The most moist banana coffee cake muffins to hit the internet are here! And they are complete with their own streusel topping and center cinnamon swirl – I just love them so much. This recipe took a bit of trial and error, and that’s because you can always make a pretty muffin, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a delicious muffin. This muffin took me a few rounds to find the perfect ratio of *perfectly domed tops* to *interior fluffy moistness* and *delicious for days*. Because if I’m making a batch of big, soft, bakery-style banana muffins, I want to be able to enjoy one a day for breakfast until they are gone (and believe me, that’ what I did with this recipe!)
The best part about these easy banana muffins is they are also slightly unique. They are loosely inspired by coffee cake, meaning that they have a buttery, crumbly topping on top, and they also have coffee in them. It might not seem like the most intuitive paring, but trust me, it just makes these muffins very, very good. If you are looking for a staple banana muffin recipe, these are one of my absolute favorites.
Table of contents
- First, let’s talk about coffee cake muffins
- Ingredients you will need for these banana coffee cake muffins
- How to make the banana muffin batter
- What makes banana muffins moist?
- How to make the crumble topping for these coffee banana bread muffins
- Tips & tricks on how to store banana muffins and keep them moist
- Looking for other baking recipes?
First, let’s talk about coffee cake muffins
Coffee cake is such a funny and interesting title to me – because almost no coffee cakes have coffee in them. They are just designed to be eaten with coffee. So being the ever-contrarian rule-breaker that I am, I was like “no…now is the time for coffee in my coffee cake.” And that’s how these coffee cake muffins were born. Good thing bananas and coffee pair fabulously together. Which means this muffin pairs even better with your morning coffee. It’s a win-win-win all around.
And of course, coffee cake technically has two layers, so I did my best to mimic tradition by adding a cinnamon sugar layer to the center of these muffins. It makes them feel more like a brown-sugar-shaken-espresso vibe, and I really can’t be too mad at that, right?
Ingredients you will need for these banana coffee cake muffins
While this looks like a long list (I know, I know) – it’s all relatively repeatable ingredients and pantry staples! I just outlined them into the three recipe sections, so that it will be easy for you to grab and decipher as you go. Here is everything you’ll need for these banana coffee cake muffins:
For the banana muffin batter
- 2 & 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, 350 grams
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp instant espresso powder or espresso grounds
- 3 large very brown bananas, 375 grams
- 2 large eggs at room temperature
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1/2 cup dark brown sugar, 80 grams
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar, 110 grams
- 1/2 cup greek yogurt or skyr, 130 grams
For the crumble topping
- 3 tbsp salted butter, 45 grams, chilled
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour, 52 grams
- 3 tbsp brown sugar, 30 grams
- 3 tbsp rolled oats, 25 grams
For the cinnamon sugar layer
- 3 tbsp granulated sugar, 35 grams
- 1 tbsp dark brown sugar, 14 grams
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, 9 grams
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
How to make the banana muffin batter
The beautiful thing about most coffee cakes, or snacking cakes, or batters, is that they are usually HIGHLY low-maintenance. This banana coffee cake batter is no different. Just mix the dry ingredients in one bowl, mash your bananas, and add them to the wet ingredients in another bowl.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet in batches, and mix to combine. You’ll have a thick, delicious banana batter in seconds. Try not to eat it all while you prep the rest of the recipe 😉
What makes banana muffins moist?
The moisture factor in baked goods comes from a LOT of external sources. I’m very well known for throwing whole vegetables into my cakes, just because I know how goooood the moisture can be. But bananas, vegetables and other fruits alone are not the sole source for what makes a cake moist. It also depends on your flour-to-fat ratio, and if you are using any additional moistening agents. Moistening agents typically include a dairy product, like sour cream, crème fraîche, or in this case, skyr or yogurt.
But the bananas do matter too – I mean, that’s why we started baking with them! The more brown your banana, the more moist your cake will be. This is because the sugars break down in bananas as they ripen, which will directly impact the results of your coffee cake muffins. So brown on, ladies!
How to make the crumble topping for these coffee banana bread muffins
This is another easy step of the recipe, just make sure your butter is chilled before beginning!
Add the chilled butter and the flour for the crumble topping. Toss to coat the butter in flour, then add the sugar and rolled oats. Work the butter into pieces with your hands, consistently tossing to coat in the flour and sugar. You’re looking to make a crumb-like texture, with pieces no bigger than the tip of a pencil eraser. Set this in the fridge while you prep the rest of the recipe.
