Banana Nut Bread is one of those foods that doesn’t just feed your hunger, it feeds your soul! There is nothing quite like the mouthwatering scent of fresh baked banana bread filling the kitchen on a cool fall day. Be it for breakfast or an afternoon snack, your friends and family will love when you serve up a slice of this fresh baked banana nut bread!
Reasons You’ll Love This Recipe
- It’s quick and easy to make! You’ll be enjoying a fresh, hot slice in no time!
- This recipe makes two loaves and is perfect for sharing or freezing for later.
- If you have bananas turning brown on your kitchen counter, this is the perfect way to put them to good use.
- A slice of homemade banana nut bread is perfect for breakfast, brunch or an afternoon snack.
Banana Nut Bread
If your family is anything like mine, they love banana bread! I purposefully overbuy bananas so that when they start to turn brown, I have the perfect excuse to whip up this recipe. Since it’s a quick bread, there is no yeast or rise time needed. Just mix up your batter, place it into your bread pans, and into the oven it goes!
Ingredients
The ingredients you need to whip up a batch of this bread are simple. Let’s discuss what you’ll want to grab before you start. If you just want the recipe itself, scroll to the bottom for the printable recipe. Otherwise, let’s discuss!
- Butter – You can use salted or unsalted in this recipe, whichever you prefer. Make sure your butter is softened before you start mixing your ingredients together.
- Sugar – Simple white, granulated sugar works.
- Eggs – Make sure you are using large eggs, and I recommend they be at room temperature, though it’s not required.
- Bananas – The riper the banana, the sweeter the bread! If your banana is covered in brown spots, it’s pretty much perfect!
- Sour Cream – I like a full fat sour cream in this recipe. Another option would be a full fat Greek yogurt. The sour cream helps create an incredibly moist and delicious texture.
- Vanilla Extract – Whenever possible, choose pure vanilla extract for the best flavor.
- All Purpose Flour – Measure your flour by giving it a stir then spooning it into a measuring cup, and leveling. Do not measure your flour by scooping it with the measuring cup, as this results in too much flour in your recipe.
- Cinnamon – Ground cinnamon, I prefer the Saigon variety when possible.
- Baking Soda – Double check the expiration date, this is one of those products that we keep in the fridge and sometimes miss that it has expired.
- Salt – Table salt or Kosher salt are both good choices.
- Walnuts – While this recipe calls for walnuts, it’s also delicious with pecans!
Steps To Take
Reminder if you just want to skip to the printable recipe card, that is found at the bottom of the post. Otherwise, let’s go over the steps to take to make your banana nut bread.
Start by gathering your ingredients, preheating your oven and preparing two loaf pans, approximately 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 inches in size. This is just a recommendation, loaf pans can vary so no worries if yours are slightly different.
Next cream together the butter and sugar, then add the eggs and mix well. At this point I switch from using an electric mixer to mixing by hand. After that the sour cream, mashed bananas and vanilla are added and mixed in.
After the wet ingredients are combined, the flour, salt, cinnamon and baking soda are added to the mixture. Stir until they are combined, but take care to not over mix the batter. Once mixed, fold in the walnuts and stir until just combined. Then divide the batter between the two prepared bread pans and it’s time to bake.
This recipe takes approximately one hour to bake. However, due to different bread pan types (glass, metal, ceramic), sizes and oven fluctuations, you may find your loaves are ready a few minutes sooner, or take a few minutes longer to bake. You want the loaves to rise, be golden, spring back when gently touched, and have a toothpick come out clean when inserted into the center of a loaf. Use your senses to help you see if it feels, looks and smells done.
Once it’s done baking, place the bread pans on a wire cooling rack. Often we just leave our bread in the pan, and slice and eat it straight from the pan. However if you want to remove the loaf, allow it to cool. Then gently run a dull knife around the edges to help loosen the bread from the pan, and invert.
Storing Your Banana Nut Bread
You have a few different options when it comes to storing your banana nut bread. You can store it covered, at room temperature for 2-3 days. Another option is to store it tightly covered in the refrigerator, which I find gives me more like 5-7 days out of a loaf.
Freezing Banana Bread
Banana bread freezes wonderfully, so that’s a great storage option. I often let a loaf cool completely, then wrap it tightly in plastic wrap, followed by foil, then place it into a ziploc style freezer bag, and freeze. The same can be done with individual slices of bread as well. Just be gentle with them until they are fully frozen, so that you don’t break them.
More Banana Recipes To Try
If you love this recipe, make sure to give these banana bread and muffin recipes a try as well!
- Betty Crocker Banana Bread
- Banana Bread Muffins
- Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
- Butterscotch Banana Muffins
- Chocolate Banana Muffins
- Simple Banana Bread
Delicious Banana Recipes!
Banana Nut Bread Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup butter softened
- 1 1/4 cups white sugar
- 2 eggs
- 4 large very ripe bananas mashed
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour or white whole wheat
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup walnuts, chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F and generously grease two loaf pans that are approximately 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 inches in size.
- Cream butter and sugar in a large bowl. Add the eggs and mix well. Add sour cream, mashed bananas, vanilla and stir to combine. Add the flour, salt, cinnamon and baking soda to the wet ingredients and stir until just combined. Fold in the walnuts and stir to combine.
- Divide the batter evenly between prepared loaf pans. Bake for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Notes
Nutrition
Disclaimer
Nutrition information is estimated as a courtesy. If using for medical purposes, please verify information using your own nutritional calculator. Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Kim Ann Herndon says
Love this recipe…..Can I use zucchini? What would be the substitute amounts??
Crystal Shells says
I want to only make 1 loaf ! what’s the recipe? Should I just half everything?
Thank you!
Peggy M Eastman says
I have been using another Banana Bread recipe for years and got a lot of compliments but this recipe is so much better. I think it’s the cinnamon and adding more sour cream. This will definitely be my go to recipe for Banana Bread!:)