This post is sponsored by Melissa's Produce but all opinions are 100% my own.
We always seem to have bananas in our house. We enjoy them but I feel like we buy more than we need and always end up with one or two that are over ripe at the end of the week. Sometimes I use them to make banana bread but you can only make banana bread so many times. Other times I'll make breakfast cookies or put them in a smoothie.
This time around I had just received a box of fruit from Melissa's Produce and thought that maybe I could pair the bananas with some tropical fruits to make something different then banana bread. After toying with several ideas I decided to pair the bananas with strawberry papayas and passion fruit. The papayas are sweet and creamy while passion fruit is tart.
The other thing about passion fruit is that you can eat the seeds. I thought putting the seeds into my dish would give it added texture which I really like. So after thinking about cookies, muffins, and a smoothie I went with these Banana, Papaya, and Passion Fruit Muffins. I figured they would taste really tropical and be sweet yet tart.
I baked up a batch and thought they smelled really amazing in the oven. They came out and were super flavorful. I could really taste the banana and papaya and the passion fruit seeds were crunchy and gave the muffins a tartness. They were almost perfect but I felt like something was missing.
I toasted some coconut in hopes that putting that on top would be the missing ingredient. It turns out I was right! The toasted coconut has a nutty flavor and a touch of crunch that worked with all the other flavors. These muffins are great as a snack or for breakfast. They are packed with fruit and flavor.

Banana, Papaya, and Passion Fruit Muffins
Take your banana muffins to the next level with strawberry papayas and passion fruit.
Ingredients
- 1 ½ c. flour
- 1 t. baking powder
- ½ t. baking soda
- ½ t. salt
- 1 stick butter, softened
- ¾ c. sugar
- 1 t. vanilla
- 2 bananas, mashed
- 1 strawberry papaya, mashed
- 2 passion fruit
- ¼ c. shredded coconut, toasted
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
- Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners.
- In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix well and set aside.
- In a large bowl cream together the butter and sugar. Add in the vanilla and mix well.
- Stir in the mashed bananas and papaya and mix well.
- Cut the passion fruit in half and scrape the insides (seeds and all) into the bowl with the butter. Mix well.
- Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix well.
- Fill the muffins cups ¾ of the way full.
- Bake for 20 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and cool for 5 minutes. Remove from muffin pan and cool completely on a wire rack.
- If desired sprinkle toasted coconut on top of the muffins.
Notes
Recipe adapted from Happy and Harried

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Amy (Savory Moments)
We love muffins in our house and I know these would be a big hit! They look and sound so good!
Wendy Klik
Great flavor profile. I think those bananas on my counter multiply LOL.
HezziD
I agree! I always seem to have over ripe bananas!
Carlee
What a fabulous combination of flavors for muffins!
Karen
What a super creative way to use the fruits! these sound delicious!
Lisa Kerhin
There's not one thing I don't love about this recipe! Tropical flavors rock!