This easy blueberry banana bread recipe is simple to make and tastes great! It is stuffed with juicy blueberries & ripe bananas. It is perfect as a tasty breakfast snack or a wonderful dessert. This recipe also looks great with the blueberries adding natural “coloring” to the banana bread.
Blueberry Banana Bread – Stuffed with Blueberries!
Our recipe should take you only 10-15 minutes to prepare and clean up. Please be aware that this is an oven-baked 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.
Ingredients – Easy Blueberry Banana Bread Recipe
- 8 Tablespoons – Unsalted Butter (softened) – 115 grams
- 2 – Large Eggs
- 3 – Bananas (ripe & large sized) – 345 grams – This should equal 1 1/2 cups of mashed bananas
- 2 Cups – Flour (all purpose flour) – 240 grams
- 1 Cup – White Granulated Sugar – 200 grams
- 1 Cup – Blueberries (frozen or fresh) – 170 grams
- 1 Teaspoon – Vanilla Extract – 5 milliliters
- 1 Teaspoon – Baking Soda – 5 milliliters
- 1 Teaspoon – Baking Powder (aluminum free) – 5 milliliters
- 1/2 Teaspoon – Salt – 2.5 milliliters
Servings – Roughly 12 slices
Equipment – Measuring cup & spoons, mixing bowl, long wooden spoon, 9 by 5 bread pan, oven mitts, silicon spatula, cooling rack and an oven.
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Blueberry Banana Bread – Straight from the Oven
Instructions – Easy Blueberry Banana Bread Recipe – 2 lb Loaf
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
- Mash bananas with a fork.
- Soften butter in a microwave.
- Stir eggs, bananas and butter together.
- Mix in remaining ingredients (except the blueberries). Stir until the batter is fully mixed.
- Add the blueberries after the batter has been completely mixed. Make sure the blueberries are evenly spread throughout the batter.
- Pour finished batter into a nonstick bread pan. Smooth out the top of the batter within the bread pan.
- Optional (for decorative purposes) – Sprinkle some blueberries on top of the batter before placing into the oven.
- 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 the tips section below for extra information on how to make this recipe successfully & to avoid common banana bread problems.
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Tips – Easy Blueberry Banana Bread Recipe
- The tips below are designed to help banana bread “novices” and/or people with limited baking experience.
- 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 our series on easy Banana Bread Recipes.
- You can use fresh or frozen blueberries for this recipe. For the recipe & pictures above, I used fresh blueberries. However, you can easily store frozen blueberries in your freezer for at least several months. Therefore, frozen blueberries reduce the need to run to the supermarket when you have your next fantastic blueberry baking idea!
- If you use frozen blueberries, please make sure not to add any extra moisture (i.e. ice) as this will cause your banana bread to be undercooked. You should wash & DRY frozen blueberries in order to remove any excess ice.
- I usually buy several packages of blueberries when they are on sale at the supermarket. I will use one to make a delicious blueberry “something” and freeze the rest for future culinary creations. Saves me money and future trips to the supermarket.
- Try to use organic blueberries if you can. Organic fruit & vegetables are usually much less exposed to potentially harmful pesticides.
- Blueberries have lots of antioxidants, manganese, vitamin C and vitamin K. So beyond tasting wonderful, this banana bread also contains the nutritional benefits of blueberries.
- 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. Unfortunately, a perfectly yellow banana is not the best for making a banana bread. It has less banana flavor than a ripe banana.
- Make sure to use 3 large bananas (not 3 medium bananas). Otherwise, your banana bread with blueberries might turn out to be a little dry.
- In case, you like to use cups versus banana “sizes”… 3 medium-sized bananas equal roughly 1 to 1 1/4 cups of mashed bananas (not sliced bananas). 3 large-sized bananas equal roughly 1 1/3 to 1 2/3 cups of mashed bananas (not sliced bananas). Of course, banana sizes can vary greatly… and my version of medium and large-sized bananas may differ from yours!
- To be exact, you should use a measuring cup and measure out 1 1/2 cups of mashed bananas. This will help to prevent your banana bread from being too dry or too wet.
- When making this recipe, many international bakers prefer to use a kitchen scale versus using measuring cups. A kitchen scale provides greater accuracy because the amount of ingredients in a measuring cup can vary somewhat (i.e. a cup of fluffed flour vs a cup of densely packed flour). Therefore, this recipe also includes gram/milliliter measurements.
- Optional – If you want to add some variety to your blueberry banana bread, you can try making a banana bread based on a 50/50 mix of blueberries & fresh/frozen cranberries (so 1/2 cup of blueberries & 1/2 cup of cranberries). You can also try blueberry mixes with raisins, chopped walnuts, etc.
- Other recipe variations – You can make a blueberry chocolate chip banana bread by removing 1/2 cup of blueberries and adding 1/2 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips. Or you can make a blueberry banana nut bread by removing 1/2 cup of blueberries and adding 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts.
