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Banana Nut Bread

Banana nut bread baked into a deeply golden loaf with a moist, dense crumb and chunky walnuts pressed into the top. Easy homemade banana bread that turns out sliceable and caramel-brown with a clean toothpick center.
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 5 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Servings: 10 servings
Course: Breakfast, Snack
Cuisine: American
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Banana nut bread loaf
  • 3 bananas Use ripe bananas, mashed until mostly smooth.
  • 0.5 cup butter Melted and cooled slightly so it mixes in smoothly.
  • 0.75 cup sugar Granulated sugar.
  • 2 eggs Large eggs, beaten lightly before mixing.
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1.5 cup all-purpose flour Stir and level in the measuring cup.
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 0.5 tsp salt
  • 0.5 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 cup walnuts Roughly chopped, divided; fold most in and scatter the rest on top.

Equipment

  • 1 sheet pan

Method
 

Prep
  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease a 9x5 loaf pan.
  2. Mash the ripe bananas and set aside.
Mix batter
  1. Whisk the melted butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla into the mashed bananas until well combined, with no streaks remaining.
  2. Fold in the all-purpose flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon until just combined; stop when no dry flour pockets are visible.
  3. Fold in 3/4 cup of the chopped walnuts so they’re evenly distributed throughout the batter.
Bake
  1. Pour the batter into the loaf pan and scatter the remaining walnuts across the top so they’re visible.
  2. Bake for 60–70 minutes at 350°F until deeply golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
  3. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to finish cooling.

Notes

Pro tip: mash the bananas thoroughly so the batter is smooth and the crumb stays tender; if your bananas are very wet, let them drain 1–2 minutes in a strainer before measuring. Store tightly wrapped at room temperature up to 3 days or refrigerated up to 5 days; freeze slices up to 2 months. For a simple swap, use gluten-free 1:1 all-purpose flour in the same amount for a gluten-free version.