Pumpkin Banana Bread

This pumpkin banana bread is the BEST!! It’s super moist, filled with pumpkin spice and bananas and is 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.

How to make pumpkin Banana bread

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 & 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

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 food. 

Variations

Want to change it up? Here are a few suggestions:

• Use pumpkin pie spice if you have it on hand – or check out the notes section of the recipe for a substitute.
• Add a ½ cup chopped walnuts for a little texture. Skip if nuts aren’t really your thing.
• Substitute nuts for chocolate chips for an extra decadent pumpkin loaf.
• Add ½ cup mini chocolate chips.
• Toss in dried cranberries or chopped dried apricots.

Ingredient Info

Room temperature eggs. Eggs at room temperature will mix better into the other ingredients. If you forgot to pull them out of the fridge beforehand you can 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. Note that the recipe calls for 1 CUP not 1 can of pumpkin puree. Be sure that you do not accidentally use canned pumpkin. 

Recipe tips

Muffin Method: Quick breads utilize the muffin method, which just means the dry ingredients are mixed together before being added to the wet ingredients. This helps ensure all the ingredients are evenly mixed throughout keeping you from overmixing the batter.

Prevent over browning. The one thing with quick bread recipes like this one is that they 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, you can 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, then wrap it up and FREEZE for up to 3 months!

When you’re ready to have some more, let it thaw and heat it up. Top it off with some butter or cinnamon butter and you’re set!!

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, add a layer of peanut butter, or drizzle it with honey. You can toast it as well.

For More Quick Breads, try:

• Amish Friendship Bread
• Lemon Poppy Seed Bread
• Blueberry Bread
• Snickerdoodle Bread
• Lemon Zucchini Bread
• Pumpkin Streusel Bread
• Cinnamon Quick Bread