- Make sure to grease the bread pan, line the bread pan with baking parchment paper or use a very good nonstick bread pan. The blueberries can become very sticky during the baking process (especially on the bottom of the bread pan). Baking parchment paper might be the safest way to manage a potential sticky “bottom” to your banana bread.
- This doesn’t happen often but if the top of the banana bread looks too moist or undercooked, you should try the “toothpick test”. Gently push a toothpick or long 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 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 bread again with a tooth pick.
- If you would like to explore other fruit-filled “quick breads” (similar to banana bread), you should also look at our recipes for Pineapple Bread (made with crushed pineapples), Cranberry Bread (made with fresh cranberries) and Strawberry Bread (with homemade whipped cream).
- Or if you have kids, you might also like to try our Blueberry Quick Bread (with homemade whipped cream) and Easy Blueberry Banana Muffins recipes.
- 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.
- In addition, you should 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.
- 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 – Use an oven thermometer as your expected oven temperature may be different than reality. Some ovens can be 25-50+ degrees F hotter or colder than the number you set with your oven dial. An oven thermometer (which usually costs less than $10) is an easy way to measure the actual temperature inside your oven.
- If you do not have aluminum free baking powder, “regular” baking powder should work fine (as long as it is relatively fresh). However, I always prefer to use aluminum free food ingredients when making any type of food for my family.
- 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).
- Always wear oven mitts/gloves when dealing with a bread machine, hot oven, hot bread pan, etc.
- For more easy banana bread ideas (i.e. cranberry, chocolate chip, vegan, oatmeal, etc.), please visit Bread Dad’s main sections on Banana Bread Recipes and Quick Bread Recipes.
If you liked this recipe, please leave a comment below & give us a 5 star rating. It is ALWAYS great to hear from someone who has enjoyed our recipes!! Jump to comment section
More Bread Dad Recipes
- Bread Machine Recipes
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- Banana Bread Recipes
- Quick Bread Recipes – Pumpkin bread, cranberry bread, etc.
- Cookie Recipes
Questions – Banana Bread with Blueberries
Are frozen blueberries just as good as fresh?
Frozen blueberries often have more nutrients than store “fresh” blueberries. Store blueberries gradually lose quality & nutrients due to the time spent in shipping and sitting on the shelf in the store. In contrast, frozen blueberries have their nutrients levels “frozen” in place. However, for the freshest blueberries with the most nutrients, you should try growing your own!
What are some blueberry benefits?
Blueberries benefits include vitamin C, fiber, antioxidants… and a great taste! Blueberries are also useful because they add a different color & texture to many food recipes. For more on blueberries & antioxidants, you should read the WebMD article Antioxidants in Fruit.
How many calories are in a handful of blueberries?
According to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), a cup of raw blueberries has roughly 84 calories. Therefore, a handful of blueberries (or roughly half a cup of raw blueberries) would have approximately 42 calories. However, be aware that dried blueberries can have significantly more calories per cup than raw blueberries. Dried blueberries have more concentrated natural sugars per ounce because they have much less water than raw blueberries.
Is blueberry banana bread healthy?
Blueberries are considered healthy by many medical authorities because they are packed with antioxidants. However, blueberry banana bread is probably less healthy versus just eating the blueberries by themselves. While it is delicious and full of blueberries, blueberry banana bread also contains a fair amount of sugar and butter.
Reference Sources
- Wikipedia, Banana Bread
- Wikipedia, Blueberry
- Wikipedia, Muffin
Easy Blueberry Banana Bread Recipe
Ingredients
- 8 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter (softened) – 115 grams
- 2 Eggs (large)
- 3 Bananas (ripe & large sized) – 345 grams – Use 1 1/2 cups of mashed bananas to be exact.
- 2 Cups Flour (all purpose flour) – 240 grams
- 1 Cup White Granulated Sugar – 200 grams
- 1 Cup Blueberries (frozen or fresh) – 170 grams
- 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract – 5 milliliters
- 1 Teaspoon Baking Soda – 5 milliliters
- 1 Teaspoon Baking Powder (aluminum free) – 5 milliliters
- 1/2 Teaspoon Salt – 2.5 milliliters
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
- Mash bananas with a fork.
- Soften butter in a microwave.
- Stir eggs, bananas and butter together.
- Mix in remaining ingredients (except the blueberries). Stir until the batter is fully mixed.
- Add the blueberries after the batter has been completely mixed. Make sure the blueberries are evenly spread throughout the batter.
- Pour finished batter into a nonstick bread pan. Smooth out the top of the batter within the bread pan.
- Optional (for decorative purposes) – Sprinkle some blueberries on top of the batter before placing into the oven.
- 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.
Notes
Nutrition
If you liked this recipe, please leave a comment below & give us a 5 star rating. Your comments help us to improve & clarify our recipe instructions. Moreover, it is ALWAYS great to hear from someone who has enjoyed our recipes!!!
Related Recipes
- Blueberry Quick Bread
- Bread Machine Banana Bread
- Cranberry Banana Bread
- Cranberry Bread with Dried Cranberries
- Pumpkin Cranberry Bread
- Vegan Banana Bread
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