Berry Banana Bread with Blueberries & Cranberries

This berry banana bread recipe combines delicious blueberries & slightly tart cranberries. It is a wonderful combination of flavors… and colors! Berry banana bread is a wonderful breakfast treat or tasty snack.

Berry Banana Bread

Recipe Sections

1. Ingredients
2. Instructions
3. Helpful Tips

Berry banana bread is a fall favorite at my house. Why? Because this is the season when I can usually find fresh blueberries & cranberries at my local supermarket. My family loves the taste of this mixed berry banana bread recipe.

Excluding the baking time, my recipe takes me about 10-15 minutes to prepare and clean up. Please be aware that this is an oven-baked mixed berry banana bread recipe. It is not made with a bread machine.

Optional – Berry Banana Bread With Extra Berries On Top

Ingredients – Berry Banana Bread

• 1 1/2 Cups – Mashed Bananas (ripe) – 345 grams
• 1/2 Cup – Vegetable Oil – 115 milliliters – Use a neutral tasting vegetable oil such as corn or canola. Do not use strongly flavored oil or old oil. For more info, see the tips below.
• 2 – Large Eggs – 114 grams – Use large eggs (not extra large or jumbo eggs).
• 1 Cup – White Granulated Sugar – 200 grams
• 2 Cups – All Purpose Flour – 240 grams
• 1 Teaspoon – Vanilla Extract – 5 milliliters
• 1 Teaspoon – Baking Soda – 5 grams
• 1 Teaspoon – Baking Powder – 4 grams
• 1/2 Teaspoon – Salt – 3 grams
• 1/2 Cup – Fresh Blueberries – 75 grams – See the tips section below for information on the use of fresh versus frozen berries.
• 1/2 Cup – Fresh Cranberries – 55 grams

Servings – Roughly 12 slices

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

Blueberries & Cranberries Being Mixed Into Banana Bread Batter

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (163 C).
• Mash bananas with a fork.
• Lightly beat the eggs.
• Stir bananas, oil, eggs and sugar together in a large mixing bowl.
• Mix in the remaining ingredients (except the blueberries & cranberries). Stir until the batter is fully mixed.
• Add the blueberries & cranberries after the batter has been completely mixed. Make sure the blueberries & cranberries are evenly spread throughout the batter.
• Pour the finished batter into a nonstick bread pan. Smooth out the top of the batter within the bread pan.
• Bake in the oven at 325 F (163 C) for 65-70 minutes. FYI – I usually bake for around 67 minutes because this banana bread can be a little extra moist due to juice “leakage” from the blueberries & cranberries.
• Take pan 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 wire cooling rack in order to completely cool. This cool down may take 1-2 hours.
• Please read the tips section below for extra information on how to make this recipe successfully & to avoid common banana bread problems.

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Helpful Tips

• The tips below are designed to help banana bread “novices” and/or people with limited baking experience.
• Click on this “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 my 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 such as eggless banana bread, chocolate chip banana bread and coconut banana bread.

• Use RIPE bananas for the best taste. Ripe bananas are soft and usually have a yellow peel covered with lots of small black spots. Hard yellow/green(ish) bananas are too starchy and have less banana flavor.
• FYI – A beautiful pure yellow banana (without any spots) is not fully ripe!
• For the most consistent & best results, you should use a measuring cup and measure out EXACTLY 1 1/2 cups of mashed bananas. This will help to prevent your banana bread from being too dry or too wet. Given the variability in banana sizes, you are more likely to have problems if you use 3 random bananas (as you might be adding too much or too little liquid) versus using exactly 1 1/2 cups of mashed bananas.
• Don’t try to sneak in a little extra banana because you have some leftover banana (after mashing your bananas) or you want even more banana flavor in your banana bread. The extra banana will throw off the liquid-to-dry ingredients ratio of the recipe. In turn, you are more likely to get a sunken middle, an underbaked banana bread, a wet & dense banana bread and/or a “weaker” banana bread (more likely to fall apart if it hasn’t been fully baked).

• I prefer to use FRESH blueberries & cranberries because they cause fewer problems in terms of moisture variation. They retain their berry “shell” better than frozen blueberries (so less leakage into the batter). The outside shells of frozen blueberries & cranberries can rupture/crack during the freezing process. These ruptured frozen berries release juice (as they thaw) into the batter during the baking process. This will add unplanned moisture to the batter (and can throw off the liquid-to-dry ingredient ratio). As you probably know, any excess moisture can cause a mixed berry banana bread to be too wet & underbaked.
• Of course, the downside to fresh blueberries & cranberries is that they are more expensive than frozen berries. Moreover, fresh cranberries seem to be harder to find in many supermarkets (outside of the fall season).

