Moist and Easy Pumpkin Banana Muffins

I am a Fall girlie through and through. As soon as it's Summer I'm basically counting down the days until it's Fall and we have cooler days and crispy leaves on the ground - I can't help it! Shh, if you're quiet, you can hear me restarting Gilmore Girls for the hundredth time.

I love my pumpkin muffins with streusel, but wanted to make a new version that incorporated some of the ripe bananas I've got in my kitchen!

I also wanted to give the muffins a bit of a makeover so they would have super tall muffin tops. I took notes from my bakery style vanilla muffins and added more baking powder, as well as spacing out the muffins when they're baking in the oven.

If you're like me and can't get enough pumpkin recipes, then check out my pumpkin pie smoothie, chewy pumpkin cookies, healthy pumpkin banana bread, mini pumpkin muffins, pumpkin walnut bread, and pumpkin pie with graham cracker crust. 

Grab your ingredients

• Pumpkin: make sure you're using 100% canned pumpkin and not pumpkin pie filling! Pumpkin pie filling already has sugar and spices added to it, so it wouldn't work in this recipe (and it can taste a bit artificial), so make sure you're using pure pumpkin puree. I haven't tried this with homemade pumpkin puree!
• Bananas: you want to use overripe bananas that have tons of freckles and brown spots. Not only are they going to be easier to mash up, but they're sweeter than underripe bananas and have more banana flavor. I recommend placing any ripe bananas you have in your freezer if you're not going to use them right away. When ready to make these banana pumpkin muffins (or any banana recipe!), just let the bananas thaw before using. I've tested this recipe with fresh and frozen (and thawed) bananas and both work.
• Baking Powder: we're using a mixture of baking soda and baking powder, but using a lot of baking powder is going to help these pumpkin muffins rise really quickly in the first 5 minutes in the oven.
• Oil: you want to use a neutral oil, like sunflower oil, vegetable oil or canola oil. Using oil instead of butter in muffins is going to make them super moist and keep them soft for days. It's something I do in a lot of my muffin recipes, like my cinnamon swirl muffins! I don't recommend using olive oil or coconut oil as both of those have too strong of a flavor.
• Flour: I've only tested this recipe with all-purpose flour. I don't recommend using cake flour because it will be too light for these muffins!
• Granulated Sugar: using granulated sugar is going to sweeten these pumpkin banana muffins.
• Kosher Salt: I love using kosher salt in my baking and cooking recipes. Hot tip, there are two types of kosher salt and they are not the same! I'm using Diamond Crystal, not Morton, which is far too salty for baking.
• Cinnamon: one of my favorite baking spices and the most fall spice to me! Ground cinnamon is sweet but a tiny bit bitter and it pairs perfectly with the sweet pumpkin. Cinnamon is going to help give you that pumpkin pie filling taste, along with the other warm spices.
• Cloves: ground cloves are sweet but quite strong, so we only need a dash of it.
• Ginger: ground ginger works so well with other flavors and really lights up the pumpkin pie spices.
• Nutmeg: another spice that is perfect for the fall and winter! Nutmeg is a sweet spice and very similar to mace. It's definitely one to use in moderation as it's quite strong!

Substitutions & Additions

• Kosher Salt: if you don't have kosher salt on hand you can easily swap it out for table salt! Just use half the amount called for.
• Chocolate Chips: I love the combination of chocolate and pumpkin! You can add half a cup to a cup of chocolate chips to these muffins.
• Nuts: add your favorite chopped nuts, I think pecans or walnuts pair really well with pumpkin, it gives me all the fall vibes.
• Extract: swap out the vanilla extract for maple extract to get some maple syrup flavor!
• Pumpkin Pie Spice: if you don't have all those spices on hand, just swap it out for 2 ½ teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice.
• Streusel: add the streusel from my pumpkin muffins with streusel recipe!

Serving Suggestions

• Pumpkin Breakfast: Can't get enough pumpkin flavors? Have a pumpkin banana muffin with a pumpkin pie smoothie for breakfast or as an afternoon snack!
• Brunch Table: Make these muffins for a breakfast or brunch gathering along with these apple waffles, brioche french toast casserole, cinnamon rolls with apple pie filling and my pumpkin mini muffins!
• Pumpkin Bread: if you're more in the mood for pumpkin bread instead of pumpkin muffins, try my pumpkin bread with cream cheese frosting.

Storage & Freezing

Keep the cooled muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for 1-2 days, then store them in the fridge.

To freeze, place in a freezer bag or airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 months. Let thaw before enjoying!