These Healthy Pumpkin Banana Muffins are a tasty snack for toddlers, kids and adults. Everyone will love the warm pumpkin flavors. These Pumpkin muffins are naturally sweetened and made with whole wheat flour, so they are as healthy as they are delicious!
If you are on a banana muffin kick, you need to try these Healthy Pumpkin Banana Muffins. I usually have a can or two of pumpkin in my pantry year round. Why? Pumpkin is fabulous to bake with!
Are Pumpkin Banana Muffins Healthy?
I started making these pumpkin banana muffins for my toddler last fall, and he absolutely LOVES them. Plus, I love that he is getting a sneaky dose of veggies! Ok, so pumpkin is technically a fruit, but pumpkin is full of nutrients like fiber and vitamins, so I consider it a win!
These Pumpkin Banana Muffins also have whole wheat flour, greek yogurt, and are lightly sweetened with natural maple syrup. I feel good about serving these healthy muffins to my kid!
Can you Freeze Pumpkin Banana Muffins?
Yes, these muffins freeze beautifully! Muffins are a great toddler snack because they freeze wonderfully. After you make a batch of muffins, allow them to cool completely. They they can be individually wrapped in plastic wrap and stored in a freezer bag. When my son needs a snack, I just pull one out of the freezer, warm it up in the microwave for 30 seconds and it’s ready. I also like to throw one in the diaper bag when we are on the go, so I have a snack in case he gets hangry.
If you like these, you will also LOVE my Healthy Peanut Butter Banana Muffins!
Ingredients
- 2 bananas very ripe, mashed
- ¼ cup butter melted
- 1/2 cup greek yogurt
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1/2 cup milk
- 3/4 cup canned pumpkin
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 and 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
- 1 tsp pumpkin spice
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425. Line a muffin tin with muffin liners or spray with cooking spray. Set aside.
- In one bowl, mash the bananas. Add the butter, maple syrup, yogurt, milk, egg, pumpkin, and vanilla extract, mix well.
- In another bowl whisk together the flour, cinnamon, pumpkin spice, salt, baking powder and baking soda.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Stir until just mixed. DO NOT over mix or your muffins will be tough. A few lumps is fine.
- Divide the batter between the 12 prepared muffin cups.
- Bake muffins at 425 for 5 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 degrees.
- Bake at 350 for another 20-22 more minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Baking them at the higher temperature at first helps them rise and gives a nice rounded top.
- Remove from oven and remove from the muffin tin as soon as possible Allow to cool completely. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days, or individually wrap and freeze for up to one month.
Nutrition
Shaved Brussels Sprouts Salad
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Pumpkin Pancakes
Kim says
I subbed sour cream for the yogurt and I didn’t have a whole 1/2 cup either. And it didn’t need it. They were plenty moist. Also subbed almond milk for reg milk,
I’m on a healthy carb no refined sugar kick so I subbed all purpose white flour for ground oatmeal so it resembles flour. The only bad thing in these for me to keep with my kick is maple syrup, like the truly awful for you Aunt Jemima kind. The upside is it’s now finished and out of house 😁
They were good though. I think I need to replace my baking soda, they didn’t rise very much.
Meghan says
Hi Kim, glad you were able to make it work for your diet! It’s possible the different flour made them rise differently as well.
Melissa says
I only have yogurt with honey. Would that work? They sound so yummy! Maybe I will use less syrup since my yogurt has added honey?
Meghan says
Hi Melissa – yes that should be fine! I’m not sure how sweet your yogurt is but I doubt it is sweet enough to replace the maple syrup. As is they are not very sweet so to start with I wouldn’t reduce the maple syrup. Maybe try them with the amount listed and then if you find them too sweet you can reduce the maple syrup next time.
Deborah K Jurshak says
Just made these so moist and delicious. I used applesauce instead of butter to lower the fat content.
Only problem I had is they stuck to the cupcake liners. Should I of sprayed the liners?
These are so good I want to make them again just don’t want them sticking to the liners.
Meghan says
Hi Deborah, it is probably because of the absence of the fat from the butter. I really love using parchment paper muffin liners, nothing ever sticks to them! The other option is to skip muffin liners and spray the muffin pan with cooking spray.
Tina says
Super delicious and moist and I used all purpose flour. They are perfectly sweet but I added mini chocolate chips for my little ones and they had a warm one right before bed. Yum yum. Adding this to my recipe box. Thank you for the recipe!
Meghan says
So happy you loved it!
Beth M says
I love the ingredients in this recipe, and I bet if you follow the recipe it is great! I wonder if some might interpret the consistency of the ingredients (banana and pumpkin) as “underdone,” when it’s not actually underdone. I made these, although I altered the recipe a little, and it is a more soft and gooey muffin than normal, but due to the ingredients, not being underdone. My toothpick came out clean.
