Almond Banana Bread Recipe (Moist & Crunchy)

This almond banana bread recipe creates a perfect snack or dessert if you love the taste of ripe bananas & the “crunch” of delicious almonds. It is also a beautiful banana bread (in my opinion) because the sliced almonds contrast nicely with the darker banana bread. This banana bread with almonds will really stand out when you place it on the table for a meal.

Almond Banana Bread – Fresh from the Oven

Since this banana bread contains almonds, please do not serve it to anyone with a nut allergy.

This banana bread with almonds recipe should take you roughly 5-10 minutes to prepare. However, be aware that this is an oven-baked almond banana bread recipe. It is not made with a bread machine. You will find a printable and “pin-able” recipe at the bottom of this page.

Recipe Sections

• Ingredients
• Instructions
• Helpful Tips
• Our Newsletter

Key Ingredient – Sliced Almonds

Ingredients

• 1/2 Cup – Vegetable Oil – 115 milliliters – Neutral flavored oil (i.e. canola or corn)
• 2 Large Eggs
• 1 1/2 Cups – Mashed Bananas – 345 grams – Roughly 2 1/2 – 3 large & RIPE bananas
• 1 Teaspoon – Vanilla Extract – 5 milliliters
• 2 Cups – All Purpose Flour – 240 grams
• 1/2 Cup – White Granulated Sugar – 100 grams
• 1/2 Cup – Light Brown Sugar (packed) – 107 grams
• 1 Teaspoon – Baking Soda – 5 milliliters
• 1 Teaspoon – Baking Powder – 5 milliliters
• 1/2 Teaspoon – Salt – 2.5 milliliters
• 1/2 Cup – Unsalted Sliced Almonds – 43 grams – 50% added into batter and 50% sprinkled on top of batter

Servings – Roughly 12 slices

Equipment Needed – Measuring cup & spoons, mixing bowl, long wooden spoon, 9 by 5 bread pan, oven mitts, silicon spatula, cooling rack and an oven.

** Subscribe to Bread Dad’s free recipe newsletter **

Sprinkle 1/4 Cup of Sliced Almonds on Top of Batter

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
• Mash bananas with a fork.
• Lightly beat eggs.
• Stir eggs, mashed bananas, vegetable oil and vanilla extract together in a large bowl.
• In a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients (except sliced almonds) together. This helps to evenly spread out the dry ingredients (i.e. baking soda & sugar). Optional – If you have a whisk, use it to mix the dry ingredients because a whisk is better at breaking up any small flour and brown sugar lumps.
• Pour the mixed dry ingredients (except the sliced almonds) into the bowl containing the wet ingredients. Stir with a large spoon until the batter is fully mixed.
• Add 1/4 cup of sliced almonds to the batter (and save the remaining 1/4 cup of almonds for later). Stir until the almonds are evenly mixed throughout the batter. Optional – For a softer (non-crunchy) interior, you can skip adding the almonds to the batter and only sprinkle them on top. With this recipe variation, you would only be using 1/4 cup of sliced almonds in total.
• Pour the finished batter into a nonstick bread pan. Smooth out the top of the batter within the bread pan.
• Sprinkle the remaining sliced almonds (1/4 cup) on top of the batter within the bread pan.
• Bake in the oven for 65-70 minutes or until golden brown.
• Take out of oven and let the banana bread cool down in the bread pan for 10 minutes. Do not remove the banana bread from the bread pan during this 10 minute cool down period. Use oven mitts as the bread pan will be very hot coming out of the oven.
• After 10 minutes, remove the banana bread from the bread pan. Place the banana bread on a cooling rack in order to completely cool. This cool down may take 1-2 hours. Gently slide a silicon spatula between the banana bread and the bread pan walls if the banana bread is stuck in the pan.
• Please read Bread Dad’s tips section below for extra information on how to make this recipe successfully & to avoid common banana bread problems.

