Pumpkin Banana Muffins – Carmy

September 23, 2023

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Posted: Sep 23, 2023 Last Modified: Sep 12, 2023 by Carmy · This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Tender, moist, and fluffy, these pumpkin banana muffins are a delicious way to start the day or as an afternoon snack. Dotted with mini chocolate chips, these soft muffins are loved by both adults and children! No mixer required for these easy muffins!

Thanks to the warm spices and pumpkin puree, this pumpkin banana muffin recipe is a delightful fall twist on a classic banana muffin. The perfect grab-and-go breakfast to go with your homemade pumpkin spice latte, these muffins are the perfect cozy treat to make once the temperature starts dropping.

A pumpkin banana muffin surrounded by some scattered chocolate chips. A cup of coffee in the back.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

These banana pumpkin muffins are so easy to make. You really only need two bowls to mix the ingredients together with a spatula. You don’t even need a mixer. You could even get away with making it all in one bowl if you don’t feel like washing a second bowl.
These muffins are so soft and tender. Between the oil, mashed bananas, and pumpkin puree, you never have to worry about the muffins tasting dry.
They’re meal prep friendly, freezer-friendly, kid-friendly, potluck friendly, and just in general, a great muffin recipe for any occasion. Need I say more?!
They come together in 30 minutes! You can whip them up in the morning or ahead of time.

Ingredients You’ll Need

Ingredients needed to make pumpkin banana muffins.

oil — using oil in muffins helps them stay soft and tender at room temperature. Use vegetable or canola oil.
mashed bananas — you want super spotty bananas. The more brown the bananas, the more sweet they are! Mashed bananas add moisture, tenderness, and sweetness to the muffins. It also allows you to reduce the added oil in baked goods.
pumpkin puree — make sure you are using pumpkin puree and not pumpkin pie filling. They’re usually side by side on the shelves, but pumpkin pie filling comes pre-spiced and sweetened. Pumpkin puree acts as a sweetener and adds moisture to the muffins. Try my homemade pumpkin puree if you can’t find it in a can!
eggs — make sure the eggs are at room temperature. This ensures they mix into the batter without you having to overmix it.
vanilla — use real vanilla extract for the best flavor.
brown sugar — this muffin recipe uses brown sugar instead of granulated sugar. Brown sugar adds a delightful deep, caramel or toffee-like flavor due to the added molasses. It also adds moistness as the molasses in brown sugar help to prevent baked goods from drying out, leading to the muffins being softer and moister.
milk — use whole milk for the best flavor.
flour — you don’t need anything fancy to make these pumpkin banana muffins, just all-purpose flour!
leavening agents — make sure your baking soda and baking powder are fresh for the best results. Stale baking soda and powder will lead to disappointing results as it won’t help lift your muffins.
salt — just a bit of salt to balance out the flavors.
cinnamon — I love the warm and cozy flavors of ground cinnamon.
pumpkin pie spice — pumpkin pie spice is made up of a wonderful blend of warm spices like cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves.
chocolate chips — I love using mini chocolate chips as you get more evenly dispersed chocolate throughout the muffins. If you only have regular chocolate chips, that’s totally fine. You’ll get lovely pockets of chocolate instead.

How to Make Pumpkin Banana Muffins

Set of two photos showing wet ingredients added to a bowl and mixed together.

Heat the oven to 425°F.
In a mixing bowl, combine the oil, mashed bananas, pumpkin puree, eggs, vanilla extract, brown sugar, and milk.
Stir to combine.

Set of two photos showing dry ingredients mixed together and wet ingredients folded into it.

In another larger bowl, combine the all-purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice.
Pour the bowl of wet ingredients into the bowl of dry ingredients, and then fold everything together gently just until combined and no flour pockets remain. Be careful not to overmix.

Set of two photos showing chocolate chips added to the bowl of batter and combined.

Add almost all the mini chocolate chips to the bowl of batter (add all the chocolate chips if you don’t want to sprinkle any on top). Gently fold the chocolate chips into the batter.

Set of two photos showing before and after muffins baked in a muffin tin.

Spray a muffin tin with nonstick spray or line it with cupcake liners.
Spoon the batter into liners, filling them almost all the way to the top. Top with the leftover chocolate chips.
Bake for 5 minutes at 425°F, then without removing the muffins from the oven, reduce the oven temperature to 350°F. Bake for an additional 15 to 18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the muffins comes out clean. The total time these muffins take in the oven is about 20 to 23 minutes.
Allow the muffins to cool for 5 minutes in the muffin tin before removing and enjoying.

Two pumpkin banana muffins on a wooden board with three in a muffin tin in the background along with a mug of coffee.

Recipe Tips and Notes

Avoid overmixing the batter. Too much mixing will help gluten strands form, leading to a less fluffy muffin.
Anything in the fridge, bring it out ahead of time, so they are room temperature. This helps prevent overmixing.
2 cups of flour is 240 grams. Weighing it with a scale is the most accurate way to ensure you don’t add too much flour. However, if you don’t have a scale, don’t scoop flour directly out of the container with the measuring cup. Instead, stir the flour around, spoon it into your measuring cup, and level it off with the back of a knife. This will prevent over-packing the measuring cup. I use this super basic Amazon brand scale.
You can use a 12 cup muffin tin or use a 6 cup muffin tin like myself and just bake the muffins in two batches. This recipe makes 10 muffins.
When mashed the bananas, you can leave some pieces of bananas if you’d like some texture in your muffins. Make sure not to leave too many though!
I like to sprinkle a little bit of demerara sugar (a type of cane sugar with a coarse grain) on top of the pumpkin banana muffin batter before baking as it adds a crunchy, sweet topping to the muffins. They don’t melt into the batter like regular sugar.
Make sure you remember to turn the oven temperature down after 5 minutes. This initial high temperature will quickly lift the muffin tops so they’re extra high to make beautifully tall muffins but they’ll be over bake and dry out if you leave it at 450°F. I believe I learned this tip from Sally’s Baking Addiction!

A pumpkin banana muffin on a marble coaster with more muffins in the background out of focus.

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