Cranberry Banana Nut Bread

This cranberry banana nut bread recipe is bursting with flavor because it combines ripe bananas, tart cranberries and chopped walnuts. The chopped nuts are also an easy way to add some “crunch” to a banana bread.

Recipe Sections

1. Ingredients
2. Instructions
3. Helpful Tips

This cranberry banana nut bread contains walnuts and should not be served to anyone with a nut allergy. Always use caution when serving any type of banana nut bread.

Cranberry Banana Nut Bread – Straight from Oven

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 Cups – Mashed Bananas (ripe) – 345 grams
• 8 Tablespoons – Unsalted Butter (sliced & softened) – 115 grams – Or you can use 1/2 cup of a neutral flavored vegetable oil (such as corn oil). FYI – Oil = moister tasting and butter = more flavor.
• 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
• 3/4 Cup – Cranberries (frozen or fresh) – 75 grams
• 1/2 Cup – Chopped Walnuts – 58 grams – You can also use chopped pecans

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.

Cranberries and Chopped Walnuts Being Mixed Into Batter

Batter for Cranberry Banana Nut Bread – Before Baking

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (163 degrees C).
• Mash bananas with a fork.
• If you use butter (instead of vegetable oil), soften the butter in a microwave. FYI – I like to partially melt the butter for better mixability. However, do not fully melt the butter (turn it completely into a liquid). See the tips section below.
• Stir bananas, butter (or oil), eggs and sugar together. Stir until completely mixed.
• Mix in remaining ingredients (except the cranberries and chopped walnuts). Stir until the batter is fully mixed.
• Gently stir the cranberries and chopped walnuts into the batter.
• Pour the finished batter into a nonstick metal bread pan. Smooth out the top of the batter within the bread pan. FYI – I also like to use baking parchment paper to line my pan because cranberries often stick to the bottom of the pan after baking. See tips section below for more information.
• Bake in the oven for 65-70 minutes at 325 F (163 C).
• Take out of 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 to 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 blueberry banana bread, chocolate chip banana bread and eggless banana bread.

• You can use fresh or frozen cranberries to make this cranberry banana nut bread recipe. However, fresh cranberries can be harder to find in the supermarket (versus frozen cranberries).
• Frozen cranberries do not have to be thawed before baking the banana bread. They can be added directly to the banana bread batter and will thaw during the baking process.
• However, you need to make sure that you remove any ice attached to the frozen cranberries (or you will be adding too much liquid to the recipe and the banana bread could come out undercooked). I like to wash off the ice off of the frozen cranberries & then dry the frozen cranberries (in order to make sure there is no extra moisture).
• Do not chop up the cranberries. Chopped up cranberries will release excess & unplanned juice into the batter and this will cause your banana bread to be too wet. Overly wet banana breads will come out underbaked and/or suffer from a middle that collapses.
• You can also use dried cranberries if you want a sweeter cranberry banana nut bread. However, your cranberry banana bread might taste a little drier because it will lack the natural “juice” contained in fresh or frozen cranberries.
• If you use dried cranberries (with added sugar), you should reduce the sugar in the recipe to 3/4 cup of white granulated sugar (versus the 1 cup called for in the recipe).
• Optional – For a more “cranberry looking” top to your banana bread, you can add a few small cranberries on top of the batter before you place the pan in the oven.
• However, you should use small light weight cranberries so the middle is less likely to sink in the middle. Also be aware that these cranberries on the top of the banana bread often burst during the baking process (so some will look more like raisins than full berries). See my picture at the top of the page.
• Visitors – Do you prefer to use fresh cranberries, frozen cranberries or dried cranberries to make your cranberry banana nut bread? Post your cranberry “preferences” & reasons why in the comment section below.

• 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.
• I like to break my chopped walnuts into smaller bits. This helps the walnuts to spread out better in the cranberry banana nut bread. Smaller walnuts “float” better in the batter (versus large chunks which can sink). Your banana bread slices will also have more crunchy bits (versus the occasional large walnut chunk). Moreover, small pieces make your banana bread easier to slice (as large walnut chunks can disrupt the cutting & cause tears in the slices).
• If you run out of walnuts (or you are tired of walnut-based recipes), you can use chopped pecans as a nice substitute.
• 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 for weeks/months in an open bag.
• Also check the expiration date on sealed (unopened) walnut packages in order to make sure that they are still good.
• Optional – Sprinkle extra chopped walnuts on top of the batter (after the batter has been poured into the bread pan) if you want a more “walnutty” top for your walnut banana bread. For the best results, break the chopped walnuts into tiny pieces. This reduces the chances of a sunken middle in the banana bread (smaller bits = less weight pressing down on the top of the banana bread).
• Visitors – Do you only use chopped walnuts to make cranberry banana nut bread? Or do you prefer to use another type of nut? Chopped pecans? Sliced almonds? Chopped cashews? Chopped peanuts? A combination of different chopped nuts? Please post your nut ideas & variations in the comment section below.

