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The *BEST* Banana Nut Bread
December 1, 2021
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This is the Best Banana Nut Bread in town, using only 1 bowl and simple pantry ingredients. You’re only an hour away from moist, lightly sweet, flavorful banana bread! If you have spotty bananas lying around, this recipe is for you. Similar to my Classic Banana Bread and family favorite Banana Bread Muffins, only loaded with walnuts for a buttery crunch.
A Family Favorite Recipe
Today I’m so happy to be sharing the Best Banana Nut Bread Recipe because truth be told, I prefer banana bread with nuts. Some people are banana bread purists and others prefer chocolate chips, but I am in the nut category (though if I’m being honest, I’ve never met a banana bread I didn’t like). This is a delicious, adaptable, moist banana bread recipe that is nearly fail-proof. It’s the epitome of comfort and happiness and by the end of the week, I always seem to have spotty bananas around.
Pro Tips For Banana Nut Bread Success
Keep Banana Bread Moist
I have created this recipe using specific ingredients to keep this loaf as moist as possible. Things like mashed banana, oil, butter and buttermilk all add moisture to banana bread so when it’s baked, it’s still soft and tender. Also, watch the clock when you’re baking this so you don’t over bake it! Over baked, dark and dry banana bread is not delicious.
Use the Right Loaf Pan
I use this lightly colored loaf pan that doesn’t darken the sides too quickly. Since loaves usually take about an hour in the oven, you want to limit how brown the sides get. If you’re using a nonstick, darker metal pan, you’ll end up with really crispy edges. If you like crispy edges, then all the more power to ya. But, I love a soft loaf the entire way around and I find a lighter-colored loaf pan is the way to achieve that. If you happen to pull your loaf out of the pan and it has a few crispy edges, wrap it in plastic wrap when it’s lukewarm (not to be confused with warm) for an hour or two. It’ll soften those edges right up.
Use Fresh Walnuts
Nuts have oils in them and if they have been sitting on your pantry shelf for a little too long, those oils will go rancid. This goes for any nut, not just walnuts! If you try a walnut out of the package, you should be able to tell if it has gone rancid. (It should have a stronger, unpleasant flavor.) Since half of this recipe is bananas and the other half is basically nuts, you want to make sure you use the tastiest and freshest ones.
Let Your Loaf Cool Completely
This is just a rule of thumb for any sort of loaf recipe. If you want clean and beautiful slices, wait until it’s cooled completely. If you don’t really care, slice away! Warm banana bread is hard to beat, even if it isn’t completely picture perfect.
How to Make Banana Nut Bread
My recipe for banana nut bread obviously calls for walnuts (classic) but be sure to check out my adaptions below. For full recipe details and ingredient measurements, see the printable recipe card down below.
Prepare your Pan
Preheat oven. Spray a light colored loaf pan with cooking spray and set aside.
Make the Batter
In a large bowl, stir oil, butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, and mashed banana together until mostly smooth.
Add in dry ingredients slowly with buttermilk until a uniform batter comes together. Stir in chopped walnuts by hand. Pour into prepared loaf pan and top with more nuts.
Bake Your Loaf, Cool + Slice
Bake until a toothpick comes out clean with a few moist crumbs. Cool at least 15 minutes before removing from hot pan and slicing.
Love bread as much as I do? Check out these recipes: Soft Zucchini Bread Recipe (super easy!), Lemon Poppy Seed Bread, Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread, EASY Homemade Bread Recipe, and Seriously *the best* Cornbread Recipe.
Variations to Try
If walnuts aren’t your thing, here are a few common and delicious options!
- Purist– simply omit nuts and bake plain banana bread.
- Change the nuts – if you don’t like or don’t have walnuts on hand, pecans, almonds or cashews are a great option!
- Chocolate chips – substitute out the chopped walnuts for chocolate chips. 1/2 cup in the batter and 1/4 cup sprinkled on top. Delicious!
Storing Banana Bread
Store any uneaten Banana bread in a ziplock bag or airtight container to retain the moisture and softness as long as possible, usually 4 days on the counter. After then, it’s still fine to eat, you’ll just notice its drying out a little.
To Freeze: Allow loaf to cool completely. Wrap loaf in 2-3 layers of plastic wrap or aluminum foil before placing in a ziplock bag or freezer safe container. Banana bread will stay fresh in the freezer for up to 3-4 months.
Even More Banana Bread to Try!
- Classic Banana Bread
- Banana Bread Muffins
- Spiced Banana Bread
- Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
- Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
The printable recipe card is below. Save/Print/Pin/bookmark this glorious Banana Bread! Well worth it to have this recipe in your arsenal. It’s worth every calorie for sure 🙂
Have a great day, friends!