For anyone interested in alterations (although I think it would taste better if you follow the recipe as is) I doubled the batch, used the 3.5 ripe bananas I had on hand instead of the 4 it calls for. I only had all-purpose flour instead of whole wheat. I used fresh pumpkin from a beige pie pumpkin, which I did not strain with a cheesecloth, so it is more runny than canned pumpkin. Because we try to cut down on sugar, I tried cutting the maple syrup in half, although on certain websites I’ve seen researchers say you can only get away with cutting 10-20% of your sugar in a baked goods recipe. So I was really pushing it. Anyway, all of this resulted in a healthy edible, soft and slightly gooey muffin. However, for normal people used to sweetness, this wouldn’t cut it, and you would need the full amount of maple syrup the recipe calls for.
The one thing that I’m not sure about in the original recipe is melting the butter and then adding it to all the liquid ingredients. This is the only thing that didn’t quite jive for me, since the butter rehardened into cold lumps in my liquid mixture.
Anyway, thank you for this recipe! I’m definitely going to try it again and more closely follow your recipe next time. It was still good with the tweaks though. Makes the kitchen smell delicious too!
Meghan says
I’m so glad you loved them Beth! As far as cutting the maple syrup, I tested these a few times with different amounts and I found that 1/4 cup is the smallest amount I could get away with and still have a tasty muffin. Thanks for all your tips!
Marge says
I want to love these muffins, but my batch was undercooked. I measured carefully, have an oven thermometer to insure temperature, and did a poke test at the appointed time. I then added two 5 minutes baking periods. Still underdone. My ingredients were fresh also. I tossed the results and am deciding if I will try again.
The muffin tops rose as expected @ 425, but the interior would not set up.
Meghan says
Hi Marge, I’m not sure why that happened. Did you lower the temperature to 350 after the first five minutes? Also what brand of pumpkin did you use?
Lindsay says
Can you make this in a 9×5 bread pan instead? Would the temp still remain the same-starting out high and then lowering?
Meghan says
Hi Lindsay – I haven’t tried it in a bread pan so I am not sure about the cooking time. I would suggest lowering the baking temp 25 degrees and increase the baking time. You can use a toothpick to check doneness.
Allí says
Super delicious and minimal sugar! I added a half cup of applesauce when I doubled the recipe because I didn’t have a fourth banana. It turned out perfect!
Meghan says
I’m so glad you loved them!
Liz says
So excited to try these! Reviews sound excellent! Do you know if I can sub honey for maple syrup? I don’t have any syrup on hand but I do have honey and everything else.
Meghan says
Hi Liz – I haven’t tried it, but I think honey would be fine!
Ruthie says
I didn’t have maple syrup either, so I substituted honey and I think they turned out well.
Harvey says
This was very flavorful and moist! I subbed unsweetened applesauce for the butter to cut down fat, and used almond milk for the milk. Otherwise followed the recipe as is. Would definitely make again!
Meghan says
So glad you loved them Harvey!
Mallory says
Anyone try with oat flour yet?
Camie says
These are so good!! I added chopped spinach since I made these for my toddler and am always looking for ways to get veggies in him! They turned out great! I will definitely be making these again!
Meghan says
So glad to hear that!
Gabriele DeHart says
Great & easy recipe, added pecans on top; no problems with baking times either.
Making a 2nd batch this week – thank you!
Meghan says
So happy you loved it!
Branisha Turner says
I cannot wait to try these! Do you know if I would be able to use almond milk or oat milk? Or sub the butter for coconut oil? I didn’t know if you’ve tried this or heard of others that have yet. Thanks!
Meghan says
Hi Branisha – I haven’t tried it but I think both subs would probably be fine. I did have a reader use almond milk and she said they tasted great 🙂
Shelly says
These are so delicious! This is the 2nd time we have made them and my little boys gobble them up! We add 1/2 cup of roasted chopped pecans to them to give a little crunch and it’s a great addition!
Meghan says
Yay, so glad you love them Shelly!
Christina says
Can you substitute with rolled oats / oat flour instead of wheat flour?
Meghan says
Hi Christina – I haven’t tried it so I can’t be sure! I would go with oat flour if you are going to make a sub.
Kylie says
My muffins all burned on the bottom. Had to throw away the entire batch and all of my expensive ingredients. Perhaps the oven temp needs to be reviewed. Last time I try to follow a recipe’s directions.
Meghan says
Hi Kylie – I just made these again today following the recipe and didn’t have this problem. It sounds like your oven was too hot. Did you turn it down to 350 degrees after 5 minutes like it says in the recipe? If you did, I would suggest getting an oven thermometer to make sure your oven is baking at the correct temperature.
Bianca says
Can you sub Greek yogurt for anything or omit it?
Meghan says
Hi Bianca – you could probably use sour cream, although I haven’t tried it. I wouldn’t just omit it, or the muffins will probably be dry.
