Hummingbird Muffins are a tropical muffin made with pineapple, shredded coconut, bananas, and pecans. These delicious and flavorful muffins are so easy to make and stay moist for days!
If you’re looking to upgrade your boring muffin recipe, then this is it! These Hummingbird Muffins are so moist and flavorful, they are guaranteed to become your new favorite.
If you love fruit muffins, be sure to try my Blueberry Peach Muffins or these moist Lemon Ricotta Muffins. And, for another breakfast treat, try these Cherry Scones with dried cherries and almond glaze or these Lemon Coconut Muffins. And, if you love these muffins, then you need to try my equally delicious Hummingbird Bread with cream cheese frosting.
Why You Need to Make these Hummingbird Muffins
Hummingbird Muffins, also known as Tropical Muffins, are one of my absolute favorites to make. They have an amazing texture and are full of flavor.
This is a great recipe to have on hand for the holidays, special occasion, or just to snack on during the week. It’s also a great way to use up ripe bananas or leftover crushed pineapple.
These muffins have such a unique and fun flavor from the combination of bananas, pineapple, sweetened shredded coconut, and chopped pecans. Everyone who tries them just loves them!
The original concept for Hummingbird cake came from Southern Living Magazine and included all of these flavors. I like to think of these muffins as a small and slightly less sweet version of that cake.
My family refers the muffins as “tropical muffins” because of all of the tropical flavors like pineapple and coconut. But, no matter what you call them, they are sure to become a favorite for you and your family too!
So, if you have ripe bananas to use up, try something different than banana bread and make these delicious and flavorful Hummingbird Muffins. You’re going to love them!
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Ripe Bananas: you will need about two large ripe bananas for this recipe.
- Sugar: just use plain white granulated sugar here.
- Brown Sugar: this gives a deeper sweeter flavor.
- Egg: one large egg.
- Canola Oil: you can use canola or vegetable oil here.
- Flour: regular all purpose flour works best. Substitute cup-for-cup gluten free flour if needed.
- Baking Powder and Baking Soda
- Sweetened Shredded Coconut: I like the sweetened variety, but you could always substitute unsweetened instead.
- Crushed Pineapple: you can use canned crushed pineapple, or just dice fresh pineapple very fine and drain.
- Pecans: do a rough chop on the pecans before adding to the batter. Walnuts would be a good substitute.
How to Make Hummingbird Muffins
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and coat a muffin tin with cooking spray or cupcake liners. Also, do yourself a favor and get a great muffin tin! I am currently obsessed with this USA Muffin Pan, 12 Well, Nonstick & Quick Release Coating from Amazon. If you love to bake, you deserve to get perfect cupcakes and muffins every time!
Step 1: combine all of the wet ingredients
First, place your ripe banana in the bottom of a large mixing bowl and mash it with a fork. Then, add in the sugars, egg, and oil. Mix using a handheld mixer until well incorporated.
To the same bowl, add in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix until well combined.
Step 2: add in the pineapple, coconut, and pecans
Next, add in the sweetened shredded coconut, pineapple, and pecans. Here, you can use canned crushed pineapple that’s been drained, or make your own by finely chopping pineapple.
Step 3: stir it all together
Use a rubber spatula to mix together all of the batter being sure to scrape from the bottom of the bowl.
Step 4: scoop and add toppings
Line a muffin tin with liners or spray with nonstick spray. Scoop in the batter into the muffin wells.
To make a simple topping, just combine a tablespoon each of coconut and pecans. Sprinkle over top of the muffins before baking.
Bake for 20-25 minutes, being careful not to over bake. Let cool on a wire rack. Store Hummingbird Muffins in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week. Enjoy!
Recipe Tips
- You will need about a cup of mashed banana, which is approximately 2 large ripe bananas.
- Canola oil or vegetable oil are the standard here because they are flavorless. You an also use avocado or olive oil.
- Sweetened shredded coconut adds a sweet bite, but unsweetened coconut can be used in its place.
- This is a great recipe to use up leftover crushed pineapple. You can also make your own by finely chopping pineapple. Just be sure to drain the juice before adding.
- Chopped pecans give the muffins a nice crunchy bite. If you don’t have pecans, walnuts can be used in its place.
- Store leftover muffins in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week. Or freeze for up to a a month.
Frequently Asked Questions
A hummingbird muffin is a muffin made with bananas, pineapple, coconut, and pecans. It’s said to be named this because the colors were bright enough to attract a hummingbird. The original recipe for hummingbird cake appeared in the Southern Living Magazine.
Once the muffins are done baking, let them sit in the pan on a cooling rack for about 5-10 minutes. Then, carefully remove them to a rack to cool completely.
It’s not necessary to refrigerate muffins after baking so long as they are properly stored at room temperature and eaten within two days. If you keeping them longer than that, you should store in an airtight container in the refrigerator or freezer.
Other Baking Recipes
Hummingbird Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 cup mashed bananas (about 2 large bananas)
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- ¼ cup canola or vegetable oil
- 1 ½ cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup sweetened shredded coconut
- ½ cup crushed pineapple drained
- ½ cup chopped pecans
Topping
- 1 tablespoon chopped pecans
- 1 tablespoon sweetened shredded coconut
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 12-well muffin tin with cooking spray or line with cupcake liners. Set aside.
- In a large bowl combine mashed bananas, sugars, egg, and oil. Mix with a hand mixer until well combined. Add in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir to combine. Fold in the coconut, pineapple, and pecans.
- Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin tin. In a small bowl combine the chopped pecans and coconut. Sprinkle on top of the muffins. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the middle of the muffin comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.
Notes
- You will need about a cup of mashed banana, which is approximately 2 large ripe bananas.
- Canola oil or vegetable oil are the standard here because they are flavorless. You an also use avocado or olive oil.
- Sweetened shredded coconut adds a sweet bite, but unsweetened coconut can be used in its place.
- This is a great recipe to use up leftover crushed pineapple. You can also make your own by finely chopping pineapple. Just be sure to drain the juice before adding.
- Chopped pecans give the muffins a nice crunchy bite. If you don’t have pecans, walnuts can be used in its place.
- Store leftover muffins in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week. Or freeze for up to a a month.
Made these for the first time today and they are super moist and tasty. They smelled delicious when they were baking.
Are there any alternatives I can use to the oils? I am watching my cholesterol and I am lactose intolerant.
I like to use an equal amount of applesauce as an oil substitute when I’m baking.
All of the flavors in these muffins are so good! Love how moist and tender they turned out!
I love all the fun ingredients that you have added to these muffins. Especially the Banana, Coconut, and Pineapple. I am going to make these with my kiddos in the morning.
There is so much awesome flavor in these tropical muffins! I can’t get enough and can’t wait to bake them again!
They’re so good! Happy you love them!
I love all the flavours in these muffins, so tasty! Everyone in my house loved them!
It looks very yummy.Thanks for sharing such a delicious recipe with us.