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Banana Nut Bread

Banana nut bread made with mashed ripe bananas and buttery batter, baked until deeply golden with a moist, dense crumb. Chunky walnuts are mixed throughout and pressed on top for a classic old fashioned banana loaf look.
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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
Calories: 290
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Bananas
  • 3 ripe bananas Mash until mostly smooth with a few small lumps.
Wet ingredients
  • 0.5 cup butter Melt and cool slightly so it doesn’t scramble the eggs.
  • 0.75 cup sugar Use white sugar for the classic banana bread sweetness.
  • 2 large eggs Let eggs sit at room temperature for smoother mixing.
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
Dry ingredients
  • 1.5 cup all-purpose flour Measure and level for best loaf texture.
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 0.5 tsp salt
  • 0.5 tsp cinnamon
Walnuts
  • 1 cup walnuts Roughly chop; divide so 3/4 cup goes into batter and the rest tops the loaf.

Equipment

  • 1 sheet pan
  • 1 cast iron skillet

Method
 

Prep and preheat
  1. Preheat oven to 350°F and grease a 9x5 loaf pan with a thin coating to prevent sticking.
Mix wet ingredients
  1. Whisk melted butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla into the mashed bananas until well combined and smooth.
Combine dry ingredients
  1. Fold in all-purpose flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon until just combined, stopping as soon as no dry streaks remain.
Add walnuts
  1. Fold in 3/4 cup of the walnuts so they are evenly distributed through the batter.
Fill the pan
  1. Pour batter into the prepared loaf pan and scatter the remaining walnuts across the top.
Bake
  1. Bake for 60–70 minutes at 350°F until deeply golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool and serve
  1. Cool in the pan 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to finish setting before slicing.

Notes

Pro tip: mash the bananas thoroughly but leave a few small lumps for a banana-forward texture. Store wrapped at room temperature up to 3 days or refrigerated up to 5 days; freeze wrapped slices up to 2 months. For a lighter option, use half the butter amount with an equal weight of unsweetened applesauce (flavor stays classic, crumb may be slightly softer).