If you liked this recipe, please leave a comment below & give us a 5 star rating. We LOVE to hear from people who have enjoyed our recipes!! Jump to comment section

Other Bread Dad Sections

• Baking Tools – Baking pans, etc.
• Bread Machines – My favorites
• Bread Making Books
• Bread & Dessert Mixes

Sliced Almond Banana Bread – Tons of Almonds Inside & Out

Helpful Tips – Almond Banana Bread Recipe

• The tips are designed to help “novice” banana bread makers. More experienced bakers might know most of these tips.
• Since this recipe contains almonds, please make sure that anyone eating this banana bread does not have a peanut/tree nut allergy. Do not serve to anyone with peanut/tree nut allergies.
• Click on our “print recipe” link if you want to print out this recipe. It includes all of the recipe’s ingredients and instructions. However, the recipe print function does not include our tips section. Please read the tips section in order to avoid common recipe problems.
• This recipe is part of Bread Dad’s series on easy Banana Bread Recipes.
• If you like banana nut breads, you might also want to try our Walnut Banana Bread, Chocolate Chip Walnut Banana Bread, Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Banana Bread, Sour Cream Banana Nut Bread and Pecan Banana Bread recipes.

• Most of my banana nut bread recipes use 1 cup of chopped nuts. However, these recipes use softer nuts (such as walnuts & pecans). In contrast, this banana nut recipe uses only 1/2 cup of sliced almonds as almonds are harder than walnuts & pecans. I find that using 1 cup of sliced almonds in a banana bread can be too overwhelming (with the interior being too hard & crunchy). However, this is just a personal preference.
• Use FRESH almonds. After you have opened a bag of sliced almonds, the almonds can go rancid (bad) quickly due to their high oil content. Once the sliced almonds package has been opened, you should store the sliced almonds in an airtight container in your refrigerator or freezer. Do not use old almonds that have been sitting in your pantry in an already opened bag.
• Optional – As I stated in the instructions, if you want a softer banana bread interior, you can skip adding the sliced almonds to the batter interior and only sprinkle them on top of the batter. Therefore, you would only need 1/4 cup of sliced almonds to make this almond banana bread recipe.
• Use RIPE bananas for the best results!! If you use unripe green or hard yellow bananas, your banana bread will come out bland (with little banana flavor). Unripe bananas have more starch and less sugar than ripe bananas. The natural sweetness of ripe bananas works best when making banana bread recipes. Ripe bananas are soft and have small brown & black spots on the exterior of the yellow banana peel.
• Try to add exactly 1 1/2 cups of mashed bananas when making this almond banana bread recipe. If you don’t have enough mashed bananas to equal the recipe’s called for 1 1/2 cups of mashed bananas, you can add a little milk until the combined mashed bananas & milk equals the required 1 1/2 cups. If you are under the 1 1/2 cups, the banana bread might be too dry. If you are over the 1 1/2 cups then the banana bread might be too moist and come out undercooked (and need a longer baking time).

• You should use a “neutral” flavored vegetable oil (i.e. canola oil or corn oil) so it does not interfere with the banana & almond flavors.
• Optional – If you do not have vegetable oil or want a more buttery flavored banana bread with almonds, you can replace the vegetable oil with unsalted butter (but it should be softened in your microwave before using). I prefer to use vegetable oil for this almond banana bread recipe because it seems to result in a moister almond banana bread (as vegetable oil stays liquid at room temperature).
• Interesting almond facts – According to Wikipedia, the leading producers of almonds are the United States (mainly California), Spain, Iran, and Turkey. Moreover, “California production is marked by a period of intense pollination during late winter by rented commercial bees transported by truck across the United States to almond groves, requiring more than half of the total US honeybee population“. In addition, “A wide range of classic sweets feature almonds as a central ingredient. Marzipan was developed in the Middle Ages. Since the 19th century almonds have been used to make bread, almond butter, cakes and puddings, candied confections, almond cream-filled pastries, nougat, cookies (macaroons, biscotti and qurabiya), and cakes (financiers, Esterházy torte), and other sweets and desserts”.

• As you probably know, this banana bread with almonds is a type of “quick bread”. Quick breads use faster rising baking soda and/or baking powder (versus slower rising bread yeast). This often results in a delicious muffin-like “bread” that rises & bakes more quickly than a sandwich-type bread that uses yeast.
• Use FRESH ingredients (i.e. baking soda and flour) for the best results. For example, if you use stale baking soda and/or baking powder, your banana bread will not rise properly and will be too dense. Baking soda & powder is best if used within 6 months of opening the container. Using baking soda from an open container (that has been deodorizing your refrigerator for months) may lead to subpar results. Old & hard baking soda/powder may lead to rising problems and/or leave small bitter clumps in your banana bread.
• This doesn’t happen often but if the top of the banana bread looks too moist or under cooked, you should try the “toothpick test”. Gently push a wooden toothpick or wooden skewer into the top of the bread and see if any batter sticks to the toothpick. If batter is sticking to the toothpick then it hasn’t completely cooked. Place the bread pan back into the still hot oven for another 3 to 5 minutes. Make sure to wear oven gloves because the bread pan will be very hot. After the 3 to 5 minutes, remove the bread pan and test the banana bread again with a toothpick.

