Whole Wheat Banana Muffins With Streusel

Streusel! While muffins aren’t normally frosted, they can claim streusel as their crowning glory. And who doesn’t love crunchy, crumbly cinnamon-scented streusel?!

Whole wheat banana muffins, capped with glorious streusel, make a great breakfast or snack. Anyone would look forward to one of these muffins in their lunchbox, too. (If you’re feeling the streusel, you may want to try this coffee cake with streusel or pumpkin streusel bread, too.)

Delicious Whole Wheat Banana muffins

Healthy ingredients. While banana muffins are a sweet treat, these muffins are a bit healthier than most. Whole wheat flour adds fiber and nutrients; Greek yogurt ups the protein and reduces the need for a lot of oil. Three bananas add nutrition along with lots of natural sweetness.

The streusel is optional. If you want to cut back on sweets, the streusel can be omitted. These muffins are great with or without streusel but I just love that sugary crunch that you get on the muffin top.

Ingredient Notes

• Flour, Sugar, Cinnamon, Butter: These four simple ingredients make up the streusel. The butter should be at room temperature before using.
• Bananas: You’ll need about 3 medium bananas. Ripe or even very ripe bananas are perfect so if you have a few languishing on your counter, making muffins is a good way to use them. You can also use frozen bananas that you’ve thawed!
• Greek Yogurt: It doesn’t really matter whether it’s full-fat, low-fat, or non-fat yogurt, in fact, it doesn’t even have to be Greek yogurt. It does need to be plain yogurt, that is, not flavored. Greek yogurt will add more protein to the muffins than regular yogurt.
• Whole Wheat Flour, All-Purpose Flour: Mixing whole wheat flour half and half with all-purpose flour gives the muffins a lighter texture. All whole wheat flour may make the muffins a little on the heavy side. You could also use white whole wheat flour.
• Eggs: You’ll need a couple of eggs.
• Sugar: Only a half cup of sugar is added to the muffins along with another 1/4 cup in the streusel. Ripe bananas add plenty of sweetness.
• Oil: Any type of mild-tasting oil is fine. I usually use canola oil for muffins.
• Pure Vanilla Extract: A baker’s best friend.
• Baking Soda, Baking Powder, Salt: Normal muffin ingredients which provide leavening and seasoning. Skipping the salt will cause your muffins to taste a little flat.

How To Make Banana Streusel Muffins

Get ready. Turn your oven on to start preheating and spray your muffin tins with a nonstick spray, or grease them with shortening.

Make streusel. In a medium sized bowl, measure out the streusel ingredients. Use a fork or pastry cutter to cut the butter in until the streusel looks like coarse crumbs. When you pinch a bit in your fingertips, it should stay together in a little clump. Set it aside for now.

Mash bananas. In a large bowl, mash the bananas with the same fork or pastry cutter you used for the streusel.

Mix wet ingredients and sugar. Add the eggs, yogurt, sugar, oil, and vanilla and mix it all up really well. The eggs should be well blended into the mixture.

Add dry ingredients to bowl. Measure out the flour using a spoon to scoop the flour lightly into a dry measure cup. Add it to the top of the banana mixture. Don’t mix it in yet. Add the baking soda, baking powder, and salt to the flour and just fluff it together using your fingers or a spoon.

Now fold the dry ingredients into the banana mixture. Stir just until the flour is mixed in.

Fill muffin tins. Scoop the batter into the muffin tins, filling them about two-thirds full. We tested these muffins several times and found that if you overfill the tins, the streusel has a tendency to fall off when the muffins rise during baking.

Add streusel. Top each muffin with a tablespoon of streusel. Pat the tops of the muffins lightly with your fingertips so the streusel adheres. If you have extra streusel, just add a bit more to the muffins until it’s used up.

Bake. Bake for fifteen minutes or until the tops are lightly browned and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with a few crumbs. Cool on a wire rack in the pan for about ten minutes, then remove the muffins from the tins and cool completely.

Recipe Tips & Variations

• Don’t overmix the batter. To ensure that your muffins turn out light and fluffy, mix the batter just until the dry flour is incorporated. A few lumps in the batter are okay. The baking soda and baking powder react with the wet ingredients, immediately producing air bubbles that make the muffins light and fluffy. If you stir the batter too much, that chemical reaction will be completed before you even get the muffins in the oven and your muffins will be heavy and dense.
• Omit the streusel, if desired. Streusel definitely adds more sugar and calories to this recipe, and takes a little extra time to prep. The muffins are delicious without the streusel if you decide to go that route. You may want to try my banana bread muffins, too.
• Possible add-ins: Add finely chopped walnuts or pecans to either the batter or the streusel, or both. Toasting the nuts first will make them crispier and more flavorful. Learn how to toast pecans (3 easy methods). If you’d like an extra sweet treat, fold a half cup mini chocolate chips into the batter.
• Make banana bread instead. Try my whole wheat banana bread recipe (you can add the streusel to the top of the bread, if you like).

Storage Tips

Room temperature: Muffins are best eaten the same day they are baked. They’ll keep for a few days on the counter in a tightly covered container. Make sure they are completely cool before covering them.

Freeze: Muffins can be frozen for up to 3 months. Wrap individually before placing them into a freezer-safe container or bag.