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This moist pumpkin banana bread is the BEST!! It’s filled with pumpkin spice and bananas for a delicious, easy fall recipe.
I love all pumpkin recipes! Pumpkin Bread, Pumpkin Muffin Top, and Pumpkin Bubble Bread help me get my fill, but this pumpkin banana bread is also a must. It is soft, tender & super flavorful!!
The Best of Both Worlds!
I don’t know about you, but when fall rolls around, I start to crave everything pumpkin. It’s also the best time to start baking because temperatures have cooled down and I’m always excited to turn my oven back on.
This fall, I kicked off the pumpkin baking with this pumpkin banana bread—it combines the best of both worlds! It’s the most flavorful Banana Bread, and the moistest & most tender Pumpkin Bread recipe around.
The banana isn’t too potent in this recipe, but it makes this bread very moist and helps enhance the delicious pumpkin spice flavor that’s perfect for fall.
A Simple Quick Bread
Pumpkin and banana bread is simple and so delicious!
PREP. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a 9×5 inch loaf pan.
DRY INGREDIENTS. In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder & salt.
WET INGREDIENTS. In a large bowl whisk together the oil, sugars, eggs & vanilla extract until no lumps remain.
COMBINE. Stir in the mashed bananas & 1 cup of pumpkin puree. Carefully stir the flour mixture into the wet ingredients using a rubber spatula or wooden spoon. Then stir in the chopped nuts.
BAKE. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 50-60 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean and the top feels firm to the touch. The loaf shouldn’t wobble if you nudge the pan.
Baking alternatives
Banana bread with pumpkin can be made into mini loaves or muffins!
Mini loaves. Make 2-3 mini loaves. (5 ¾ x 3 x 2-in. pan) Bake for 25-30 minutes.
Muffins. Bake batter into muffins. Bake 18-20 minutes.
French Toast. Another delicious way to eat this bread is to make it into French Toast. Since this bread is quite moist you will want to let it dry out before making the delicious breakfast dish.
Variations
Want to change it up? Here are a few suggestions to enhance your pumpkin spice banana bread.
- Use Pumpkin Pie Spice or a substitute.
- Add ½ cup of chopped walnuts for a little texture.
- Add ½ cup mini chocolate chips.
- Toss in dried cranberries or chopped dried apricots.
Ingredient Info
Make the best pumpkin banana bread recipe with these simple ingredient tips and methods.
Room temperature eggs. Eggs at room temperature will mix better with the other ingredients. To quickly bring them to room temperature, place them into a bowl of warm water.
Ripen bananas quickly. This method works for any banana that no longer has any green in the peel. Preheat the oven to 300°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and lay out as many bananas as you wish. Bake for 30-40 minutes and until the peel is completely black and soft.
Allow them to cool before slicing open the peels and mashing the ripened bananas to be used in the recipe. The bananas should be older and soft with a lot of brown spots.
Pumpkin puree. A can of pumpkin is typically 15 oz and contains slightly under 2 cups. This recipe only requires 1 cup of puree. Place the leftover pumpkin puree into a freezer Ziploc and keep it in the freezer for 4-6 months. Thaw and use it in other recipes.
Recipe tips
These tips will ensure the best texture and cook on your easy pumpkin banana bread.
Muffin method. Quick bread utilizes the muffin method; the dry ingredients are mixed together before being added to the wet ingredients. This helps ensure all the ingredients are evenly mixed throughout preventing overmixing.
Prevent over-browning. Quick bread recipes like this one need to bake for a long time. To prevent the sides of the loaf from getting too brown, I recommend using a light-colored loaf pan.
If you notice that the top of the bread is getting too brown but the middle isn’t baked through yet, tent a piece of aluminum foil and place it over top of the loaf while it’s still baking.
Storing + Freezing
STORE at room temperature for a day or two.
FREEZE. Wrap banana pumpkin bread and freeze it for up to 3 months.
When you’re ready to have more, let it thaw and heat it up. Top it off with some butter or Cinnamon Butter and you’re set!!
