Caramelized Banana Bread

This caramelized banana bread recipe is moist, healthy, simple, and SO SO delicious! Kick your basic banana bread recipe up a notch!

We eat a lot of bananas. They’re cheap all year long and easy to consume. High fives for a no-cook snack!

The problem, though, is they often go brown before we can eat them all, ESPECIALLY when it’s warm outside.

In the past, my go-to has been this Banana Muffin recipe. If I’m feeling extra fancy, I’ll make Chocolate Chip and Banana Muffins.

But when I came across a caramelized banana bread recipe, I was intrigued. I mean, how could anything that has been “caramelized” taste bad?

Turns out, it can’t!

CARAMELIZED BANANA BREAD RECIPE

Not only is this banana bread recipe DELICIOUS, but it’s also:

• Moist. The ripe bananas and the coconut oil make this the MOST MOIST banana bread recipe you’ve ever made, without falling apart in your hands.
• Healthy. Doing the Whole30 as a family taught us that sugar is something to avoid. Fortunately, this recipe for banana loaf bread has just ⅓ cup for the whole loaf!
• Easy. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, this banana bread recipe is really easy! Once you caramelize the bananas, everything happens in one bowl, so clean-up is minimal.
• Simple. We’re not using fancy ingredients here – everything in the recipe can be found in your pantry, making this the best banana bread recipe to make over and over again!

BANANA LOAF BREAD RECIPE INGREDIENTS

As I mentioned, this is a pretty basic banana bread recipe, with the extra flourish of caramelizing the bananas first. But you don’t need any fancy ingredients to do that!

• Coconut oil. Fat helps keep the banana bread moist, and you’ll use it to caramelize the bananas.
• Bananas. Use whatever you have – overripe, underripe, or just perfect. They’ll all work! If you want to use frozen bananas, be sure to drain the thawed bananas before carmelizing.
• Eggs. To help hold everything together.
• Granulated sugar. I used turbinado sugar which is one step better than granulated white sugar. You could also use palm sugar, coconut sugar, or maple sugar.
• Flour. I’ve made this recipe using einkorn all-purpose flour and freshly ground whole-grain einkorn. You can substitute all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, or even a combination of the two.
• Baking soda. To help give the bread some lift and make it light and fluffy.
• Salt. A bit of salt helps bring out the sweetness.
• Walnuts (optional). I like to sprinkle these on top of the banana loaf bread recipe. It looks pretty and they taste delicious!

Psst! Not all salts are made the same! I love Ava Jane’s Kitchen because it doesn’t have microplastics (gross, right?) and it’s SO GOOD! Plus, you can get a free 8oz. bag of sea salt (just pay shipping and handling!).

HOW TO MAKE CARAMELIZED BANANA BREAD RECIPE

Step 1. Preheat the oven to 350F.

Step 2. Melt the coconut oil in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. When it’s melted, cut the bananas into 1” pieces and place them and the sugar in the pan. Turn the heat to low and let the bananas and sugar caramelize for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Step 3. Meanwhile, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.

Step 4. Grease and flour your loaf pan.

Step 5. When the bananas are caramelized, set them aside to cool for about 10 minutes.

Step 6. Combine the cooled bananas and the eggs in a blender and process until smooth. Add this to the dry ingredients and, using a stiff spatula, mix until JUST combined. Do not overmix.

If you really don’t want to dirty your blender, you can mash the bananas in a medium bowl with a fork or potato masher. Personally, I like the super smooth texture of the blended bananas over a mashed banana. Either way you get amazing banana flavor!!

Step 7. Fold in the walnuts if using or pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and sprinkle the walnuts on top.

Step 8. Bake for 42 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Step 9. Cool the banana bread in the pan for 10 minutes, and then cool completely on a wire rack.

Store banana bread at room temperature for 3 days or covered in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

Note: I’ve been known to caramelize the bananas early in the day, and then bake the bread later on. You can totally do that, too! In fact, I bet you could even caramelize the bananas and blend up the eggs a day or two ahead of time, and then bring them to room temperature before baking without affecting the bread at all.

IS THIS RECIPE FOR BANANA LOAF BREAD NUT-FREE?

Good question! My kids always pick the nuts off, so I usually don’t make banana NUT bread… however, I added walnuts on a whim, and OH MY GOODNESS. Game-changer. Somehow, someway, the walnuts become IRRESISTIBLE when combined with the banana bread.

Don’t ask me how, because I don’t know. But I do know that my husband literally could not stop eating this banana bread.

And I also know that my kids pump their fists in the air when I tell them I’m making this recipe for banana loaf bread. So, if that doesn’t say this recipe is a winner, I don’t know what will!

You can fold the nuts into the batter, add them to the top of the bread, or leave them off. It’s up to you! You could also sprinkle chopped pecans, mini chocolate chips, or dried cranberries on top of the banana bread instead. Any way you make it, this easy recipe for banana loaf is delicious!

HAVE MORE BANANAS?

Try these recipes using bananas!

• Healthy Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter and Banana Ice Cream
• 5-Ingredient Banana Bread Muffins
• Banana Nut Muffins with Crumb Topping
• Toasted Coconut and Banana Sourdough Pancakes
• Banana and Chocolate Chip Muffins
• Double Chocolate Banana Bread

BANANA BREAD WITH BANANAS FAQS

MORE YUMMY BAKED GOODS

Have you caught the baking bug? Try these other zucchini, pumpkin, and banana bread recipes!

• Classic Pumpkin Bread Recipe
• Banana Nut Muffins with Crumb Topping
• Death By Chocolate Zucchini Mug Cake
• 5 Ingredient Banana Bread Muffins
• Zucchini Muffins with Apples and Carrots
• Ultimate Guide to Freezing Bread