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Recipes | Breakfast | Quick Bread & Muffins | Banana Upside Down Muffins
Quick Bread & Muffins

Banana Upside Down Muffins

Author by on Updated on

4.94 from 16 votes
Soft and fluffy banana upside down muffins with a mouth watering caramelized brown sugar topping and sliced bananas are perfect for breakfast or dessert!
Cook Time 18 minutes
Total Time 33 minutes
Jump to Recipe

A soft, nutmeg spiced base with sticky caramelized banana topping make the best ever banana upside down muffins!

Close up photo of a Banana Upside Down Muffin


 

Why this recipe works

Let me introduce you to sweet banana upside down muffins. A fluffy muffin base perfectly spiced with grated nutmeg followed by caramelized dark brown sugar “topping” and a banana slices. If that doesn’t paint the picture for you, I’m not sure what will. 

I love upside down desserts, the way the sugar caramelizes and just melts in your mouth. We all know about classic pineapple upside down cake, but have you ever thought of making a version with bananas? I’m always looking for ways beyond banana bread to use ripened bananas. Lo and behold, the perfect recipe for just that. I’ve been making these banana upside down muffins since 2009 and they’ve always proven to be a winner for both breakfast and dessert!

Banana Upside Down Muffin topped with whipped cream and a banana slice

Ingredients you will need

Get all measurements, ingredients, and instructions in the printable version at the end of this post.

Ingredients for Banana Upside Down Muffins

Ingredient Info and Substitution Suggestions

MUFFINS – The muffin base is lightly flavored with grated nutmeg. Feel free to warm it up even further with a dash of cinnamon or toss in some chopped nuts. You can even swap the muffin base out with banana muffins for more banana flavoring. The dark rum called for in the ingredients adds a lovely touch of nutty vanilla flavor, I highly recommend trying it. You can always substitute with about 1/2 tablespoon or so of rum extract instead.

TOPPING – The topping is a simple mixture of butter and dark brown sugar. I initially found this recipe in Mani Niall’s cookbook called Sweet! in which he uses dark muscovado sugar in place of the dark brown sugar. Muscovado sugar leans heavier on the molasses flavor, you can use either or here!

How to Make Banana Upside Down Muffins

These step by step photos and instructions are here to help you visualize how to make this recipe. You can Jump to Recipe to get the printable version of this recipe, complete with measurements and instructions at the bottom.

  1. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 375 F. Lightly spray a 12-cup muffin pan with cooking spray.
  2. To prepare the pans, place 2 teaspoons of the butter and 2 teaspoons of the brown sugar in each muffin cup. Bake until the mixture in each cup is melted and bubbly, about 10 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and cool for a few minutes.butter and dark brown sugar in wells of a muffin panmelted butter and brown sugar on bottoms of muffin pan
  3. Peel the bananas and cut them on a diagonal into 48 thin slices.
  4. In each muffin cup, place two banana slices on the bottom and two banana slices along the sides.banana sliced in a muffin pan
  5. To make the muffins, sift together the flour, baking powder, nutmeg, and salt in a medium sized bowl.flour and dry ingredients with a whisk in a bowl
  6. In a separate bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, oil, eggs, milk, rum, and vanilla.brown sugar, oil, milk, and rum in a bowladding eggs to whisked brown sugar, milk, and rum mixtureadding vanilla to wet ingredients for banana upside down muffins
  7. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, add the egg mixture, and stir just until blended. Do not overbeat.pouring wet ingredients into dry ingredients for muffins
  8. Divide the mixture evenly among the prepared muffin cups, filling them as full as possible (be sure to divide them evenly, they will be about 3/4 way full).adding muffin ingredients to banana lined muffin pan
  9. Bake until the center of a muffin springs back when pressed gently with your finger, about 18 minutes.baked banana upside down muffins
  10. Immediately invert the muffins onto a wire rack. Cool briefly and serve. The muffins are best the day they are made.banana upside down muffins on a cooling rack

Frequently Asked Questions & Expert Tips

How do you store leftovers?

These muffins are best the day they are made. However, you can store them in an air-tight container kept in the refrigerator for an additional two to three days. 

Hand holding up a Banana Upside Down Muffin with two bites taken out

Serving Suggestions

Serve your banana upside down muffins alongside coffee or tea in the morning. Or, serve them for dessert with fresh whipped cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon or chopped nuts.

You might also want to try them drizzled with caramel sauce or warmed with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Enjoy!

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Banana Upside Down Muffins

Soft and fluffy banana upside down muffins with a mouth watering caramelized brown sugar topping and sliced bananas are perfect for breakfast or dessert!
4.94 from 16 votes

IMPORTANT – There are often Frequently Asked Questions within the blog post that you may find helpful. Simply scroll back up to read them!