Jennifer Dittrich says
Hello! When I’m decreasing the temperature from 425 to 350, do I remove these from the oven and let it cool to 350 then pop them back in the oven? I’m so excited to try them!
Meghan says
Hi Jennifer – No, you leave the muffins in the oven 🙂
Kelly says
Could I make these without the bananas? Would I need to add more pumpkin?
Meghan says
Hi Kelly – the bananas add moisture and sweetness. I haven’t tried without the bananas, so I’m not sure how they would turn out. You could try replacing the bananas with 2/3 cup of pumpkin and you might want to increase the maple syrup for sweetness.
Andrea says
These were amazing! SO good warm with a little butter. I added about 1/2 C brown sugar because I wanted them a bit sweeter and pecans as well. And I cooked for 7 minutes at 450 then 32 minutes at 350. They were perfect!
Meghan says
Yay, so glad to hear that!
Julia says
I just made these with my nephew and we love them! They were fun and easy to make, and turned out healthy and delicious. We had a few and froze the rest for snacktimes to come. Thanks Meghan!
Meghan says
Yay! So happy to hear that!
Ashley says
Hi, can I use whole milk vanilla yogurt? My 11 month old eats it and I have some to use up! Thanks!
Meghan says
Hi Ashley – I think that would be fine!
Ashley says
I made these and when I first had one they tasted great and then as I got into the muffin there were a few spots that were sour…any idea what would cause this?? Not sure what I did wrong 🙁
Meghan says
Hi Ashley – The only thing I can think of is that maybe there was an ingredient that was not fully mixed in and you got a “chunk” of it that tasted unpleasant. I would be sure to whisk the dry ingredients together really well, as well as the wet ingredients before mixing the dry and wet together. You don’t want to over mix the batter because it will make the muffins tough, so you have to be sure to really mix the dry ingredients and wet ingredients separately before mixing them together. Sometimes baking powder or baking soda will clump together and not mix in to the batter.
Ashley says
Thanks so much! That makes sense! I did have another one (had to taste test! ) and it was delicious, so what you said makes perfect sense. Thanks again !
Maggie Lynch says
Should you store these in the fridge or do you leave them out?
Meghan says
Hi Maggie – they are OK out of the fridge in an airtight container for 2-3 days. You can also freeze them.
Sara says
How would you individually wrap these? Saran Wrap or freezer paper? Would it be ok to put them all in an airtight freezer gallon bag after flash freezing them?
Meghan says
Hi Sara – yes, you can use saran wrap or you can just skip wrapping them and store in a freezer bag. I do find they sometimes get ice crystals on them if I don’t wrap them.
Emily says
Can you sub almond flour?
Meghan says
I’ve never tried it! If you try it, let us know how it turns out!
Jackie says
I subbed almond flour and also almond milk for almond milk, they concaved in a bit lol but they taste fabulous
Meghan says
Great! Thanks for sharing Jackie!
Jessica says
What kind I use instead of yogurt?
Meghan says
Hi Jessica – maybe sour cream?
Monica says
I’ve made these twice now and LOVE them – delicious and no one can believe they are so healthy. (Happy to keep that my secret, ha!) I’ve used both all-purpose and white whole wheat flour with really good results. No trouble with under-baking, but I do always poke with a cake tester to be sure they’re done. Quick and easy. Thanks for the excellent recipe – it will definitely be on repeat all this year, as we cope with distance learning and need ALL THE BREAKFASTS AND SNACKS!
Meghan says
Yay, so happy to hear that! Thanks Monica!
Emjay says
These were also underbaked when I followed the recipe even though the toothpick cam out clean. Currently giving it another 10 minutes to see how that works out. The top was delicious though and cant wail til they’re done to give them a full test!!!
Meghan says
Hi Emjay, how did they turn out?
Jane says
Could you use regular flour instead of whole wheat?
Meghan says
Yes, absolutely!
shannon says
How do you think these would work out with self-rising or all purpose flour? I don’t have whole wheat on hand!
Meghan says
Hi Shannon – I wouldn’t use self rising because they already have baking powder and baking soda. But they will be fine with All Purpose flour!
maria says
came out very raw
Meghan says
Maria, it sounds like they were underbaked. A trick you can try next time is sticking a toothpick into the muffin when you think it is done. If it comes out clean, they are done. If it comes out with batter on it, it needs more time. All ovens are different so baking times will vary slightly. You may also want to get an oven thermometer to make sure your oven is baking at the correct temperature.
CHelsea says
These look great! Cant wait to make them for my 16 month old! Love your site, thanks so much.
Meghan says
Yay! Thank you Chelsea! Let me know how they turn out!
MONICA says
These look amazing – perfectly moist – and conveniently I have ALL the ingredients, including some extra pumpkin puree in the fridge that I need to use up! I think I was fated to make a batch this week! 🙂
Meghan says
Yay! Let me know how they turn out!