Banana Nut Bread is an easy banana bread recipe, perfect for those last minute guests or lazy weekend breakfasts. Made with ripe bananas, pecans, and cinnamon this homemade bread is so airy and moist.
Banana Bread can be made with or without nuts, or made into banana nut crunch muffins. Either way, it will be a family favorite for years to come!
Ingredients in Banana Nut Bread
Bananas: You’ll want bananas that are spotty and brown with a little bit of yellow. Ripe bananas have more sugars and are sweeter, the perfect addition to this bread.
Butter & Shortening: This banana nut bread uses a combination of shortening and butter. Shortening has a higher fat content (and melting point) so it makes a more tender bread. The addition of butter is for flavor. You can use all butter in this recipe if you prefer but I would suggest trying it with shortening too, the results are great!
Nuts: You can use any kind of nuts in this recipe, my go to is pecans or walnuts.
How to Make Banana Nut Bread
- Mix the butter/shortening with sugar until fluffy. This incorporates air into the mixture for a tender bread.
- Mix dry and wet ingredients (per recipe below) just until combined. Fold in nuts.
- Spread into a loaf pan and top with cinnamon sugar pecans. Bake about 1 hour.
Tip for Baking Moist Bread
Banana nut bread is considered a ‘quick bread’ because there is no yeast.To keep it moist, here are a few tips and tricks:
- Use very ripe, soft bananas, they’re extra sweet and moist and impart the most ‘banana-y’ flavor!
- Have ingredients at room temperature before beginning.
- Butter tastes great, but shortening produces a softer crumb.
- Gently fold in the wet and dry ingredients with a spatula and be careful not to ‘overstir.’ A light, fluffy bread that goes into the pan comes out airy, moist, and beautiful!
To Store
Banana nut bread will last at room temperature about 4 or 5 days. Keep it wrapped tightly in a cooler space on the counter.
Can I Freeze Banana Nut Bread?
This banana nut bread recipe is a champion for freezing and can be frozen, thawed, and served (without anyone noticing!) for about 2 to 3 months.
Wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and then seal in a freezer bag with the date on it. To save freezer space, slice in 1 inch slices and layer in a zippered bag and place the bags flat in the freezer. Once they are frozen, stack them neatly. This also allows you to thaw only the portions you need.
Have More Bananas?
- Easy Banana Bread – perfect every time
- Banana Breakfast Cookies – healthy grab’n’go breakfast!
- Chocolate Banana Bread – deliciously decadent
- Easy Banana Bran Muffins – soft & moist!
- Chocolate Chip Zucchini Banana Bread – packed with fruits & veggies!
Easy Banana Nut Bread
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup butter
- ¼ cup shortening
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup mashed bananas about 3 medium
- ⅔ cup chopped pecans or walnuts
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
Topping
- 2 tablespoons chopped pecans
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon butter
- ⅛ teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour (or line with parchment paper) an 8x4 loaf pan.
- Combine flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a small bowl. Whisk to combine.
- With a hand mixer on medium, combine sugar, butter and shortening in a medium bowl until fluffy. Add eggs and mix well. Stir in mashed bananas.
- Add dry ingredients and mix just until combined. Toss nuts with remaining tablespoon of flour and fold into batter.
- Pour into prepared loaf pan and top with topping. Combine topping ingredient and sprinkle over loaf.
- Bake 55-65 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Do not overbake.
- Cool in the pan 5 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely on a rack.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Bread, Dessert
Cuisine American© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
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My son and his family don’t like nuts…so I used chocolate chips! It was a huge hit!
What would the cooking time be for making the banana bread in to mini loafs?
Hi Ronda, I haven’t tried mini loaves but I would check them around 25 mins with a toothpick to see if it comes out clean and go from there.
Why does it say flour twice? Which one am i supposed to add?
Hi Kendall, the 1 1/2 cups of flour is added in step 2 with the other dry ingredients. The 1 tablespoon of flour is used in step 4 to toss the pecans in. This stops them from sinking to the bottom of the pan.
The texture and height of the bread were great. Unfortunately it was barely sweet. Maybe brown sugar or an additional sweetener would give it a sweet bread flavor.
My first attempt at homemade banana nut bread, my house smells so good.
I just made the banana bread my house smells wonderful let you know how it tastes in a bit
Can’t
Wait to
Try this
Recipes look great and easy on a limited budget. Going to try Banana Nut Bread with pecans and dried cranberries for some zing!.
Your Recipe calls for oil it does not say what type of oil.
Vegetable or canola oil work great in this recipe.
Where does it call for oil? I don’t see that in list of ingredients. Thanks!
This recipe doesn’t contain oil however it can replace shortening if needed.
This is probably the best banana nut bread. I have tried many recipes and they are always dry. This one is very moist and has great banana flavor. I added a teaspoon of vanilla and doubled the cinnamon. VERY GOOD
I am using Himalayan salt instead of the regular salt and I’m going to add 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract. Should be yummy!! And I will sprinkle the cinnamon on top as well and make a swirl.
Show off :-)
An easy to make and delicious recipe. Have tried it several times and it always comes out well.
My son and I made December goals and one of them was to try a new recipe for baking. We decided to go with your recipe. It’s in the oven right now and our house smells AMAZING, I have no doubt that it will taste just as amazing as it smells. Definitely a fun, easy and cheap recipe. Thank you so much.
That is such a fun idea Bianka! Hope you enjoy it!
Would give this recipe 6 stars if l could! It is easy, fast and yummy!
I made the bread this morning,it’s in oven now. Thank you
going to try this today! Is there much difference in using all purpose/baking soda/salt as opposed to using Self rising Flour? does it change much? To me just more simple to use Self Rising? but maybe there’s something i dont know lol
I have never tried this with self rising so I can’t say for sure. Let us know how it works if you try it!
Did you get an answer about using self rising flour? I’ve thawed frozen bananas…should I use same amount?
Very excited to find this recipe to try for banana nut bread. Will be making this tonight for my husband.
Hello I’m VERY INTERESTED in the banana nut bread recipes
Is flour all purpose or self rising
All purpose Glenda.
I made this today as a Sunday treat! The best use of over ripened bananas! So easy to make and so delicious! Thank you so much, Holly!
Thanks Shauna! So glad you enjoyed the bread!
I csnt buy shortening where i live . What can i substitute it with
You can use butter, it will change the recipe slightly but still be great.
Thanks for sharing your great recipes, can’t wait to try them, GOD BLESS
Thank you Vera! So happy you enjoy them.