One of my go to quick breads, this Banana Nut Bread is easy to make and so good every time! You can choose to leave the nuts out, but I love it with them in.
Banana Nut Bread
This recipe is moist and delicious! It might have something to do with the cream cheese in the batter…..hmmmm……I made mine with pecans and a yummy nut topping but that is optional. I know that nuts can be a controversial topic. Some people despise them, some people love them. I’m in the second camp.
If you like this recipe, you’ll like these too:
- Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
- Zucchini Bread with Brown Sugar Topping
- Blender Peanut Butter Banana Muffins
How to Make Banana Bread
Banana bread is one of the best baking recipes to start with because it’s really forgiving. You throw a lot of ingredients together, toss it in the oven, and feel like a rock star when it comes out. At this point I feel like I buy bananas just so they can get overripe and then I can make banana bread.
There are a few things you need to know though –
- You need your bananas to be at least freckled to use for making bread. The darker, more ripe they get, the stronger the banana flavor will be. If you prefer it to be less banana-y (yes, I just made that up), don’t let them get super dark before making this recipe.
- In addition, you can mash up the bananas with a fork or with a hand or stand mixer. If you like your bread with chunks of banana in it, stop mashing when they get to that point. It’s all about personal preference.
Banana Bread Recipe
Banana Nut Bread
Ingredients
- ¾ c butter softened
- 8 oz cream cheese softened
- 2 c sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 3 c flour
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 4 bananas medium and over ripe
- 1 c chopped pecans toasted (optional)
- ½ tsp vanilla
Cinnamon Crisp Topping
- ½ c brown sugar
- ½ c chopped toasted pecans
- 1 tbsp flour
- 1 tbsp butter melted
- ⅛ tsp cinnamon
Instructions
- Beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed until creamy.
- Gradually add sugar, beating until light and fluffy.
- Add eggs, one at time, just until blended.
- Combine dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda & salt) in a separate bowl.
- Then gradually add to the butter/cream cheese mix at a low speed until just blended.
- Mash bananas and stir into mix.
- Add pecans (optional) and vanilla.
- Spoon batter into 2 greased loaf pans.
- Bake for 1 hour at 350.
- Watch the bread, if it starts to brown, add tin foil for the last 15 mins to avoid too much browning.
- Cool for 10 mins, remove from the pans onto wire racks and cool for 30 mins before slicing.
Optional topping:
- Stir ingredients together.
- Prepare the batter above.
- Spoon into pans.
- Sprinkle mix evenly over batter.
- Bake and cool as directed above.
Nutrition
And while I said the topping is optional, why not live a little? It gives it that extra special touch and makes it stand out from other banana bread recipes.
Made this last night to give as a gift to a dear friend. So yummy! Will make it again…often!!!
I’m so glad to hear that. Yay!!
What can you use instead of sugar in a receipe?
Made the bread last night and took it to work….WOW!!!! It was a hit. By 11 am it was almost gone so I had to ser a slice aside for the Voss so he could try it. Thanks for the recipe. Also love the crumb topping.
My 4 year old and I made this today. We did 1 loaf and muffins. They were delicious. Thank you for the great recipe.
More loaves in the oven…….it’s so delicious!
Mique – I ran across this recipe and tried it right away. Can I tell you – EVERYONE that tried it, LOVED it?! This Banana Bread recipe ranks right up there with the Banana Bread my mom made for us as kids growing up!
You can bet I’m sending folks your way so they can enjoy this recipe as much as we did!
Just FABULOUS!!
Thanks again – keep up the fabulous work!
Min
yep. it’s really good.
{it’s hard to ruin anything with cream cheese in it, though. right?}
i hope you don’t mind that i linked from my blog to yours.
i pinned this recipe, too.
thanks!!!!!
Have you frozen this, I was concerned because of the
topping. Thanks Roby
Mique,
I wanted to follow up that I made this last week and it was AMAZING. The only variation for me was putting it in a 9×13 (couldn’t find my loaf pans!) I love this recipe and have already shared your link with my friends!
I already have a favorite banana bread recipe that uses cream cheese but your picture looks so good that I now have to try your recipe! Thanks for sharing.
Sorry, what measurement is c and how much does that translate to in grams or ounces?
OMG ~ cream cheese. in the bread. that is amazing. and since I have 20 bananas in my freezer (YES ~ i hoard bananas in my freezer, and you should too.) I think my neighbors might be getting banana bread on their door step Easter morning. xoxo
What is the optional topping recipe? Or maybe my pregnant brain is just missing it!!
Hi Marie- it says on the recipe “Cinnamon Crisp Topping”- from that part on it’s the topping. And then in the directions it says #9, optional topping. It’s a little hard to see the way the recipe is formatted. I just couldn’t figure out another way to do it. ;) xo
Your picture of that yummy bread is amazing!!! One of my favorite banana bread recipes has cream cheese in it…LOVE!!!!