Name: High Altitude Banana Bread Muffins You Will Love
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 18 min
Total time: 38 min
Yield: 21
Ingredients: 3 large bananas; 1 1/2 cups flour; 3/4 cup sugar; 2 eggs; 1/2 cup coconut oil; 3 Tbsp unsweetened apple sauce; 1 tsp cinnamon; 1/2 tsp salt; 3/4 tsp baking soda; 1 tsp vanilla extract; 1/3 cup walnuts, chopped

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These delicious, fluffy, high altitude banana bread muffins are perfectly portion-sized treats that you can take on the go! This twist on a classic works well as a dessert, breakfast, brunch, or snack.

high altitude banana bread muffins with walnuts served on blue china on white board background

Try spreading your banana bread muffins with applesauce, peanut butter, butter, or any topping you would like for a more indulgent treat.

That being said, these velvety-soft beauties are quite impressive on their own!

Add-in Ingredients for High Altitude Banana Bread Muffins (Optional)

To customize your banana bread muffins, feel free to add in any ingredients you and your household would like.

For more dessert-like treats, consider:

Chocolate chips
Cocoa powder (and chocolate chips?! You can try dark chocolate cocoa or regular cocoa. If you choose to do so, you may also enjoy adding a little instant coffee to enhance the chocolate flavor.)
Toasted coconut flakes

If you want more of a breakfast muffin, here are some healthy add-ins:

Fresh or frozen blueberries
Chopped dates
Grated carrots
Raisins or dried cranberries
Grated zucchini (with or without chocolate chips)

P.S. Want to save this recipe for later? It’s in this E-Book!

Storage and Freezing

To ensure these delicious banana bread muffins stay soft, you will definitely want to store them in an airtight container or wrapped well on a plate with cling plastic wrap or foil.

If you think they won’t last long, they can generally stay out at room temperature for up to a week.

However, if it’s the height of summer with high temperatures, you should store them in the fridge for up to a week.

High altitude banana bread muffins also make great presents!

You can make a batch ahead of time whenever you have bananas that have turned brown, and then freeze them for several months to enjoy later or share with loved ones.

Just make sure they are well wrapped before freezing. You may wish to also place them in a freezer bag inside of an air-tight container (or wrapped in cling wrap inside of a freezer bag) to prevent any odors from creeping in.

bananas mashed in floral bowl and ready to go in high altitude banana bread muffins — Mash the bananas with a fork.

Can I use frozen bananas for these high altitude banana bread muffins?

Yes! Placing brown (or black) bananas in the freezer is a great way to preserve them for when you’re ready to bake.

You can set them out to defrost at room temperature. Drain any excess liquid before adding them to the recipe.

Got other recipes you’d like to adapt for high altitude? No lab coat required – just read on!

High Altitude Baking Adaptations

While some recipes turn out relatively fine regardless of elevation, others are less forgiving. Understanding some of the general guidelines can help you more confidently adapt recipes to your preference.

First, what is high altitude?

For baking, anything higher than 3,500 feet above sea level is considered high altitude. (Some recommend implementing high altitude baking tips at or above 3,000 feet in elevation, including the Colorado State University Extension Office. You can check out their tips here.)

(You may also enjoy my recipe for high altitude sugar cookies, as well as my high altitude chocolate chip cookies.)

Temperature

You may want to increase the oven temperature used for baking by about 15 to 20° to reduce evaporation of the raw ingredients before they get a chance to meld together.

Cook Time

Since we increased the heat, we’ll need to watch the oven and take things out about early. Try decreasing the time by about 20 to 30%. If you are trying this recipe closer to sea level, you will want to bake around 325°, not the 350° that I wrote in the instructions.

Flour

You’ve probably seen this tip on cake mix boxes. Try adding a tablespoon of flour to your recipe at around the 3,500 ft elevation mark, and an additional tablespoon for every 1,500 feet further up. Baked goods tend to rise quickly at high elevation and then collapse. Extra flour helps slow the rising and support the structural integrity.

Sugar

You can cut back by about one tablespoon of sugar per cup at high altitude. As mentioned in the temperature section, evaporation happens faster at high elevations, so your desserts end up sweeter and possibly collapsing due to a too high proportion of sugar. If you are at a lower elevation, you can use a full, if not heaping cup of sugar for these banana bread muffins, rather than the 3/4 cup in the recipe.