• Do not skip the 10 minute “cool down” (where the almond banana bread stays in the bread pan after being removed from the oven). This helps to finish the baking process and makes the banana bread easier to remove without breaking.
• Optional – To prevent the almond banana bread from sticking to the bottom of the bread pan, you should consider either “greasing” the bottom of the pan with butter or vegetable oil, using a cooking spray, using a nonstick bread pan or lining the interior of the bread pan with baking parchment paper.
• However, don’t grease the bread pan near the top of the pan. There will be nothing for batter to cling to as it rises. This could cause the bread top to collapse as it rises.
• Please use the suggested 9 x 5 bread pan to make this recipe. If you start using different sized pans, there is a greater potential for bread top collapses (potentially less bread pan “wall” support for the quick bread as it rises), different interior batter to exterior bread ratios (thus the need for different baking lengths), smaller pans are more likely to overflow, etc.

• Optional – If you are finding small white clumps of flour in your almond banana bread, you can use a fine mesh strainer or flour sifter to sift your flour (before mixing the flour with the wet ingredients). This “aerates” the flour and breaks up & screens out small flour lumps.
• Make sure that your oven has been completely preheated. If the oven has not been properly preheated before baking, your banana bread with almonds could come out undercooked. Use a portable oven thermometer to check the interior oven temperature.
• If you have a problem with a banana bread recipe, please make sure that you are following the recipe exactly (i.e. using the correct oven temperature), using the correct amounts of ingredients (i.e. don’t eyeball the measurements versus using a measuring cup or accidentally add a tablespoon when a teaspoon is called for), using the correct ingredients (i.e. baking soda/powder versus yeast or all purpose flour versus bread flour), etc. Please don’t “wing” things with recipes.

• My recipes are based on US ingredient measurements (i.e. US cups & tablespoons). However, as a courtesy to our European visitors, I have also included some very ROUGH European equivalents (i.e. grams & milliliters). Since I rarely use European measurements when baking, please let me know in the comment section below if any of the European ingredient measurements need to be changed (i.e. for XYZ ingredient, milliliters are more commonly used versus the grams information listed in the recipe).
• Be safe! Nuts can be a potential choking hazard. Do not serve food with nuts to young children.
• Always wear oven mitts/gloves when dealing with a hot oven and bread pan.
• For more banana bread ideas (i.e. chocolate chip banana bread, vegan banana bread or blueberry banana bread), please visit Bread Dad’s main Banana Bread Recipes section.

If you liked this recipe, please leave a comment below & give us a 5 star rating. We LOVE to hear from people who have enjoyed our recipes!! Jump to comment section

Other Bread Dad Sections

• Baking Tools – Baking pans, etc.
• Bread Machines – My favorites
• Bread Making Books
• Bread & Dessert Mixes
• Ingredients, Sandwich Books, etc.

Almond Banana Bread – Common Questions & Answers

Do almonds and bananas go together?

Yes. The slightly sweet & rich taste of almonds goes well with the sweeter flavor of ripe bananas, especially in banana nut breads. Moreover, the addition of crunchy almonds to banana bread adds a different mouth feel (texture). Therefore, a banana bread with almonds is a delicious combination of flavors and extra crunch.

Reference Sources

• Wikipedia, Almond
• Wikipedia, Banana
• Wikipedia, Banana Bread

Your fantastic comments motivate us to write more easy & delicious recipes. Also beginning bakers learn a ton from your helpful suggestions, tips and amazing recipe variations.

Related Recipes

• Coconut Banana Bread
• No Butter Banana Bread
• No Egg Banana Bread
• Pecan Banana Bread
• Vegan Banana Bread
• Walnut Banana Bread

Please leave a comment & recipe rating in the comment box below