Hey everyone! Today we’re making a little classic recipe for High-Altitude Banana Muffins stuffed with chopped walnuts, and it’s the perfect thing for the weekend! Not to mention those bananas wasting away on your counter.
This is just one of those things that is so easy to make, super yummy, and it’s a quick little treat to make. Let’s get to it!
Quick side note for my upcoming book!
How to Make High-Altitude Banana Muffins
This recipe comes together really similarly to any banana bread that you’re used to making, and it’s another recipe that you can mix entirely by hand. We’re starting out by whisking together some melted butter and sugar until well combined. Add in your eggs, vanilla extract, and finally your mashed banana.
I like to just measure the mashed banana because bananas are not always the same size. In general, this recipe should take 3-4 over-ripe bananas, but measuring it makes sure you get it just right! And finally, we’re stirring in the dry ingredients along with the walnuts!
You want to fill your muffin tin cups pretty full here- it helps to ensure that you get nicely domed muffins! There should be enough for 12 very full muffin cups here. I like to top these with a generous dusting of sugar on top before baking, but it’s lovely with or without it!
And that’s it! Off to the oven for an easy little bake, and you’ve got a dozen super yummy banana muffins!
Tips & Tricks for High-Altitude Banana Muffins
These are super easy to make, but here are my tips and tricks!
- Measure the bananas to make sure you have just the right amount! If you end up with smaller bananas, you may end up with dry muffins, so it’s best to just measure.
- The sugar topping gives the muffins a crunchy top which I love. It’s definitely optional, but super yummy. You can also use coarse sugar instead, or they’re great without either.
- Use any nuts that you prefer, or leave them out all together. I love the classic chopped walnuts here, but chopped pecans, almonds, or pistachios would be great! Or even chocolate chips!
- Fill the muffin cups almost to the top. It might seem like there’s too much batter here, but you want to actually fill the muffin cups almost entirely before baking. This will help the muffins get a big dome while they bake.
- I’m at about 5,000 ft above sea level, and I find that most people who live between 3,000 ft and 7,000 ft do not need to make any adjustments to my recipes.
Hope you guys enjoy this one!
High-Altitude Banana Muffins
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup sugar plus more for dusting
- 6 tbs. Melted butter
- 2 eggs
- 1 tbs. vanilla extract
- 1 3/4 cups mashed bananas about 3 large over-ripe bananas
- 2 cups flour
- 3/4 tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
- 3/4 cup chopped walnuts
Instructions
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Preheat your oven to 375 degrees, and line a 12 cup muffin tin with paper liners. In a large bowl, beat together the sugar and butter until combined. Beat in the eggs, vanilla, and mashed banana and mix until combined.
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In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Add in the dry ingredients along with the chopped walnuts until no dry pockets remain. Let the batter rest for 20 minutes at room temperature. Then even divide the batter in your muffin tins, and sprinkle the tops with sugar. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. The tops should be lightly golden and puffed up.
Hello and welcome! My name is Nicole, and Dough-eyed is a food blog for people who want to bake for their family and friends in high-altitude areas. Think of me as a friendly voice there with you in the kitchen, here to give you confidence when you’re baking, and to help you with the struggles of baking at high-altitude. Come back every week for new recipes, tips, and advice on high-altitude baking!
These muffins are terrific. Thanks for providing dependable recipes that always work! We live just above 5000 ft n Northern Nevada and I struggled with baking before I found your blog and book.
Not sure if it was me or??? They were a tad dry. I might have over baked them but I didn’t think so. I’m at 6700’ which might have done it. They were tasty. I was expecting texture more like banana nut bread. I put a dab of Nutella in the center and that was a nice touch.
I’m baking in Colorado at 10,000 feet! These muffins came out perfect – good rise, moist and delicious! I added some mini chocolate chips and baked them for 25 minutes but otherwise kept to the recipe. I never thought to let the dough rest before baking but it might have made a difference. I’m going to try this for some other quick breads and see if it helps. This recipe is a keeper!
So glad to hear you loved them!!
Do you have a recipe for fresh ground wheat bread? I’m at 10000 feet and need a good bread recipe.
Hi there- I don't have a lot of experience with fresh ground flours, but in general, for wheat breads I like to do about 1/3 of the flour as wheat flour, and 2/3 of the flour as all purpose. You can definitely experiment with this, but usually that gives you a good balance of flavor and texture! I do have many bread recipes on my site but not one specifically for wheat bread. You can find my most popular bread recipe here: https://www.dougheyed.com/high-altitude-sandwich-bread/
My daughter and I just made these today. They turned out so delicious! Thank you for sharing this recipe. It's a keeper!
Yay so glad to hear it! We love these ones in our house!
These were great! I live at 5,000 ft and they came out perfect. Only thing is this recipe made 19 instead of 12 for me! Half this one if you’re cooking for few people and don’t want to freeze a whole dozen.
@Deb, to counteract dryness if you make these again, try substituting some of the butter w vegetable oil. Generally speaking butter has better flavor but oil holds moisture better in baked goods. I used 2T butter and 4T oil.
I also added cinnamon chips. Yum. Thanks Nicole.
Glad to hear you liked them!!
Delicious! They came out great as mini muffins.
Nice, that's awesome! Glad you enjoyed them!
Followed the recipe to the letter and they came out great! Altitude 7200. I had to bake them 25 minutes and they were a good rise. Tasted great!
Thanks for sharing this recipe!
yay! So glad you like them!!
Delicious! I live at 9,300 feet. I followed the recipe exactly … I baked for 22 minutes. Turned out great.
So glad I found this recipe, it was easy and my teenagers who are addicted to the banana chocolate chip muffins at Trader Joe’s loved them so it’s going to save me a lot of money! We’re a little over 6000 feet and it worked great—I subbed mini chocolate chips for the walnuts because that’s what I had (+ teenagers).
These are so delicious and moist! I didn’t have walnuts so I chopped up a chocolate bar and tossed it in. Sprinkled the top with cinnamon sugar instead of plain sugar. I always buy too many bananas so this will come in handy!
These came out great! I used 4TBS unsalted butter and 2TBS of vegetable oil based on other reviews. It made 12 large muffins (filled every muffin cup to the brim). I also used pecans instead of walnuts. My bake time was about 21-22 minutes at about 6400ft.
Is 1 TBS correct?
That's correct- feel free to use less if you prefer though!
These turned out delicious! Baking at 4000’, had to bake them for 22 minutes. Definitely will be making again. I used mini chocolate chips and shredded coconut instead of walnuts.
Glad you enjoyed them!
I messed around with this recipe a lot.
Replaced the white flour with 1 5/8 c fresh whole wheat flour, 1/8 cup protein powder, 1/8 c collagen powder
and they came out beautifully.
Took 25 minutes to bake at 375F
This recipe is a neighborhood favorite in the mountains. We are back in the valley at an altitude of about 1,500-2,000. How should I alter the recipe to obtain the same end result?
Hello! For this recipe you should be able to reduce the flour by 3 tbs, and increase the baking soda by 1/4 tsp. You may also just want to watch the bake time and check on it a bit early. Hope that helps!