Tips & tricks on how to store banana muffins and keep them moist
How you store a baked good greatly impacts how it will taste over time. And don’t we all want our leftovers to be 10/10? These banana coffee cake muffins will last up to a week, and here are my best tips on how to store them:
- Store in a cool, dry place like a pantry or a cool part of your kitchen – this is not the best recipe to store near the stove! Temperature variance won’t affect the moisture, but it will affect your muffin’s ability to keep for the full week.
- Store in an air-tight container – this is imperative to keeping a cake’s moisture. Let the muffins cool completely before moving them to a tupperware container with a snap-lock lid.
- For extra moisture, throw in a damp paper towel 12 hours before eating your next muffin – it’s wild, but it works!
- Forgot to do that step? Microwave your muffin for 20 seconds with a wet paper towel draped over it. I learned this from Emily Mariko and I’m never going back.
Looking for other baking recipes?
Here are a few I’ve loved lately!
And that’s everything for these banana muffins!
If you make it, please tag me on Pinterest or Instagram so I can see! It’s my favorite thing to scroll through stories and see what you all are making.
And of course feel free to leave any questions, comments or reviews! This is the best place to reach me, and I’d love to hear from you <3
Banana Coffee Cake Muffins
Equipment
- 1 jumbo muffin tin or one regular sized muffin tin
- 2 sheets of parchment paper
Ingredients
For the banana muffin batter
- 2 & 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 350 grams
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp instant espresso powder or espresso grounds
- 3 large very brown bananas 375 grams
- 2 large eggs at room temperature
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1/2 cup dark brown sugar 80 grams
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar 110 grams
- 1/2 cup greek yogurt or skyr 130 grams
For the crumble topping
- 3 tbsp salted butter 45 grams, chilled
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour 52 grams
- 3 tbsp brown sugar 30 grams
- 3 tbsp rolled oats 25 grams
For the sugar layer
- 3 tbsp granulated sugar 35 grams
- 1 tbsp dark brown sugar 14 grams
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour 9 grams
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and espresso. Set aside.
- Mash the bananas well. Add this to a bowl and crack in the eggs and mix. Add in the vanilla extract, the olive oil, the sugars, and the skyr. Mix well.
- In batches, add the dry ingredients to the wet. Mix to form a thick batter and set aside.
- In another small bowl, add the chilled butter and the flour for the crumble topping. Toss to coat the butter in flour, then add the sugar and rolled oats. Work the butter into pieces with your hands, consistently tossing to coat in the flour and sugar. You're looking to make a crumb-like texture, with pieces no bigger than the tip of a pencil eraser. Set this in the fridge while you prep the rest of the recipe.
- Whisk together all the ingredients for the sugar layer in a small bowl.
- Cut a few sheets of parchment paper into squares and lay them the cups of a jumbo muffin tin. If you are baking this in a normal sized muffin tin, see recipe notes.
- Add a small amount of batter to each cup, then sprinkle in about 1 & 1/2 tsp of sugar mixture. Layer more batter on top until the muffin tin is about 3/4 of the way full. Add a generous layer of the crumble topping.
- Bake at 375°F for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Enjoy!
Just wanted to leave a comment to say that I’m generally a person who skips to the recipe part of a post but I love reading posts in full. Love your takes & you always provide such great added information! Thanks for what you do! Going to give these a try with some vegan adaptations.
Aw this means so much to me! I always try to write these as if I’m speaking to you about the recipe, so I’m so glad you read them!
I had 3 brown bananas and once I saw these pop up on my Instagram feed, I knew I had to make them. I think these are the best muffins I’ve ever made! Super tasty! Highly recommend!
I just made this recipe in my loaf pan (took about 60 minutes to cook through) and it is fantastic!! Not too sweet – dare I say healthy – and is perfect with my afternoon coffee. Thank you for another great one!
Adjusted for high altitude and these are amazing! 🙏 Thank you! Love your tutorials. Looking forward to your cookbook.
Just made this for our busy week ahead to enjoy on coffee breaks. I switched it around a bit and baked it in a 8×8 pan at 350 for about an hour. I’m looking forward to enjoying a coffee cake with actual coffee in the recipe! Banana bread is a big hit in our house so I’m guessing this will become a favorite. Thank you for creating & sharing💗
This comment makes me so happy – I’m so glad you love them!
Just made this recipe as a loaf and it might just be my new favourite b bread recipe! I baked it at 350 for 1 hour 10 minutes and put foil on top the last 30 minutes. Thanks for another great recipe, Justine!!
I am so thrilled you liked it!!
