It’s me again! Learn a lot from ur recipes. Simple to understand n follow through with ur clear instructions with pics. Thks!
Would like to try banana muffin this time round. What’s the ground cinnamon for? Isit ok for me to omit it? Will it affect the taste or look of the muffin? Thks again! Merry Xmas’
Phoebe: So glad to know that you find my recipes helpful. Ground cinnamon = 肉桂粉. It is fine if you omit it. It will affect slightly the taste but not the look. 🙂
hi can i know how long can i store the muffin in freezer? As long as i want? Thanks!
Nicole: Yes, you can freeze it but it is better to consume within a month. 🙂
Hi, thanks for the lovely recipe. For the first time, my muffin did not overflow or too flat. It risen so perfectly to the dome effect.
I read your muffin tips as well as it was helpful to me too! Next time I will try your Apple or blueberries muffin recipes.
Thanks for sharing!
Nicole: I’m glad that your muffins had a perfect dome effect! Looking forward to hearing more feedback from you in future. 🙂
I am eating the freshly baked muffin. It was so soft! But a little less sweet to me. I will add more sugar next time.
Nicole: If your bananas are not fully ripened, then this will lead to a less sweet taste to the muffins. 🙂
Hi, I also stored my banana muffins in the freezer. I tried both methods to make them warm when I want to eat. It is proven that the steam method is better as it gives moist to the muffins. While microwave muffin makes it dried. So ur tips are really useful to me. Plus the muffins baking tips, now I always preheat my oven to 10 degree higher and reset to the degree I want when I put the muffin in the oven. I also fill my muffin 80% full and it comes up perfectly dome. Thanks for sharing the tips! It is useful to any type of muffinsr
to me.
Nicole: You’re most welcomed! So glad you find these tips useful to you! 🙂
Can it be steamed?
Chloe: Sorry, I haven’t tried before. Maybe you can try my steamed banana cupcakes – https://food-4tots.com/2013/11/14/steamed-banana-cupcakes/.
Hi
Baking this muffin now n oh…they r smelling so nice!
Though not done yet but I just want to share with u the nice aroma from the oven.
I have added some rasins to them n that hv added to the fragrance!
Thanks for your recipe!
Grace Y: Glad to know that you love it! Your addition sounds lovely! 🙂
Hi
Thanks for your easy recipe! But i use a larger cup to bake at 25mins. My cake taste more like ‘kueh’ not fluffy, have I overmix?
Vandy: Sorry to know that it didn’t work for you. It’s hard to judge from my end but overmixing is definitely a no-no. 🙂
I want to add chocholate chips n banana muffins can I ?if yes thn how much would be enough?
Sadia: I haven’t tried it before but it sounds feasible. I would suggest that 80-100g of chocolate chips would be a good try. 🙂