The Best Banana Nut Bread Recipe
The Best Banana Nut Bread Recipe is moist, sweet and flavorful every time! If you have spotty bananas lying around, this recipe is for you.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup salted butter softened
- 1/4 cup canola oil
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 whole bananas mashed
- 2 large eggs at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup buttermilk
- 3/4 cup walnuts chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease light colored loaf pan (8 1/2″ x 4 1/2″ x 2 3/4” high) with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.
- In a large bowl, mix oil, butter, and sugar until well combined. Stir in eggs, vanilla, and banana until smooth.
- Gently stir in dry ingredients and buttermilk until a uniform batter has formed. Scrape sides to ensure no lumps are present. Stir in 1/2 cup walnuts. Pour into prepared pan and top with remaining 1/4 cup chopped nuts.
- Bake for 50 to 60 minutes in the lower half of the oven or until completely baked. Remove from oven and cool at least 15 minutes before removing from pan. Slice and serve.
Video
Nutrition
Calories: 259kcal | Carbohydrates: 30g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 37mg | Sodium: 147mg | Potassium: 99mg | Sugar: 17g | Vitamin A: 165IU | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 35mg | Iron: 1.1mg
I made this delicious recipe and it was so good, was my first time making this type of banana bread and turn out amazing. Thank you for this recipe.
I have made this bread loaf 5 times now! All I can say is it’s SUPERB, A CUT ABOVE THE REST, DELICIOUS, MOIST, SUCCULENT!!!!!!!!
THANKS THANKS THANKS!!!!!
I don’t have buttermilk – can I use 2% milk instead.
Can you use 2% milk instead of buttermilk?
Just add a little splash of vinegar to your milk!
Thank you for such an easy to follow recipe. My first time making it and the banana bread loaf came out tasting so yummy. The bottom was a little denser than the rest of the loaf (my oven is acting up)….it was still so good. Not overly sweet. Never buying banana bread again now that I know I can make it. Now less intimidated with baking.
Lauren,thank you for this excellent recipe.
I’ve made it several times and love it more each time.
Of course modifications are fun and because of your sage advice it just keeps getting better.
Note, I’m creating a ” From Grammy’s Kitchen” cookbook for my grandson, this will definitely be in there twice!
This recipe is phenomenal – way to go Lauren! I’m vegan, so I veganized it by using the almond milk + apple cider vinegar (I saw you responded to someone else suggesting they sub almond milk), two Ener-G egg substitutes, and vegan butter. SO GOOD.
Self -isolation and working from home has given me time to go back to baking from scratch. This is wonderful recipe, especially if you have kids at home because they can help out with measurements and mashing up bananas.
I also had it toasted, and it was delicious
Omg!!! Soooo good and moist. I’ve been looking to make banana bread with the left over bananas my 1 year old either half or barely eats. I normally Refrigerate them until I’m ready to mash them up and put them in her pancakes. However, I decided to make banana bread instead (don’t worry people, I cut the end off the ones she bit off of and the peels were still on them)I love banana bread but can’t stand for it to be dry. Your recipe was the only one with a moist looking thumbnail so I decided to try it. So glad I did! I added 3-4 bananas instead of 2 and they were really ripe, well at least 2 were really mushy. I also used light olive oil instead of canola. I used a square glass baking dish and cooked for 50 mins. Magnificent! Thanks again!
Hands down, both thumbs up!
This is the best banana bread ever. Super moist and tastes so nice with hot tea. My entire family loved it. Glad i doubled the recipe and made two loafs. Will make this again in a few days. I will keep this recipe in my favorites cookbook. Thank you for the amazing banana bread.
I substituted the following:
-Coconut Oil instead of canola oil
-Honey instead of sugar
-Almond milk instead of buttermilk
I made this in a 8 by 8 glass cake pan and used yogurt instead of buttermilk and it turned out 20x better than I expected and I have gotten so many compliments on the bread. I also used pecans instead. Thank you for this wonder recipe, i will surely use it again in the future!
This is definately the best banana bread I’ve ever eaten. Actually, I made it and gave it to my mom and my fiance and they both said, “This is the best banana bread I’ve ever had.” My fiance asked me to make it again tonight after saying, “I don’t even like banana bread, but this banana bread has changed my mind.”
If I add craisins to the mix will it change the recipe moisture and or baking time
Love this recipe! I’ve made two loaves on the last couple of weeks. Thank you!
Wow! This truly is the best banana nut bread recipe I have tried. It’s flavorful, moist, and oh so delicious. Thank you so much! I will certainly try more of your recipes.
