How to Get Fluffy, Fully-Loaded Peanut Butter Banana Muffins
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I love classic banana bread. But sometimes, I just want to bake something different. Peanut butter banana muffins with creamy peanut butter, chopped honey roasted nuts, and banana chips for crunch are a great way to play with a classic!
Every bite is texturally unique. You have little pops of sweet, crunchy, and salty. The muffin itself is moist, cakey, and comfortingly soft. It’s a really fun addition to any breakfast or brunch menu. So, let’s talk about how to make them!
The Muffin Method
First things first, let’s talk about the “Muffin Method.” What is the muffin method? Very simply, you’ll mix the wet ingredients and dry ingredients separately. Then, you’ll fold the wet into the dry with as few strokes as possible to reduce gluten formation. This produces cakey, tender, soft muffins with lots of rise.
Tender Crumb vs. Gluten Bonds
You probably see “Do Not Overmix” as a warning on a lot of recipes. The reason being that darned gluten. While it certainly has its place in bread, it is an unwanted guest in tender bakes like muffins. We want a crumb, not a stretchy network of strands.
Mixing strengthens the bonds of gluten so they create that beautiful webby look we love in sourdough and croissants. But when you bite into a muffin, you want to sink your teeth through it and have that bite nearly melt on your tongue.
Nice, Tall Muffin Tops
The less you mix, the better. This also means less time between the leavening agents becoming hydrated and heating up. As soon as moisture hits that baking soda, it activates. The longer it takes to get to the oven, the less powerful its explosive reaction. Baking powder does last a little longer.
But the idea is to mix less so you can get those muffins right into the oven for a tender crumb and a nice high muffin top.
Crunchy Mix-Ins for Loaded Peanut Butter Banana Muffins
There are three “mix-in”s that make these the ultimate peanut butter banana muffins. First, obviously, is creamy peanut butter. This is the flavor foundation, and the source of fat for our fluffy muffins.
Fat helps keep muffins tender instead of tough, and peanut butter happens to also be a strong, delicious flavor. I do recommend using the 1-ingredient type of peanut butter. It’s fine if it’s peanuts and salt, but you don’t want to use a peanut butter loaded with extra sugar and oil and weird things.
Second, we’re adding in honey roasted peanuts. Chop them up first. It’s up to you how finely you chop them. Maybe you prefer big chunks, or maybe you’d prefer a finer little bite. You might even just get some crunchy peanut butter and skip the extra nuts altogether.
Third, we’re adding in banana chips. Again, we want to chop them up just a little so we’re not getting massive bites of banana. The chips are meant to bring home that banana flavor but also to add some more crunchy texture, just not TOO much.
As a bit of a bonus, there are also quick oats in this batter. Quick oats don’t bake as chewy as old fashioned oats, but they still bring some texture plus fiber and protein to the party.
Portioning out Perfect Peanut Butter Banana Muffins
I recommend using a scoop to get every single muffin the same size. They are not going to come out looking identical, but they’ll bake evenly. That’s the important part. You don’t want to have some underdone and some overdone muffins just because they’re different sizes.
The scoop I use is a #12. Yes, it’s a large scoop. And, yes, your muffin cups are going to be full. This is how we get those bakery-style, high-crowned muffin tops.
If you remember back to my red velvet cupcake recipe, I used a smaller scoop. The difference between scooping cupcakes versus muffins is that you WANT muffins to puff up bigger than the cup. Cupcakes shouldn’t grow past the liner because they’re going to be frosted.
Still Have Bananas To Use Up?
This recipe calls for 3 overripe bananas. That’s a pretty decent amount, but if you’re like me, you probably have a small stockpile of frozen bananas taking up room in your freezer.
If you want to make more banana goodies, give my classic banana bread a shot. It’s more like a cake than bread, and it turns out perfectly every single time. Make sure to read the post for all my secrets.
And if you’re still in a muffin mood, bake up some of my cocoa banana muffins. They’re soft, fluffy, chocolatey, and one of my favorite ways to sneak dessert into breakfast.
Tools You’ll Need for Peanut Butter Banana Muffins
Before you get started, here are the tools you’ll need to make your perfect peanut butter banana muffins:
- 2 mixing bowls: 1 small one and 1 medium one
- Whisk
- Rubber spatula
- #12 Scoop
- 12 cup muffin pan
Comment below if you have questions, concerns, or opinions. And tag me @ellejayathome on Instagram or Twitter if you share pictures from any of my recipes. I love to hear from you!
Peanut Butter Banana Muffins
Equipment
- Medium mixing bowl
- Small mixing bowl
- 12 cup nonstick muffin pan
- Whisk and spatula
Ingredients
- 3 large over-ripe bananas room temperature
- ½ cup creamy peanut butter
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- ½ cup quick oats
- ⅓ cup honey roasted peanuts chopped
- ⅓ cup banana chips chopped
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp pink himalayan sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
- Spray your muffin cups or line with the muffin cups of your choice.
- Chop your peanuts and banana chips if you haven't already.
- In your small bowl, cream together your sugar and peanut butter. Then, mash up your bananas into the mixture. Whisk in the vanilla and egg.
- In your medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, oats, peanuts, banana chips, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry, and fold with a spatula until just combined.
- Scoop batter into muffin cups with a #12 scoop. You could also use a ⅓ cup measuring cup for 12 small muffins, or a ½ cup for 8 larger muffins.
- Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Allow to cool for 5 minutes in the pan before removing to a cooling rack. Serve warm as part of your favorite breakfast!
