This easy banana nut bread recipe is nutty & delicious! Walnut banana bread is a classic treat and great for breakfast or a snack. This recipe is easy to make and only uses a few simple ingredients. Of course, the key ingredients are RIPE bananas and chopped walnuts. If you have a nut-loving family, they will really enjoy this walnut banana bread. In addition, beyond their great taste, people like to eat walnuts due to their high omega-3 content.
Easy Banana Nut Bread – Straight from the Oven
However, since this banana bread contains walnuts, please do not serve it to anyone with a nut allergy. Also because this banana bread contains chopped nuts, it may be a choking hazard to very young children. Always use caution when serving any type of banana nut bread!
Key Ingredients – Chopped Walnuts & Ripe Bananas
This walnut banana bread 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. For more banana bread ideas, please visit our main section on Banana Bread Variations. Bread Dad also has a printable and “pin-able” recipe at the bottom of this page. If you liked this recipe, we hope you will leave a comment below and give us a 5 star rating. We would love to hear from you!
Ingredients – Easy Banana Nut Bread Recipe
- 8 Tablespoons – Unsalted Butter (softened) – 115 grams
- 2 – Large Eggs
- 3 – Bananas (ripe & large sized) – 345 grams – Roughly 1 1/2 cups of mashed bananas
- 2 Cups – Flour (all purpose flour) – 240 grams
- 1 Cup – White Granulated Sugar – 200 grams
- 1 Cup – Chopped Walnuts – 115 grams – 3/4 cup for inside the batter and 1/4 cup sprinkled on top of the batter
- 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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This Recipe Also Makes Great Banana Nut Bread Muffins
Instructions – Easy Banana Nut Bread Recipe
- 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 chopped walnuts). Stir until the batter is fully mixed.
- Add 3/4 cup of chopped walnuts to the batter (and save the remaining 1/4 cup of chopped walnuts for later). Make sure the chopped walnuts 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.
- Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup of chopped walnuts on top of the batter before placing into the oven.
- Bake in the oven for 65-70 minutes.
- 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 and give us a 5 star rating. It is always fantastic to hear from someone who has enjoyed our recipes!
Related Bread Dad Sections
Tips – Easy Banana Nut 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.
- As I stated earlier – Since this banana bread recipe contains walnuts, please do not serve it to anyone with a nut allergy. Also because this banana bread contains chopped nuts, it may be a choking hazard to very young children. So please use caution when serving any type of banana nut bread!
- If you like nuts & bananas, you should also try our Chocolate Chip Walnut Banana Bread, Walnut Banana Muffins, Almond Banana Bread and Pecan Banana Bread recipes.
- Sprinkle chopped walnuts on top of the batter (after it has been poured into the bread pan) if you want a “walnutty” top for your walnut banana bread.
- 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, you can use other nuts such as chopped pecans, sliced almonds, chopped peanuts, chopped cashews, etc.
- Use RIPE bananas for improved taste. Ripe bananas are soft and usually yellow with small black spots. Hard yellow/green(ish) bananas are too starchy and have less banana flavor. Using unripe bananas will result in a very bland banana bread (with little banana flavor).
- Make sure to use 3 large bananas (not 3 medium bananas). Otherwise, the walnut banana bread 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!
- In case you are interested in some walnut facts – According to Wikipedia, “In 2017, world production of walnuts (in shell) was 3.8 million tonnes, with China contributing 51% of the total. Other major producers (in the order of decreasing harvest) were the United States, Iran, and Turkey. In 1998, walnuts from California accounted for 99% of all walnuts grown in the United States, and for 38% of the world’s production of walnuts”.
- 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 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 banana bread again with a tooth pick.
- If you have trouble getting banana bread out of a bread pan and/or smudging the top of the banana bread when removing it from a bread pan, you can try using baking parchment paper (lining the interior of the bread pan). Baking parchment paper makes it easy for you to lift the banana bread out of the bread pan (without have to flip the bread pan upside down, etc.).
- 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 walnut banana bread.
- 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 hot oven and bread pan.
- For more easy banana bread recipes (i.e. blueberry, cranberry, chocolate chip, vegan, oatmeal, etc.), please visit Bread Dad’s main Banana Bread Recipes section.
Easy Banana Nut Bread Questions
What kind of nuts can I use in banana nut bread?
This banana nut bread recipe uses chopped walnuts. However, you can use many different types of chopped nuts in a banana nut bread. Some examples are chopped pecans, chopped peanuts, chopped cashews, sliced almonds, etc. Nevertheless, always be aware that nuts are a potential choking hazard especially for small children. In addition, always be aware that people may be allergic to nuts when serving food.
Why do people use walnuts in banana bread?
Walnuts are often added to banana bread in order to provide greater texture and flavor. Some people enjoy the “crunch” of walnuts in banana bread. Others like the rich taste of walnuts or want consume the omega-3 found in walnuts.
Reference Sources
- Wikipedia, Banana
- Wikipedia, Banana Bread
- Wikipedia, Omega-3 Fatty Acid
- Wikipedia, Tree Nut Allergy
- Wikipedia, Walnut
Easy Banana Nut Bread (Walnut Banana Bread)
Ingredients
- 8 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter (softened) - 115 grams
- 2 Eggs (large)
- 3 Bananas (ripe & large sized) - 345 grams - Roughly 1 1/2 cups of mashed bananas
- 2 Cups Flour (all purpose flour) - 240 grams
- 1 Cup White Granulated Sugar - 200 grams
- 1 Cup Chopped Walnuts - 115 grams - 3/4 cup for inside the batter and 1/4 cup sprinkled on top of the batter
- 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 chopped walnuts). Stir until the batter is fully mixed.
- Add 3/4 cup of chopped walnuts to the batter (and save the remaining 1/4 cup of chopped walnuts for later). Make sure the chopped walnuts 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.
- Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup of chopped walnuts on top of the batter before placing into the oven.
- Bake in the oven for 65-70 minutes.
- 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
- Banana Bread with Oil
- Bread Machine – Banana Bread
- Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
- Quick & Easy Banana Bread
- Vegan Banana Bread
- Walnut Bread Muffins
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