Hello,
I just made this recipe and I added not only walnuts but cranberries and raisins. I love chewy muffins and bread and do my family. I just put it in the over and I think I will take a photo and upload it to Pinterest.com. Thanks for the recipe, dear.
I realized I don’t have buttermilk, it will be ok without it? We’ll see 🙂
This bread is FANTASTIC!
Question: I want to make as muffins. How will that affect the cooking time?
I would actually just make these banana muffins and add walnuts: https://laurenslatest.com/banana-bread-muffins/ . Both recipes are pretty similar; but all the directions for muffins can be found on this blog post.
The best banana bread recipe! Super moist! Since I didn’t have a few things on hand I pretty much used what I had and it came out perfect! I didn’t have buttermilk so I used sour cream with milk. Vegetable oil instead of canola oil. 1 cup of flour and 1/2 pancake mix (Kruzster Brand) . Give it a try you will not be disappointed! Thanks for sharing your recipe.
great recipe and easy to make everyone loves it, in fact making 2 more today. one question though, has anyone used eggnog in the recipe?
Excellent! Made this banana bread today and added Raw sugar to the top! Had a nice crisp top! This will be my go to recipe, for sure…..thanks!
Was the best banana nut bread.
Can I use self rising flower for this?
This is my first time making banana bread on my own. I followed your recipe but instead i mixed the dry and wet ingredients seperate then at the end i mixed them all together, when smooth i added the bananna. Came out deliscious. I doubbled my recipe tho cause i wasnt shure how many loafs i was going to get out of it.
Great banana nut bread. Great recipe. Great taste ! Yummm
Can I substitute coconut oil for canola oil? I bought the coconut oil yesterday when I stocking up on baking supplies for the holidays but since I’ve never used it before I have no idea what to do with it.
Yes! You can substitute coconut oil for any fat in just about any recipe.
I’m an avid baker, but have never made banana bread before. I decided on this one as it only called for 2 older bananas, while most recipes I found called for 3. I was slightly worried it wouldn’t have a strong enough banana flavor, but it turned out so delicious! Super easy to make too. I substituted slightly less than 1/2 tsp cream of tartar mixed into 1/4 milk for the buttermilk. Definitely going to save this one!
Oh my goodness! Just made this recipe with a few alterations. It is amazing.
I decreased sugar to 1/2 cup and added 1 tsp of cinnamon. I also sifted flour before measuring.
This loaf came out so moist and light and is plenty sweet with half the sugar..
We couldn’t wait for it too cool. Am enjoying it hot with a cup of coffee.
If I don’t have buttermilk, how much milk and vinegar would I add to the recipe?
1/4 cup milk + 1/4 teaspoon vinegar
I added Rum to my recipe. It’s baking now. Cant wait to taste it.!!!!
In the oven now. I’m at almost an hour and a half baking time however. Hopefully it’s yummy!
Made this banana bread three days ago…love love! Thanks!
Thanks Lauren. This is by far the best Banana Nut Bread on the Planet. This is my first time on your website when I googled for the best banana nut bread recipe. Very impressed!! Always looking for new recipes to try and I sense I’ll be coming back to your website again and again. Thanks again!!
Okay so it turned out pretty yummy. Try it with powdered sugar on top. Gives it extra little sweetness. Thanks Lauren. Out of all the recipes I had to choose from i chose yours. We have the same name. So I figured you can’t go wrong. LOL.
It’s in the oven right now. The temp is 325 but it’s baking way to slow. Not sure if it’s because it’s a smaller gas oven. But, hoping it will have good results. I tasted the batter, which seems to taste as if I put too much flour. I did put right amount of flour however. So we’ll see. Hoping for good outcome anyways. Thanks. It was fun to to make it. First time.
Looks really good, need to try soon! Appreciate your simple, easy to follow recipes!
I’ve made this twice in the past two weeks and it was even better the second time! Thanks so much for this recipe – I now finally have a way to use those very ripe bananas.
Love banana bread! I am gonna try this recipe!
My go to recipe or banana bread. It is so quick and easy and turns out perfect every time! Thank you ❤️
I’m putting this together right now can I make mini muffins and for how long would I bake thanks can’t wait
If I add craisins to the mix will it change the recipe moisture and or baking time
I have this in the oven right now! I cannot wait for my family to try it. I doubled the recipe. So I made a pan of muffins, too
I too have this in the oven. I have six moffens, and two loaves of bread. I can’t wait to try out tomorrow. I went looking for the recipe because I couldn’t find my own that were my mother’s and really delicious! I can’t wait for morning and for my daughter to take it and eat it with her morning coffee.