Print It Rate It
Course: Breakfast, Dessert
Cuisine: American
Servings: 12 muffins
33 minutes
Calories: 256
Author: Amanda Davis

Ingredients

  • non-stick cooking spray
  • 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter
  • ½ cup dark brown sugar packed
  • 4 ripe bananas

Muffins

  • 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
  • 1 pinch of salt
  • ½ cup dark brown sugar packed
  • â…“ cup canola oil
  • 2 large eggs at room temperature
  • 3 Tablespoons whole milk
  • 3 Tablespoons dark rum
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Things You’ll Need

Before You Begin

  • The dark rum called for in the ingredients adds a lovely touch of nutty vanilla flavor, I highly recommend trying it. You can always substitute with about 1/2 tablespoon of rum extract instead.

Instructions

  • Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 375 F. Lightly spray a 12 cup muffin pan with cooking spray.
  • To prepare the pans, place 2 teaspoons of the butter and 2 teaspoons of the brown sugar in each muffin cup. Bake until the mixture in each cup is melted and bubbly, about 10 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and cool for a few minutes.
  • Peel the bananas and cut them on a diagonal into 48 thin slices.
  • In each muffin cup, place two banana slices on the bottom and two banana slices along the sides.
  • To make the muffins, sift together the flour, baking powder, nutmeg, and salt in a medium sized bowl.
  • In a separate bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, oil, eggs, milk, rum, and vanilla.
  • Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, add the egg mixture, and stir just until blended. Do not overbeat.
  • Divide the mixture evenly among the prepared muffin cups, filling them as full as possible (be sure to divide them evenly, they will be about 3/4 way full).
  • Bake until the center of a muffin springs back when pressed gently with your finger, about 18 minutes.
  • Immediately invert the muffins onto a wire rack. Cool briefly and serve. The muffins are best the day they are made.

Expert Tips & FAQs

  • These muffins are best the day they are made. However, you can store them in an air-tight container kept in the refrigerator for an additional two to three days. 

Nutrition

Serving: 1muffin | Calories: 256cal | Carbohydrates: 36g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 41mg | Sodium: 23mg | Potassium: 263mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 23g | Vitamin A: 193IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 58mg | Iron: 1mg
Tried this Recipe? Pin it for Later!Follow on Pinterest @AmandasCookin or tag #AmandasCookin!

This recipe originally appeared here on July 12, 2009 and has since been updated with new photos and expert tips. Original recipe credit – Sweet! by Mani Niall.

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Amanda Davis

President at Amanda's Creative Studio, Inc.
Amanda Davis is the entrepreneurial mom of four grown children and four step children. She and her husband, Chef Antoine, love to cook together creating recipes for this blog. Amanda also make kid's crafts and creates decorative items for her home. She is a crafting expert and guru in the kitchen and has appeared online and in print publications many times over the years. She is also a craft book author five times over and product developer as well as the owner of FunFamilyCrafts.com. You can find her on social media by using the buttons to the left!
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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Kali says

    Can’t wait to try these, I love bananas. One problem, 2 tsp. of butter in each muffin cup would be 24 tsp. That’s 8 tablespoons of butter not 4.

    Reply

  3. Stephanie says

    5 stars
    I made these today along with your cheeseburger pasta and they were very good. I didn’t have enough bananas so I made a couple with pineapple and cherries. Very delicious. The rum adds that extra flavor that really makes these delicious. Thanks for sharing your recipe.

    Reply

  5. Schel says

    this was really good! I usually dislike bananas and was looking for ways to use up our bananas in a way I’d actually want to eat them-then I found this recipe. So made it straight away…….YUMMM! Really good with the syrup. Only thing is that it looks like next day it might be dry, fast? Will test it out tomorrow with some yoghurt. :)
    Thanks!

    Reply

    • Amanda Formaro says

      Hi Cindy :) 1 1/2 (one and a half) teaspoons of rum extract is a good substitution for the 3 tablespoons of dark rum. Brandy is also a good substitution in equal amounts to the rum. If you don’t have either and are not concerned about the flavor enhancement that the rum can offer, you can use 1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla or even 3 tablespoons of water or apple juice. :) Enjoy!

      Reply

    • Amanda says

      No, you can remove the rum and use a teaspoon of rum extract instead. If you don’t have that either I believe it would be safe to leave it out altogether.

      Reply

  10. Veronica says

    i cant stop eating them my friend made them got me addicted to them and now i cant stop maken them so i could eat them. thanks for the recipe there really awesome

    Reply

  13. sophistimom says

    What a great recipe. I love natural sweeteners, too, but a lot of the time, I'm too chicken to experiment with them. Thanks for posting this, it looks delicious.

    Reply

  16. Amanda says

    wholesomewomanhood – so glad you enjoyed them!! :)

    Canuck and Heather – thanks guys, they were really good :)

    Reply

  18. Cookin' Canuck says

    What a fantastic idea! These look sticky and sweet – everything an upside down cake (or muffin) should be.

    Reply

  20. Jelli Bean says

    Amanda, I just found your blog this week and can I tell you how in love I am? I love the recipes, the crafts..Give me more! I can't wait to continue exploring.

    Reply
4.94 from 16 votes (10 ratings without comment)

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