• If you use frozen blueberries & cranberries, please make sure NOT to add any extra moisture (e.g. ice) as this will cause your berry banana bread to be undercooked. You should wash & DRY frozen blueberries & cranberries in order to remove any excess ice.
• Also if you use frozen blueberries & cranberries, be prepared to increase the baking time due to the burst berries & juice leakage. Moreover, you should read the “toothpick test” tips further down the page (to make sure the banana bread is fully baked).
• Strange fact – Cranberries weigh less than blueberries (at least when I am weighing them on my kitchen scale). Don’t ask me why – maybe the reason that they float when being harvested from cranberry bogs?
• Optional – You can turn this into a berry banana nut bread by replacing some of the berries with chopped walnuts. So instead of the 1/2 cup of blueberries and 1/2 cup of cranberries (as called for in the recipe), you could use do something like 1/3 cup of blueberries, 1/3 cup of cranberries and 1/3 cup of chopped walnuts (as long as the total of these 3 ingredients adds up to 1 cup).
• Visitors – What extra ingredients do you like to add to your berry banana bread to make it even better? Chocolate chips? Chopped nuts? Spices (e.g. ground cinnamon)? Please leave your tips & recipe variations in the comment section below.

• Optional (for decorative purposes) – You can add a few blueberries & cranberries to the top of the batter before you put the bread pan in the oven. See the picture above for examples of this berry banana bread made with berries on top and another berry banana bread made without berries placed on top.
• Recommended – To prevent these optional “top” berries from breaking, you should use baking parchment paper to gently “lift” the banana bread out of the pan. This allows you to remove the banana bread without having to flip the pan over (the traditional way to remove banana bread from the pan) & potentially crushing the top berries with your oven mitts.
• Be aware that if you add extra berries on top of your berry banana bread, you might be more likely to see a partial sunken area on the top of the banana bread. The weight of the berries can push down on sections of the banana bread crust.

• This mixed berry banana bread recipe works best with harder shelled berries such as blueberries & cranberries.
• Do NOT use soft berries (such as raspberries or blackberries) to make this berry banana bread. Soft berries will rupture during the mixing & baking and this will release extra moisture into the banana bread. Extra (and unplanned for) moisture will throw off the recipe and cause the banana bread to be underbaked and/or sink in the middle.
• Visitors – Are there any other berries that you like to use to make berry banana bread? Any regional berries not commonly found in US supermarkets? Please leave your “berry” thoughts in the comment section below.

• You should use a NEUTRAL flavored vegetable oil (e.g. corn) in order to make this mixed berry banana bread.
• Stronger flavored oils (e.g. peanut oil or olive oil) may NEGATIVELY impact or change the taste of banana bread. You want to use an oil that has very little flavor (so it does not interfere with the banana flavor).
• If you want to use olive oil, I would recommend using a “mild”, “light” or “extra light” olive oil as they would have the least impact on the berry banana bread. Unfortunately, extra virgin and virgin olive oil have stronger flavors and are more likely to negatively impact the taste of your banana bread.
• A number of my visitors like to use avocado oil in order to make their banana breads. Avocado oil has a neutral flavor and is high in monounsaturated fats. However, as you are probably aware, avocado oil is usually significantly more expensive than corn oil.

• Blueberries & cranberries can become VERY sticky during the baking process (especially on the bottom of the bread pan). Make sure to “grease” the bread pan, line the bread pan with baking parchment paper or use a very good nonstick bread pan.
• Baking parchment paper might be the safest way to manage a potential sticky “bottom” to your banana bread. It also helps to avoid potentially smudging the top of the banana bread (no need to flip the bread pan upside down to remove the banana bread).
• FYI – Baking parchment paper is NOT regular paper. It is paper specifically designed to be used for baking in ovens. For more information, please read this Wikipedia page.

• Try to keep your ingredients (e.g. flour & sugar) in airtight food containers in order to extend their shelf life and avoid spoilage (e.g. exposure to moisture from the air, pests and dust).
• Old flour can affect the taste of banana bread. Old flour can spoil and taste bitter, sour, musty, etc. Banana bread made with old flour does not taste great!
• Flour (if stored in an open bag and not in an airtight container) can absorb a lot of moisture from the air. This extra moisture throws off recipes and can lead to banana bread collapses, etc.