Here’s a pro tip for you. Any serious baker weighs out his flour. Using volumetric measurements for flour, nuts, brown sugar, dried fruit etc. is far too imprecise. Ask ten people to measure out a cup of flour and you will get ten different quantities ranging from 130 g. to 200 g. Obviously, the success of the recipe depends to a large degree on the ratio of dry ingredients to wet. I could make your recipe and have a successful result, or not, but it would be pure luck.
Dave, I can appreciate your rationale but really? I think you’re just trying to make yourself sound way more fancy pants than you really are. Just sayin.
Lol! Cooking is fun… way too serious for me too!😂
I don”t think weighing flour especially is fanci-pants AT ALL. It’s smart.
Flour settles an incredible amount upon sitting and different batches of flour can have different densities depending on growing conditions.
I think a lot of negative comments about recipes can probably be attributed to inaccurate measuring of flour.
I’m always pleased when I find a recipe using weights rather than volume.
Wow! Only a true sociopath can use a Banana Bread recipe as a means to let everyone know how superior they are. Everyone, Dave has a “Pro Tip” that he has so graciously shared with everyone. In case you thought about making the banana bread, STOP right there and listen to D-Bag Dave’! Thanks again Dave!!
I have made this recipe a dozen times in the past few months. It is the most moist and tasty banana nut bread EVER, and has never failed, even when I substituted stevia and almond milk with a splash of vinegar for the buttermilk! Thank you for my new GO TO recipe!!
Don’t be a jerk. Weighing flour is actually quite helpful.
Total Dave comment. 😏
Dave? When’s the last time you were laid? 😆 just sayin lol
You are absolutely correct Dave, Not everyone knows this. It truly can make a difference in baking.
Best ever!
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I’m making this tonight. I have all the ingredients, which thrills me no end. I believe it will be a keeper for me. I’m going to toast it for my breakfast, if I can wait that long!!
Thank you for sharing such great recipes, I want to try the carrot cake and the banana bread, my husband favorites.
Annie Picco
Great recipe but baking soda needs to be added …I tried recipe with just using baking powder and it came out gummy ……but overall it was good bread!
After adding 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda to recipe it turned out wonderful and very moist !!! I would have to give it 5 stars
do you use baking powder and baking soda if so how much of each banana nut bread calls for 1tsp baking powder thank you cyndy
How do I make buttermilk
I agree with the no baking soda question since buttermilk is in the recipe. I will add about 1/2 teaspoon and see what happens once I try it.
Hi is it supposed to 325 degrees?
this bread is the bomb-diggity! so, so good. It is dense and full of banana flavor. I am always looking for a good banana recipe and I think I found my favorite.. So glad I tried it!
Question for you. If you don’t have an answer it is okay. Worth a try. So, could we substitute avocado oil for canola oil. Use G/F flour that is equal to all purpose flour, and can not think of what to substitute for buttermilk. Allergic to soy and dairy products. We use coconut milk currently for drinking. I could buy the canned coconut, but would that be too thick? Just thought another opinion would help before I waste my ingredients to make this for my bestie ♡ Thanks in advance.
Try using unsweetened almond milk with a splash of vinegar.
This BANNA NUT BREAD
IS THE VERY BEST I HAVE EVER MADE!
I WII MAKE IT MY OWN!!
I HAVE BEEN BAKEING FOR OVER 50 YR
AND TRUELY THE BEST , AND EASYEST
I WISH I FOUND THIS RESAPIE BEFOR CHRISTMAS THERE IS EASTER.THANK YOU.!!!!
Thank you!! For this recipe I have made Banana Nut bread before in the past and it was always extremely dry. This recipe is everything I followed it to the tee and my banana bread is amazing nice and moist so much so I made it last night and my husband has already eaten half the loaf and I just made another one. This will definitely be my go to recipe. Thank you again.
I actually recommend finding something like a plain unsweetened coconut yogurt or a very fat rich canned coconut cream and add apple cider vinegar (DON’T use the low-fat varieties). Buttermilk is an acidifier and moisturizer. It’s fat heavy and you need to give it that hydration. You also need to find something to give that boost of acidity. I recommend that whatever dairy substitute you use, it has to be the same fat content and consistency. Use coconut cream mixed with apple cider vinegar instead. What i also reccomend is to first make the standard recipe without substitutionsr so you can get a feel for how the batter should feel when you add certain ingredients. If you can’t eat it, Give it away to someone who can. Everyone likes banana nut bread. When you go to make the substitutions, the batter should feel similar to the non substituted variety, if it’s thin, add a little Xanthan Gum, if it’s thin, add milk. This is a general rule for all gluten free / vegan baking. It’s not easy to get used to but it can be done.