SERVE. This bread is absolutely delicious on its own. Eat it warm, at room temperature, or even chilled from the freezer. Enhance the flavor by spreading a warm slice with butter, adding a layer of peanut butter, or drizzling it with honey. You can toast it as well.
Recipe FAQ
Having a split top is very common when baking quick bread. It happens when the crust forms before the middle of the bread is done expanding.
One of the common reasons for wet bread is that the bread was not baked for long enough. Overfilling your bread pan or using a pan that is too small can result in underbaked bread. Another reason is that too much pumpkin puree or mashed bananas were added.
A medium-sized banana is about 4 ounces and measures between 7-8 inches. Be sure that the bananas are very ripe when using them in this pumpkin banana bread recipe.
For More Pumpkin Breads, Try:
- Pumpkin Streusel Bread
- Pumpkin Bubble Bread
- Pumpkin Bread
- Pumpkin Butterscotch Muffins
- Pumpkin Beignets
Pumpkin Banana Bread Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice*
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 medium bananas mashed
- 1 cup canned pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a 9×5 inch loaf pan.
- In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder & salt.
- In a large bowl whisk together the oil, sugars, eggs & vanilla extract until no lumps remain.
- Stir in the mashed bananas & pumpkin puree.
- Carefully stir the flour mixture into the wet ingredients using a rubber spatula or wooden spoon. Then stir in the chopped nuts.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 50-60 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean and the top feels firm to the touch. The loaf shouldn't wobble if you nudge the pan.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Can these be made into muffins ?
Absolutely! Divide the batter evenly into muffin tins, filling them about 2/3-3/4 of the way full. Bake for about 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Already giving it 5 stars but it’s still in the oven. I just know it’ll be good. Batter was the perfect consistency. I used avocado oil instead of vegetable and reduced the amount of white sugar. I also used about 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips because my family really enjoys chocolate chips in banana and/or pumpkin bread. Can’t wait until it comes out of the oven!
Thanks for giving the recipe a try and for the amazing vote of confidence!
I don’t use sugar can I use maple syrup or honey in place of white and brown sugar ?
Sugar adds both sweetness and structure; substituting it with liquid sweeteners like honey or maple syrup would require ingredient adjustments. As I haven’t tested these changes, I can’t guarantee results for this recipe.
Can I make this in myffins
Love this recipe, the only change I made is replace the oil with melted unsalted butter. It looks turned out so good.
Wow! What an amazing recipe, thank you!
This recipe is really moist and flavorful! I gave it 4 starts only because it didn’t rise very much. Someone else mentioned that their’s didn’t rise at all so I added an additional 1/2 tsp baking powder. Also, I used a mixture of MCT, Canola, and Avocado oils.
For everything else I followed the specific directions. I will make it again!
Thanks for the feedback and giving the recipe a try!
I used recipe as written except for scanting the sugar about 1/4 cup, had to use dark brown instead of light brown sugar as that was all I had. Used homemade, thick pumpkin puree, King Arthur flour, butter for oil, and added the walnuts. All ingredients were fresh as fresh could be, room temp. Had to add 2 TBSP buttermilk (not room temp) as this was more dough than batter, almost too dense to stir. It did not rise, not even a millimeter! Even my baking powder was purchased this week. ARE YOU CERTAIN it isn’t 1 tsp baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon baking soda?
However the flavor and texture has already received husband’s seal of approval. (bit sweet for me) It isn’t dry, crumbly, dense, gummy, wet or any of those things. I did have to cook it 10 extra minutes. He’s spreading it with homemade maple walnut whipped cream cheese.
I used the exact ingredients in the recipe, but in the first batch, I put the batter in a smaller cake pan, and it rose above the pan. I was afraid it was going to spill out into the stove but it didn’t. In the second and third batches I took some from both of the batches and made a tray of cupcakes. It may be an issue with the brand of flour or something like that.
It’s my favorite recipe now, delicious! I used 1 stick butter instead of 1/2 cup vegetable oil. I also used 1cup brown sugar instead of 1/2 cup sugar. The bread turn out soft and moist. It was the first time I used pumpkin pure and highly recommend to follow this recipe. Thanks for sharing it 🙂