• Use RIPE bananas for the best taste. Ripe bananas are soft and the yellow peel is covered with many small black spots. Hard yellow/green(ish) bananas are too starchy and have much less banana flavor.
• FYI – A banana with picture perfect yellow peel is not fully ripe yet!
• Use 1 1/2 cups of mashed bananas for the best & most consistent results. This will help to prevent the banana bread from being too dry or too wet. Measure your mashed bananas with a measuring cup or kitchen scale in order to get the most consistent results (as bananas vary in size). Using 3 or 4 “bananas” (versus using a measuring cup or metric measurements) leads to more moisture variability which can throw off a recipe.
• 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, etc.

• I like to slice the butter into “chunks” (so the butter will soften more easily). I then partially melt the butter in my microwave (so it is mainly softened butter chunks with some melted butter in the bowl). This helps to improve the ease of mixing the batter.
• However, do NOT use fully melted & very hot butter. Very hot liquid butter can partially cook the eggs! If you accidentally completely liquify the butter, place the bowl of butter on your counter to cool down before adding the butter to the batter.
• Optional – You can replace the butter in the recipe with a NEUTRAL-flavored vegetable oil such as corn oil.
• The use of vegetable creates a slightly moister tasting banana bread whereas butter creates a more flavorful (but slightly drier tasting) banana bread. Why? Because at normal room temps, vegetable oil is a liquid and butter is usually a solid.
• However, I would recommend against using strong-tasting oils (such as extra virgin olive oil and peanut oil) because they can negatively impact the flavor of the banana bread.
• If you want to use olive oil, I would recommend using a “mild” or “light” olive oil as it would have the least impact on the taste of the cranberry banana bread. Unfortunately, extra virgin olive oil has a stronger flavor and is 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.
• The vegetable oil option is useful for people who want to make a dairy-free cranberry banana bread.
• FYI – Some of my visitors like to make a 50/50 blend of butter and vegetable oil in order to get the best of both worlds (more flavor & moistness).
• Visitors – Do you prefer to use butter or vegetable oil when making a cranberry banana bread? Please leave your thoughts in the comment section below.

• Use FRESH ingredients (e.g. flour) for the best results. Ingredients that have been sitting in the pantry for months can become stale or pick up weird smells & flavors. T
• Try to keep your ingredients (e.g. flour) in airtight food containers in order to extend their shelf life.
• 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.
• This recipe uses all purpose flour. Do not use bread flour to make banana breads or they are more likely to turn out dense and/or gummy. Banana bread recipes work best with all purpose flour.
• If you like baked goods with cranberries, check out my recipes for Cranberry Orange Muffins, Cranberry Banana Muffins and Cranberry Bread.
• Or if you like baked goods made with nuts, you might like Bread Dad’s recipes for Banana Nut Bread, Banana Nut Muffins and Pecan Banana Bread.
• If you want to make a similar “berry” banana bread (with blueberries instead of cranberries), you should try my recipe for Blueberry Banana Nut Bread.

• 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.
• To prevent your banana bread from sticking to the bottom of the bread pan (especially if you are using “sticky” ingredients such as cranberries), 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.
• Baking parchment is probably the safest method for preventing sticking problems. It also allows you to lift the banana bread out of the pan without disturbing the top of the banana bread… in case you have added any special ingredients (such as chopped nuts or chocolate chips) to the top of the banana bread.
• FYI – Baking parchment paper is NOT regular paper. It is a specialty paper designed for use with baking.

• 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 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 cranberry banana bread again with a tooth pick.
• 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.
• Make sure that your oven has been completely preheated. If the oven has not been properly preheated, this banana bread could come out undercooked. I like to use a hanging oven thermometer to check my oven’s internal temperature.
• It takes roughly 10-20 minutes to preheat most ovens with variability due to the size of the oven, planned baking temperature (hotter takes longer), etc.
• A hanging oven thermometer is also useful to see if the internal temperature of your oven matches the temperature you set on your oven dial. Some ovens (especially older ovens) have dials that can be off by 25-50 degrees F versus the temperature “reality” inside the oven. Temperature differences (versus what is called for in a recipe) can lead to baked goods being over or underbaked.
• Problem with a sunken or collapsed middle in your banana bread? Then check out my Why Does My Banana Bread Sink In The Middle? page for reasons & potential solutions.

• Please use the suggested 9 x 5 inch metal 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 time 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).
• 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.
• For long-term storage of banana bread, you should freeze them. For more information, please read Bread Dad’s page on How To Freeze Banana Bread.

• 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.
• 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 cranberries.
• 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 hot ovens, baking trays, etc.
• For more easy recipes (e.g. blueberry banana bread or chocolate chip banana bread), please visit Bread Dad’s main section on Banana Bread Recipes.

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Reference Sources

1. Wikipedia, Banana
2. Wikipedia, Banana Bread
3. Wikipedia, Cranberry
4. Wikipedia, Quick Bread
5. Wikipedia, Walnut

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