Liquid

You can add between 1 and 2 tablespoons of addition liquids (water, milk, oil, eggs) per 1,000 feet above about the 3,500 ft mark, in order to help compensate for quicker evaporation.

Leavening (AKA How to Make your High Altitude Banana Bread Muffins Fluffy and Soft)

Generally speaking, at high altitude, you may want to reduce your leavening. In this recipe, for example, I call for 3/4 tsp baking soda. If you are closer to sea level, you can use 1 tsp to get a similar result. Baking powder is another leavening agent you can reduce at high altitude for fluffier baked goods.

The same is true for yeast in bread as well. Just use about 25% less yeast above 3,500 feet.

For baking soda and baking powder, you can reduce the amount by about 20% around 3,500 ft, 50% around 5,000 ft, and 75% around or above 6,500 ft. Again, this slows down the rising to protect the structural integrity from collapsing.

banana pieces in floral bowl on white marble table with cinnamon in background — Peel the bananas and break them into smaller pieces.

Substituting Baking Powder for Baking Soda

Both baking powder and baking soda are forms of leavening that will help your bread rise. Baking powder contains baking soda, along with other additives. Baking soda is also called sodium bicarbonate or bicarbonate of soda.

Generally, if a recipe calls for 1 tsp of baking soda, and you only have baking powder, you will need about 3 tsp of baking powder. Many households only have one or the other, and you can of course reverse this as well. If a recipe calls for 1 tsp of baking powder, try using about 1/3 tsp baking soda.

If you happen to have cream of tartar lying around, you could make your own baking powder out of baking soda. Add 1/2 tsp of cream of tartar to 1/4 tsp of baking soda. Some people also add cornstarch.

Baking soda tends to produce slightly coarser, more chewy baked goods, while baking powder produces finer, lighter baked goods.

For further discussion on substitutions and adaptations for baking soda, including how they may affect the flavor of your baked goods, check out this article by Bob’s Red Mill.

High Altitude Banana Bread Muffin Ingredients

Before you begin, you will need:

Edible Ingredients

3 large bananas
1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup coconut oil
3 Tbsp unsweetened apple sauce
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup walnuts (chopped helps them go further)

eggs and sugar in stainless steel mixing bowl — To start, mix eggs and sugar.

Tools and Equipment

A muffin tin (or you can use bread pans and bake longer)
Muffin liners (or allow extra time to grease the pan)
A large mixing bowl and spoon (a stand mixer or hand mixer is optional, but makes it easier)
Measuring cups and spoons
A fork or something to mash the bananas
Some way to heat up and melt the coconut oil (i.e. a microwave and microwave-safe dish)

solid coconut oil in bowl on white marble table with golden measuring spoons in background — Melt coconut oil and add it to your mixing bowl.

How to Make High Altitude Banana Bread Muffins

First, mix your eggs and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Either let your stand mixer run while you go to the next steps, or stir several minutes until it has fluffed up a bit from the air being mixed in.
Next, scoop out 1/2 cup of coconut oil, place it in a microwave safe dish, and microwave 30 to 40 seconds until melted. Then, pour into the egg mixture.
At this point, preheat the oven to 350° and either grease your muffin tin or put muffin liners in.
Then, peel the bananas, break them into smaller pieces, and mash them with a fork. Add to the batter and blend well.
Now, add in the applesauce and vanilla extract.
After that, start pouring in the flour, salt, cinnamon, baking soda, and walnuts. Keep mixing until well blended.
Next, fill your muffin liners about 2/3 full with batter. If you don’t have a mixing bowl with a pouring spout, a large spoon makes this much less messy.
Once the oven is hot, place your muffin tin in the oven and bake for about 18 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Once the pan is cool enough to take out the muffins, you can start your second batch (if you only have one muffin tin, like me). Finally, let cool slightly and enjoy!

Pin it for later!

high altitude banana bread muffin pinnable graphic

Variations on High Altitude Banana Bread Muffins

For a richer banana bread, you could replace the applesauce with Greek yogurt, sour cream, creme fraiche, or something similar.

Add in cardamom, shredded coconut, chocolate chips, or any other mix-ins you enjoy.

Of course, feel free to make this into more traditional loaves. You will need to bake loaves longer.

That being said, loaves may fit in your freezer a bit easier. You can slice them ahead of time so they thaw ready to enjoy.

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You can also download my FREE High Altitude Baking Adjustments Chart PDF for further reference.