Light and fluffy banana ginger muffins are flavored with molasses, ginger, and cinnamon to create the perfect marriage of gingerbread and banana bread. Sour cream and yogurt are added for moisture and creaminess, bananas provide natural sweetness, and fresh ginger gives them a bit of a zing.
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Orange zest and candied ginger are added as the final touch to make these muffins unforgettable. Ready in less than 30 minutes, they make a great holiday breakfast, tea-time snack, or edible gift.
This banana ginger muffin recipe is moist, spicy, and so easy. The rich flavor from molasses pairs so well with the warm spices and bananas, and the whole-wheat flour adds a touch of nuttiness.
Get ready for your kitchen to smell like the holidays!
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⭐️ Why These Muffins are the Best
- Moist, rich, and spicy banana muffins with flavors of cinnamon, ginger, and molasses
- A great way to use up your ripe bananas
- Quick and easy breakfast or snack
- No special equipment needed
- Makes a great holiday gift
- Freezer-friendly recipe
🍌 Ingredient Notes
- Unsulphured molasses - provides a deep and complex flavor that's often found in gingerbread
- Whole-wheat flour - Gives nutty flavor and added health benefits.
- Ripe bananas - Provides moisture as well as natural sweetness. If you have more ripe bananas to use up, try my banana peanut butter cookies, banana oat pancakes, or banana french toast.
- Orange zest - Adds bright citrus notes
- Ground ginger - Provides zesty spicy notes that are key to gingerbread
- Ground cinnamon & ground cloves - Warm and subtle notes of spice
📝 Variations & Substitutions
- Make dairy-free/vegan: Substitute 1 flax egg for the egg, and use any dairy-free/plant-based alternatives for the yogurt, sour cream, and milk.
- Make gluten-free: I have not tested this recipe using gluten-free flour, but you should be able to swap all-purpose gluten-free flour 1:1 without a hitch. If you try it, please let me know how they turn out!
- Nuts. Add ½ cup of chopped and toasted nuts of your choice to add nuttiness and crunch. Walnuts or pecans would taste great!
- Yogurt and sour cream. You can use one or the other, or both, for excellent results.
🥄 How To Make Banana Ginger Muffins
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray or use cupcake liners. In a small bowl, whisk the olive oil with the molasses.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs, mashed bananas, sour cream, yogurt, milk, vanilla extract, and orange zest. Add the olive oil and molasses and stir until well combined.
Add the flours, baking soda, salt, ground cinnamon, ground ginger, and ground cloves. Stir a few times until just combined.
Using a cookie scoop or large spoon, scoop into muffin tin and sprinkle a pinch of granulated sugar on top of each muffin.
Bake for 17-20 minutes, until the tops are puffy and firm to the touch. Cool for a few minutes before serving.
🍴Storage Instructions
Place in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Because these muffins contain so much moisture, their shelf-life will not be as long if stored at room temperature.
How to freeze: Wrap your completely cooled muffins individually in foil and place in a freezer bag. Muffins can be stored in the freezer for up to 3 months.
👩🏼🍳 Expert Tips
- Don't overmix. Overmixing your muffin batter can lead to tough and chewy muffins, and we want a light, fluffy, and airy texture. When adding your dry ingredients, stir just until combined.
- Use unsulphured molasses, not blackstrap molasses. Unsulphured molasses is the finest quality, and is the type that most grocery stores carry.
- Use ripe bananas. In this recipe, we use bananas to provide natural sweetness as well as moisture. Therefore, we want to use bananas that are quite ripe.
- Use room temperature eggs. This allows more air to be incorporated when mixed, which creates light and airy muffins.
💬 Frequently Asked Questions
Over-baking can cause your muffins to turn out hard and dry. Therefore, follow your muffin recipe closely, and don't bake longer than instructed.
Using room temperature eggs, along with room temperature dairy products, will allow more air to be whipped into your muffin batter, creating light and fluffy muffins.
There are a few tips to ensure moist muffins, including not over-mixing your muffin batter, and not baking longer than instructed in the recipe.
☕️ More Muffin Recipes
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Banana Ginger Muffins Recipe
Equipment
- muffin tin
- large bowl
- cookie scoop or large spoon
Ingredients
- ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- ⅓ cup unsulphured molasses
- 1 egg, room temperature
- 2 ripe bananas, mashed
- ¼ cup sour cream, room temperature
- ¼ cup Greek yogurt, room temperature
- ½ cup milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest
- 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- granulated sugar, for sprinkling (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray or place cupcake liners in tin. In a small bowl, whisk the olive oil with the molasses.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs, mashed bananas, sour cream, yogurt, milk, vanilla extract, and orange zest. Add the olive oil and molasses and stir until well combined.
- Add the flours, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. Stir a few times until just combined. Using a cookie scoop or large spoon, scoop into prepared muffin tin and sprinkle a pinch of granulated sugar on top of each muffin.
- Bake for 17-20 minutes, until the tops are puffy and firm to the touch, or a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool for a few minutes before serving.
Notes
- Don't overmix. Overmixing your muffin batter can lead to tough and chewy muffins, and we want light, fluffy, and airy. When adding your dry ingredients, stir just until combined.
- Storage: Place in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Because they contain so much moisture, their shelf-life will not be as long if stored at room temperature.
- Use ripe bananas. In this recipe, we use bananas to provide natural sweetness as well as moisture. Therefore, we want to use bananas that are quite ripe.
- Recipe inspired by Pinch of Yum.
Andrea
Oh my, these sound amazing! Such great flavors for breakfast.
Gastronotherapy
Thanks, Andrea! Yes, a very tasty and healthy breakfast! 🙂
Biana
These muffins look delicious! A great idea for the holidays.
Gastronotherapy
Thanks, Biana! I always look forward to them every winter!
cyndy
These were a big hit in my house today. Will definitely be adding this to the family rotation.
Gastronotherapy
So glad to hear they were a hit, Cyndy! 🙂
Kechi
I can only image the flavors loaded in this Banana Gingerbread Muffins! My little ones would love it!
Gastronotherapy
I hope they do, Kechi!
Maria San Juan
My kids will surely love this! I am very excited about this. Thanks for sharing!
Gastronotherapy
You are welcome, Maria!
Mirlene
I have not tried making gingerbread muffins yet! I need to try these with my kids this weekend!
Susan
Can’t wait to make these! Can I substitute the whole wheat flour with white flour?
MaryAnne
Hi, Susan! Yes, you can use all white (all-purpose) flour if you like, but I would reduce the amount of milk to 1/3 cup. I hope you give them a go!