Blueberry Banana Nut Bread

This blueberry banana nut bread recipe is bursting with flavor because it combines ripe bananas, delicious blueberries and chopped walnuts. The chopped nuts also add a nice “crunch” to this banana bread. I love banana breads because they are usually simple & quick to make. Less work makes Bread Dad happy!

Recipe Sections

1. Ingredients
2. Instructions
3. Helpful Tips

Since this banana bread contains walnuts, please do not serve it to anyone with a nut allergy. Always use caution when serving any type of banana nut bread.

Slices Of Blueberry Banana Nut Bread

My recipe takes me about 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.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 Cups – Mashed Bananas – 345 grams – Use RIPE bananas for the best results.
• 1/3 Cup – Vegetable Oil – 79 milliliters – Use a neutral tasting vegetable oil such as corn or canola
• 2 – Large Eggs – 114 grams – 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 – Chopped Walnuts – 58 grams – You can also use chopped pecans as a substitute.
• 1 Cup – Blueberries – 170 grams – For the best/most consistent results, you should use fresh blueberries (instead of frozen blueberries). See the tips section below for reasons why.

Servings – Roughly 12 slices

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

Fresh Blueberries & Chopped Walnuts Being Mixed Into Batter

Banana Bread Batter – Just Before Being Placed In Oven

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
• Mash bananas with a fork.
• Stir bananas, oil, eggs & sugar together in a large mixing bowl. Mix until fully blended.
• Mix in the remaining ingredients (except the blueberries & chopped walnuts). Stir until the batter is fully mixed.
• After mixing the batter, stir in the blueberries and chopped walnuts. Make sure the blueberries & nuts 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.
• Optional (for decorative purposes) – Sprinkle some blueberries & chopped walnuts on top of the batter before placing the pan into the oven.
• Bake in the oven for 67-70 minutes at 325 degrees F or until golden brown.
• Take out of the oven and let the banana bread cool down in the bread pan for 10 minutes. Use oven mitts. Do not remove the banana bread from the bread pan during this 10 minute cool down period.
• 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.
• 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 my “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 such as no butter banana bread, cranberry banana bread, chocolate chip banana bread and many others.

• This blueberry banana nut bread is a little different than my Moist Blueberry Banana Bread. Since this banana bread has to “carry” the weight of the blueberries AND extra chopped nuts, I wanted the banana bread batter to be a little more solid. Therefore, I used a little less oil in this recipe. It also needs to be baked for a couple of minutes more.
• Optional – As I stated above, if you want a more interesting top to your blueberry banana nut bread, you can sprinkle some blueberries & chopped walnuts on top of the batter before placing the pan into the oven. See my pictures near the top of the page. However, you should use baking parchment paper to line your bread pan so you can gently lift the banana bread from the pan. This prevents the blueberries on top of the banana bread from being crushed if you use the traditional “flip over the pan” method to remove the banana bread from the bread pan.

• 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.
• For the 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. Recipes that say to use 3 or 4 “bananas” are more inconsistent because bananas vary in size (and this means that the moisture content of the banana bread can vary greatly). Of course, as you know, moisture variations can lead to a banana bread being too dry or too wet.

• I prefer to use FRESH blueberries 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 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 the banana bread to be too wet & underbaked.
• However, the downside to fresh blueberries is that they are more expensive than frozen blueberries.
• If you use frozen blueberries, please make sure NOT to add any extra moisture (e.g. ice) as this will cause your banana bread to be undercooked. You should wash & DRY frozen blueberries in order to remove any excess ice.
• Also if you use frozen blueberries, 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).

• Use FRESH walnuts. After you have opened a bag of chopped walnuts, the walnuts can go rancid (bad) quickly due to their high oil content. Once the walnut package has been opened, you should store the chopped walnuts in an airtight container in your refrigerator or freezer. Do not use old walnuts that have been sitting in your pantry in an already opened bag. Also check the expiration date on sealed (unopened) walnut packages in order to make sure that they are still good.
• If you run out of walnuts (or you are tired of walnut-based recipes), you can use chopped pecans as a nice substitute.
• You can also make this banana bread even more unique by using a 50/50 mix of blueberries & cranberries. If you want to see what a banana bread with blueberries & cranberries looks like, you should check out my Berry Banana Bread Recipe.
• Visitors – What extra ingredients do you like to add to your blueberry banana nut bread to make it even more special or unique? Chocolate chips? Mixing in different berries (e.g. a combination of blueberries & cranberries)? Different nuts? Extra spices (e.g. ground cinnamon)? Please leave your tips & recipe variations in the comment section below.

• Blueberries 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.

• Use FRESH ingredients (e.g. flour) for the best results. For example, if you use old flour, your banana bread can taste strange due to the flour going rancid/bad.
• Old flour can also absorb moisture from the air (if the flour is not stored in an airtight container). This extra moisture can throw off recipes and cause the banana bread to be soggy or underbaked.
• 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.
• 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).
• 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.

• Blueberries are about 85% liquid. So bursting/leaking blueberries can throw off the liquid-to-dry ingredient ratio of recipes (by adding excess moisture to the batter). That means that you need to test more when baking your blueberry banana bread (see below).
• 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”. This test 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 with nuts, you should also check out my recipes for Easy Banana Nut Bread, Almond Banana Bread and Pecan Banana Bread.

• Make sure that your oven has been completely preheated. This can take 15-20+ 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.
• If you like similar “harvest” type dessert/snack recipes, you might like to try Bread Dad’s recipes for Sweet Potato Bread, Pumpkin Pie Bread, Cranberry Banana Bread, etc.

• 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.

• 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”.
• 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. cranberry, chocolate chip, vegan, oatmeal, 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, Walnut

Related Recipes

1. Easy Banana Nut Bread – Popular!
2. Almond Banana Bread
3. Banana Bread with Oil
4. Cranberry Banana Bread
5. Mini Banana Nut Bread
6. Pecan Banana Bread

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