Pumpkin Banana Muffins

Pumpkin Banana Muffins combine pumpkin puree and mashed bananas in a super moist muffin, topped with pecan and sugar crumbs.

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Our easy Pumpkin Banana Muffins are a delicious way to use up ripe bananas. Pumpkin puree in the batter adds a delicious fall-inspired twist – and gives these sweet (but not too sweet) muffins a nicely balanced flavor.

We topped these moist, tender muffins with a simple crumb topping of sugar (granulated and brown), flour, and chopped pecans.

Chef’s Tip –

Use “tulip” muffin liners as shown in our photos to make over-sized, bakery-style muffins. These are the ones we used.

Key ingredients and Substitutions

• Bananas – You’ll want to use soft, over-ripe bananas for these muffins as they have the sweetest flavor – perfect for baking! If you have frozen bananas in your freezer, you can use those too.
• Pumpkin – Use plain pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling which is already sweetened and seasoned. You can use canned puree from the store, or make your own following this recipe.
• Pumpkin pie spice – For convenience, we used a pre-mixed pumpkin pie spice in this muffin recipe. If you have a well-stocked spice cabinet, you can make your own with ground cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice and cloves.
• Pecans – The crumb topping on these incredible muffins includes chopped pecans. You can swap in other nuts such as walnuts, almonds or hazelnuts if you’d like.

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Special supplies needed

• Standard 12-cup muffin tin
• “Tulip” muffin liners or *regular muffin liners (*see note below)

Chef’s Tip –

*If you are using regular muffin/cupcake liners, your yield will change to 18 muffins since the tulip paper liners we used hold more batter. Also note that the baking time will be less than what is listed in the recipe.

How do I make Pumpkin Banana Muffins?

• Double line the muffin tin with two tulip papers for each cavity. Doubling up on the liners will help prevent the bottoms of your muffins from over-cooking. Spray the inside of the muffin papers with non-stick cooking spray.
• Mash bananas with a fork then whisk in the pumpkin puree.
• Whisk eggs with oil, sugar and vanilla in a mixing bowl, then whisk in banana pumpkin mixture.
• Combine flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Then whisk these dry ingredients into the bowl with the wet ingredients. Scrape bowl and mix just until combined.
• Make the topping by combining flour, brown sugar, granulated sugar, salted butter and chopped pecans.
• Fill muffin cups with the batter. We find it easy to use a large ice cream scoop to divide the batter between the 12 cups. (Or 18 if you are using regular muffin papers.)
• Sprinkle the crumb topping on the tops of each muffin.
• Bake muffins for 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out cleanly. (Our muffins took exactly 37 minutes.) Remember, if you are using regular muffin papers, the baking time will be less.
• Serve warm, or cool the Pumpkin Banana Muffins to room temperature and serve with softened butter or cream cheese.

 Chef’s Tip –

Avoid over-mixing your muffin batter and stir just long enough to mix the ingredients together. When you over-mix the batter, gluten starts to develop and that will give you tough muffins.

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Frequently asked Questions

Can I make these muffins ahead of time? If you’d like, you can mix the crumb topping ahead of time, as well as the dry ingredients. Then the morning you plan to bake the muffins, mix the wet ingredients and follow the rest of the recipe as written.

How do I store extra muffins? Wrap tightly and store for up to two days at room temperature.

Can I freeze these muffins? Yes, you can, but note that the crumb topping might fall off as they are wrapped up for freezing.

You may enjoy these other muffins:

• Maple Streusel Muffins
• Morning Glory Muffins
• Lemon Blueberry Zucchini Muffins
• Savory Keto Zucchini Cheese Muffins
• Coconut Oat Bran Muffins

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