Banana Muffins with Lemon Icing

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Comforting and nostalgic banana muffins with tangy lemon icing. Perfect for school lunches and morning tea, these freeze really well.

A tray of nine oaty muffins with white frosting and lemon zest, set on a white surface with two whole lemons in the background.

Bananas. Sometimes we constantly run out, other times we have a bunch of black ones at the bottom of the fruit bowl! My Banana Muffins with Lemon Icing are perfect for using up overripe bananas. These muffins are so soft and remind me of my childhood, delicious with or without icing.

Various baking ingredients on a counter, including everything you need to make banana muffins: containers of flour, baking powder, baking soda, white sugar, icing sugar, a jug of milk, eggs, butter, overripe bananas, lemon, and vanilla extract.

Made from basic pantry staples, these muffins are so easy to make. If you don't have time to use up your black bananas straight away, you can always peel them and store them in the freezer for later.

A hand holds a cupcake with white frosting and yellow specks, reminiscent of banana muffins; more frosted cupcakes rest on a cooling rack in the background.

A cookbook titled Everyday Favourites by Vanya Insull is shown next to text promoting a delicious roasted pumpkin soup recipe found in the book.

How to make Banana muffins with lemon icing:

Preheat the oven to 170°C fan bake. Mix together the butter, sugar, vanilla and eggs in a large bowl. Add banana and milk then stir.

A clear glass bowl containing two raw eggs and a mound of white granulated sugar on a gray countertop, ready to be mixed for delicious banana muffins.

A glass bowl containing whisked eggs and mashed bananas, partially combined on a gray countertop—perfect for starting your banana muffins.

Sift in flour, baking powder and soda then fold all ingredients together until combined.

A glass bowl containing flour, baking powder, and a wet mixture for banana muffins batter sits on a gray countertop.

A glass bowl filled with smooth, beige banana bread batter for making delicious banana muffins sits on a gray surface.

Line muffin trays with paper cases and divide the mixture between them. Bake for 18-23 minutes until golden and just cooked through.

A muffin tin with twelve paper liners, each filled with unbaked banana muffin batter, sits on a gray countertop.

A muffin tin containing twelve freshly baked banana muffins rests on a gray countertop.

Remove muffins from the oven, cool for a few minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

Sixteen golden-brown banana muffins in paper liners cooling on a wire rack, with a teal cloth in the background.

Icing: Mix together the icing sugar, butter, lemon zest and juice. Add boiling water and whisk until there are no lumps. Once they have cooled top each muffin with lemon icing and spread to the edges.

Cupcakes in red wrappers topped with white frosting and lemon zest, arranged on a cooling rack with a blue cloth in the background, sit beside freshly baked banana muffins for a delightful treat display.

My kids love muffins in their school lunches. Some of my other go-to recipes are Easy Oaty Muffins - 3 Ways and my sister Gracie's recipe for Caramilk Muffins.

Nine cupcakes with white frosting and yellow zest on top, arranged in three rows on a white rectangular tray on a wooden surface—perfect as delightful lunchbox fillers for any occasion.

Recipe FAQs:

Can these muffins be frozen?

Banana muffins are best frozen un-iced on the day they are made. Cool completely then wrap in plastic wrap or tin foil. Freeze for up to one month.

What other icing could I use?

These muffins also taste great with chocolate icing or if you want to get really decadent, you could make cream cheese icing.

Storage:

Store your muffins in an airtight container in the pantry for up to two days. They can also be frozen for up to one month.

Related Recipes:

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Banana Muffins

Yield: 18

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes

Perfectly soft banana muffins - delicious with or without the tangy lemon icing.

Ingredients

100g butter, melted
1 cup white sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 eggs
2 bananas, mashed
¾ cup milk (175ml)
2 cups plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda

Icing

2 cups icing sugar
30g butter, softened
1 Tbsp lemon zest
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp boiling water

Instructions

Preheat oven to 170°C fan bake.
Mix together butter, sugar, vanilla and eggs in a large bowl. Add banana and milk then stir.
Sift in flour, baking powder and soda then fold all ingredients together until combined.
Line muffin trays with paper cases. Divide mixture between the 18 cases.
Bake for 18-23 minutes until golden and just cooked through.
Remove from the oven and let the muffins cool for a few minutes in the tin before transferring to a cooling rack.
Icing: Mix together icing sugar, butter, lemon zest and juice. Add boiling water and whisk until there are no lumps.

Notes

Keep in an airtight container in the pantry for up to 4 days.
These muffins are tasty with or without icing. Add chocolate chips if you like.
Chocolate icing and sprinkles on top would be great for a party.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 18 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 219Total Fat: 7gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 37mgSodium: 158mgCarbohydrates: 38gFiber: 1gSugar: 25gProtein: 3g

Nutritional values are approximate. Please use your own calculations if you require a special diet.

Thank you for checking out this recipe. I hope you enjoy making and eating it! If you have any questions, queries or feedback, please feel free to leave a comment below.
If you don't already follow me, head over to my Instagram, Facebook or TikTok pages to keep up to date with all my new recipes.
Vanya

Comments

Steph says

September 05, 2023 at 7:28 pm

Banana muffins yum yum eat

- Bev Todd says
  
  May 28, 2026 at 6:26 pm
  
  Are you able to make this recipe into a loaf instead of muffins. The muffins are delicious but want a good recipe for a loaf.
  
  - VJ cooks says
    
    June 02, 2026 at 9:57 am
    
    You could, you would just have to keep an eye on the bake time which would be longer.
    
Abby McLeod says

February 04, 2024 at 4:06 pm

Super easy! And tasty!