This pineapple banana bread recipe almost tastes like a fruity tropical drink! Your family will love this fun banana bread. It is easy to make and tastes delicious. Our recipe differs from many other pineapple banana bread recipes. Those recipes use crushed pineapples mixed inside the banana bread. In our opinion, that can lead to the pineapple flavor overwhelming the banana flavor. In contrast, we just place pineapple rings on top of our classic banana bread in order to create a clearer differentiation of these two amazing flavors.
Pineapple Banana Bread Straight from the Oven
This banana bread is not only delicious but it looks great too. The pineapple rings on top have a powerful visual impact. Your family will be drooling for this banana bread! Of course, in order to make great tasting banana bread, you need to use ripe bananas. Soft ripe bananas have the best flavor and highest sweetness. In contrast, hard green/yellow bananas have too much starch and less banana flavor. So let your bananas ripen when you bring them home from the supermarket in order to have the best results. Ripe bananas will be soft and the yellow exterior of the banana will have lots of small black spots.
This pineapple 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 because it has easy recipes for Blueberry Banana Bread, Brown Sugar Banana Bread, Chocolate Chip Banana Bread, Cranberry Banana Bread and many more! Bread Dad also has a printable and “pin-able” recipe at the bottom of this page. If you like this recipe, we hope you will leave a comment below and give us a 5 star rating. Thanks!
Ingredients – Pineapple Banana Bread Recipe
- 8 Tablespoons – Unsalted Butter (softened)
- 2 – Large Eggs
- 3 – Bananas (ripe & large sized)
- 2 Cups – Flour (all purpose flour)
- 1 Cup – White Granulated Sugar
- 1 Teaspoon – Vanilla Extract
- 1 Teaspoon – Baking Soda
- 1 Teaspoon – Baking Powder (aluminum free)
- 1/2 Teaspoon – Salt
- 3 – Pineapple Rings (gently placed on top of the banana bread batter)
Servings – Roughly 12 slices
Equipment – Measuring cup & spoons, mixing bowl, long wooden spoon, 9 by 5 bread pan, oven mitts, oven, silicon spatula & cooling rack. Visit Bread Dad’s baking tools section if you are missing anything.
Place Thin Pineapple Rings on the Banana Bread Batter
Instructions – Pineapple Banana 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 pineapple rings). Stir until the batter is fully mixed.
- Pour finished batter into a nonstick bread pan. Smooth out the top of the batter within the bread pan.
- Gently place some thin pineapple rings (slices) on top of the batter before placing the bread pan into the oven. Do not press the pineapple rings into the batter (or the rings are less likely to “float” up with rising batter during the baking process).
- Bake in the oven for 70 minutes. Double check the top center of the bread in order to see if it has been fully cooked after the end of the 70 minutes. See the “toothpick test” in the tip section below.
- Take bread pan out of the 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.
If you like this recipe, please leave a comment below and give us a 5 star rating. It is great to hear from someone who has enjoyed our recipes!
Tips – Pineapple Banana Bread Recipe
- The tips below are designed to help banana bread “novices” and/or people with limited baking experience.
- I used canned pineapple rings (slices) when making this recipe. You can also use fresh pineapple if you like. However, I like to keep things simple… and it is just too much work (at least for lazy me) to slice & core a fresh pineapple!
- Try to place the pineapple rings exactly in the middle of the bread pan so they are less likely to slide to the sides as the batter rises in the oven. You can also use toothpicks to “pin” the pineapple slices and prevent them from sliding during the baking process. Just remember to remove the toothpicks after you have finished baking the banana bread… so you don’t accidentally bite into one!!!
- 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.
- Use 3 large bananas (not 3 medium-sized bananas) to make this recipe. 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!
- Don’t spill any pineapple juice onto the batter when placing the pineapple rings on top. I even pat off any excess pineapple juice from the rings with a paper towel before placing them on the batter. Too much liquid can cause the banana bread to be slightly under cooked and/or cause the rings to slide around as the batter rises. However, if the banana bread looks slightly under cooked, this can usually be corrected via the toothpick test below.
- 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 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.
- If you would like to explore other fruit-filled “quick breads”, you should look at our recipes for Blueberry Quick Bread (with homemade whipped cream), Cranberry Bread (with fresh cranberries) or Strawberry Quick Bread (with homemade whipped cream).
- Always wear oven mitts when dealing with a hot oven, etc.
- 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. Or if you want even more banana bread & quick bread recipes, you should visit Bread Dad’s section covering popular Quick Bread Cookbooks.
Reference Sources
- Wikipedia, Banana, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banana
- Wikipedia, Banana Bread, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banana_bread
- Wikipedia, Pineapple, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pineapple
Pineapple Banana Bread - Easy Dessert Recipe
Ingredients
- 8 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter (softened)
- 2 Large Eggs
- 3 Bananas Bananas (ripe & large sized)
- 2 Cups Flour (all purpose flour)
- 1 Cup White Granulated Sugar
- 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1 Teaspoon Baking Powder (aluminum free)
- 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
- 3 Pineapple Rings (gently placed on top of the banana bread batter)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
- Mash bananas with a fork.
- Soften butter in a microwave.
- Stir eggs, bananas and butter together.
- Mix in remaining ingredients (except the pineapple rings). Stir until the batter is fully mixed.
- Pour finished batter into a nonstick bread pan. Smooth out the top of the batter within the bread pan.
- Gently place some thin pineapple rings (slices) on top of the batter before placing the bread pan into the oven. Do not press the pineapple rings into the batter (or the rings are less likely to "float" up with rising batter during the baking process).
- Bake in the oven for 70 minutes. Double check the top center of the bread in order to see if it has been fully cooked after the end of the 70 minutes. See the “toothpick test” in the tip section below.
- Take bread pan out of the 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
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Related Banana Bread Recipes
- Blueberry Banana Bread
- Cranberry Banana Bread
- No Butter Banana Bread
- Raisin Banana Bread
- Strawberry Banana Bread
- Vegan Banana Bread
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