• You should also always try to use relatively FRESH baking soda & powder for the best results. For example, 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 with blueberries.
• This recipe uses large eggs (and NOT extra large or jumbo eggs). Large eggs, extra large and jumbo eggs are different USA egg size designations. If you use extra large eggs or jumbo eggs (instead of large eggs), you will be adding too much moisture to the recipe and it could come out underbaked. According to Wikipedia, the weight of a large egg is roughly 57 grams (versus 64 grams for extra large eggs and 71 grams for jumbo eggs).
• Do NOT use an electric mixer to mix your ingredients (when combining the wet and dry ingredients). Stick to an old fashioned wooden spoon. An electric mixer can overmix the ingredients and the banana bread will turn out rubbery & gummy.

• A banana bread can look perfectly normal coming out of the oven. However, during the cool down phase, it sometimes sinks in the middle (because it has been underbaked due to excess moisture from bursting berries, incorrect ingredient measurements, incorrect oven temps, etc.). Therefore, right after removing the banana bread from the oven, I like to conduct a “toothpick test” or test with a digital thermometer. These tests shows me if my banana bread has been baked thoroughly.
• How to do the “toothpick test” – Gently push a long wooden skewer into the top of the bread and see if any batter sticks to the wooden skewer. I prefer to use a long wooden skewer (versus a short toothpick) because this significantly lowers the chances of burning my fingers on the hot baked good!! If the batter is sticking to the wooden skewer then the banana bread isn’t completely cooked. If the banana bread is underbaked, place the bread pan back into the still hot oven for another 2 or 3 minutes. Make sure to wear oven gloves because the bread pan will be very hot. After the 2 or 3 minutes, remove the bread pan and test the blueberry banana nut bread again with a wooden skewer.
• Instead of the “toothpick test”, some people like to use a bread thermometer to test if their banana bread is done. Generally, a “quick bread” (e.g. banana bread or pumpkin bread) is done when the internal temperature reaches 200-205 degrees F. Just make sure to measure the temperature in the center of the loaf for the most accurate reading.
• If you like banana breads made with berries, you should check out Bread Dad’s recipes for Moist Blueberry Banana Bread, Blueberry Banana Nut Bread and Cranberry Banana Bread.

• Make sure that your oven has been completely preheated. This can take 10-20 minutes. If the oven has not been properly preheated, this banana bread could come out undercooked.
• Use an oven thermometer (that hangs inside the oven) to check the interior oven temperature to ensure that the oven has reached the correct temperature.
• You should also use an oven thermometer to check if your “expected” oven temperature is different from reality. Some ovens can be 25-50+ degrees F hotter or colder than the number you set with your oven dial.
• Do you have trouble with your banana bread sinking in the middle? Then check out my Why Does My Banana Bread Sink In The Middle? page for potential reasons for & solutions to “sinking middles”.

• Please use the suggested 9 x 5 inch 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.
• My recipes are based on using a metal bread pan and NOT a glass bread pan. Glass bread pans bake faster than metal bread pans. If you use a glass bread pan for my recipes, you are more likely to overbake your banana bread (e.g. burnt crust).
• My recipes are based on using a regular oven and NOT a convection oven. Convection ovens bake faster than regular ovens and require less baking time than what is stated in my recipes.
• Place your banana bread in the middle of your oven. If you place it on the top or bottom racks, the banana bread may be too near the oven’s heating element and bake faster than expected.
• If you have a problem with a banana bread recipe, please make sure that you are following the recipe exactly (e.g. using the correct oven temperature), using the correct amounts of ingredients (e.g. 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 (e.g. 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 (e.g. US cups & tablespoons). However, as a courtesy to our European visitors, I have also included some very ROUGH European equivalents (e.g. 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 (e.g. for XYZ ingredient, milliliters are more commonly used versus the grams information listed in the recipe).
• Always wear oven mitts/gloves when dealing with a bread machine, hot oven, hot bread pan, etc.
• For more easy banana bread ideas (e.g. walnut, chocolate chip, vegan, coconut, etc.), please visit Bread Dad’s main sections on Banana Bread Recipes.

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Reference Sources

1. Wikipedia, Banana Bread
2. Wikipedia, Blueberry
3. Wikipedia, Cranberry

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