Hi there! Is it possible to make this is a bread/loaf pan instead!m? I don’t have a muffin tin but would love to make these! Thanks!
That’s absolutely possible! The baking time will just increase by about 15 minutes!
I made these today with no substitutions, just the addition of ~1/4c of walnuts I wanted to use up. For anyone without a scale, I used 1.5c mashed bananas because Google said that was 375g, and I think it was perfect. The rise and texture of these muffins is great. My only complaint is how much it makes. My jumbo muffin tin has six spots (the recipe says it will make eight jumbo), but my regular sized muffin tin has 12 spots (the recipe says it will make 16 regular). So I ended up making six jumbo and six regular, which is fine, just an extra pan to wash! Thanks for the recipe! I always know it will be good if it’s a baked good using Greek yogurt<3
Just made these today and they are delicious! I omitted the sugar layer because I was running low on sugar, but added some extra cinnamon to the crumble and batter and they still turned out great. Can see these becoming a staple. Thanks for sharing this recipe!
I’m so glad you liked them! Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment and review <3
Question- if using actual espresso should I just make some coffee and add a tablespoon or so to the wet ingredients? I can’t imagine I’m meant to have grounds in the muffins.
Instant espresso powder is used in a lot of baking recipes, especially chocolate ones!
Wowee wow! Yum!
These are worth the extra steps of making layers. Next time, I will double the toppings.
I can’t wait to make these tomorrow! I just want to double check and be sure, is it really a tablespoon of baking powder? That seems like a lot. Thanks!
I just checked my notes and that is the amount – although I agree, it does seem quite hefty! I’m sure you can do 2 tsp baking powder and yield similar results. I’ll plan to do a retest this week!
Wonderful recipe! I could not find my instant espresso… I popped open a Nespresso pod, which is finely ground and tossed some in. It worked perfectly. Given I had enough batter for the 8 jumbo muffins and not enough time to wait for round two with the pan, I opted for muffin tops and gleefully discovered I had the perfect amount of batter for 6! Next time I’ll make extra topping. Those were quite a hit. Bake this in whatever vessel fits your mood. It’s delicious.
Last time I baked in my jumbo muffin tin I had raw middles so I decided to make these as stated but in muffin form instead. Wow, delicious and such a welcome change to a loaf. I’ve eaten 4 of these today and I’m excited for tomorrow so I can eat more. They are that addictive!
SO GOOD. They are light and have the best texture. The crumble on top adds a great bite. I like the addition of espresso in it, I’m going to double it next time for a bit more bite.
Geeeze, everything you make is so good. Thanks Justine!
These are the best muffins I’ve ever made and possibly the best muffin I’ve ever eaten. SO. GOOD.
Love all your videos on Pinterest (I dont have Tiktok so that’s where I see them)! You make everything look sooo yummy!
I made these and changed a couple of things to “healthyfied” them: purée dates instead of the sugars in the muffins, whole wheat flour and flaxseeds meal but kept the crumble and cinnamon sugar the same. They were so fluffy and tasty, everyone was raving about them! My new favorites!
Misread 1tbls as 1tsp baking powder. Skipped the middle and top layers to cut down on sugar. Used non-fat, plain Greek yogurt, 1 tsp instant (!) coffee dissolved in a tiny bit of boiling water, and substituted 1 snack-size container of applesauce (no-sugar added) applesauce for olive oil. My muffins rose beautifully, were fluffy, and cooked evenly. They also tasted good! Made 12 jumbo/1 regular muffin tin). Not too sweet, but to my liking:)
I’m glad you liked them! I hope you’ll consider giving 5 stars in the future <3
This was a delicious recipe! I decided to make it for Superbowl and in a Bundt pan!! It came out great and everyone raved about how good it was. I just ended up putting the topping on the top of the batter, inverting the cake and serving it topping side up. Needed about 20-25 minutes additional baking time. Well done! Will make it as muffins as well, but works great as a cake too. Thanks for such a great website and so many thoughtful and delicious recipes – I am a private Chef and my 20 year old daughter told me about you – she follows you on Tik Tok! Whenever I need some inspiration, I always take a look at your site or insta! Thank you!!
Does the 375g of bananas include the weight of the skin?
No, that’s their weight without the skin 🙂
These are hands down the best banana muffins i’ve ever had, theyre so much better than store bought and they dont last in my house for more than two days before theyre polished off.
I also wanna say that youre my favourite food content creator on tik tok and watching your videos gives me so much joy, so thank you for making wonderful content.