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    Home » Recipes » Cakes, biscuits and dessert recipes

    Easy banana walnut bread

    Published: Apr 27, 2020 · Modified: May 30, 2024 by VJ · This post may contain affiliate links · 6 Comments

    Jump to recipe

    Soft, moist and tasty - you will love my easy banana walnut bread. Plain banana bread is good, but add walnuts and it elevates to a whole new level.

    Slices of banana walnut bread in front of the whole loaf, next to a banana.
    Jump to:
    • Easy banana walnut bread
    • How to make banana walnut bread
    • Instructions
    • Can I freeze banana walnut bread?
    • Save for later
    • Related recipes
    • 📋The recipe

    Easy banana walnut bread

    Hand on heart, I think you will love this banana walnut bread recipe. It has a soft, moist texture and is full of flavour from the bananas and the walnuts.

    I grew up in South Africa, where bananas grow in abundance. Most of the banana plantations are along the eastern coast, where the high humidity provides the ideal environment for growing bananas. It's a common sight to drive past a banana plantation and see the bunches of bananas covered in bright blue plastic bags.

    I always thought the bananas were covered in these blue bags to keep the wild monkeys away. However, on doing research for this post, I found that it was actually to aid the ripening process. As they grow, bananas give off a gas called ethylene, and covering the bananas in this way keeps the ethylene nearer to the banana, which makes it ripen faster. Who'd have guessed?

    But back to my easy recipe for banana bread with walnuts. It is so quick to mix, and has an amazingly soft, moist texture, with the additional flavour from the walnuts. I've seen people spread butter on banana bread, but believe me, this recipe doesn't need anything additional at all. One slice of this delicious banana walnut bread and you'll be hooked and will be making it over and over again.

    A banana walnut loaf with a slice in front of it, showing the texture.

    How to make banana walnut bread

    Six steps is all it takes to make this delicious banana walnut bread.

    A collage of 6 images showing the steps for mixing banana walnut bread.

    You will need some very ripe bananas.

    Now here's a tip for ripening bananas. I don't know if you've noticed, but bananas are normally sold pre-packed in plastic bags. This is for a reason. Bananas are harvested while they are still green, and left to ripen naturally in the air. The plastic keeps the oxygen away from the bananas and prolongs the shelf-life. If you want your bananas to ripen faster, remove them from the plastic bag once you get them home. They'll ripen within a couple of days.

    Anyway - enough of that - let's get on to the recipe. You can get a complete list of ingredients and full instructions for making this banana walnut bread on the printable recipe card at the end of this post.

    Instructions

    • Take 4 small or 3 medium ripe bananas and mash them with a fork until most of the lumps are out. You should end up with about a cup and a half of mashed banana. Set the bananas aside while you mix the cake batter.
    • Now cream together â…“ cup of butter (75 grams) and ¾ cup of sugar (150g) until all the sugar has been combined and there are no visible lumps of butter.
    • Beat in one egg until the mixture becomes light and fluffy then mix in one teaspoon of vanilla essence.
    • Sift in 1 and a ½ cups of plain all-purpose flour (210g), ½ teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon of baking powder. If you only have self-raising flour, that is perfectly fine, omit the baking powder.
    • Mix briefly to distribute the flour, then add the mashed bananas and mix well until all combined.
    • And lastly, chop ¾ cup walnuts (75g) quite finely (about â…›" to ¼"), add to the batter and give it a final mix.

    Bake

    Two images showing the unbaked and the baked banana walnut loaf.

    You will need a 10cm x 20cm (4" x 8") loaf tin. I lined mine with a loaf-tin liner, but you could use ordinary baking parchment to line the tin. Lining the tin with baking parchment makes it easier to remove the cake once it's cooked. If you don't have liners or baking parchment, you could grease the loaf tin lightly with butter.

    • Pour the batter into the lined loaf tin.
    • Bake for 1 hour in an oven preheated to 190C / 375F, or until a wooden skewer inserted into the cake comes out without any batter sticking to it.

    If you use the size of loaf tin that I recommend, the cake will rise to about 8cm (or 3"). If you use a larger tin, obviously the banana bread will not rise as much, and you will need a shorter cooking time.

    This recipe has been made and tested at sea level. See my post on baking at a high altitude for tips on how to adjust recipes to compensate for higher altitudes.

    Slices of banana walnut bread on a plate.

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    Can I freeze banana walnut bread?

    Yes, you can freeze this.

    Allow the banana bread to cool completely, then wrap it in a layer of greaseproof or parchment paper, cover it with a layer of tinfoil and place it in a large plastic bag in the freezer.

    The cake can be frozen for 6 months or longer.

    To defrost, remove all the packaging, cover it with a clean cloth and leave it to defrost at room temperature

    Save for later

    Why not pin this walnut and banana bread recipe to one of your Pinterest boards so you can find it easily? Just click the image below.

    Alternatively, you can save the recipe by clicking on the floating heart icon on the right-hand side of the screen.

    Related recipes

    If you enjoy this recipe you may want to try some of these easy recipes too:

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    You can find these and many more recipes on my cakes, biscuits and dessert recipes page.

    📋The recipe

    Slices of banana walnut bread in front of the whole loaf, next to a banana.

    Easy Banana Walnut Bread

    Banana bread is lifted to a whole new level, with the addition of walnuts. This quick and easy loaf is soft, moist and full of flavour.
    Recipe by: Veronica
    Baking
    American, British, South African
    Calories 266
    Prep 15 minutes minutes
    Cook 1 hour hour
    Total Time 1 hour hour 15 minutes minutes
    Servings: 1 10" x 20" loaf
    Print Pin Comment Bookmark Saved!
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    5 from 6 votes

    (Click the stars to rate this recipe)

    Equipment

    • Mixing bowl
    • Spatula OR wooden spoon
    • Hand mixer or food processor
    • 4" x 8" loaf tin (10cm x 20cm)
    • Baking parchment

    Ingredients

    • 4 small ripe bananas mashed (1 to 1.5 cups)
    • â…“ cup / 75 grams butter
    • ¾ cup / 150 grams sugar
    • 1 large egg
    • 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
    • 1½ cups / 210 grams plain all-purpose flour / cake flour
    • 1 teaspoon baking powder
    • ½ teaspoon salt
    • ¾ cup / 70 grams chopped walnuts

    Instructions

    • Prehead the oven to 190°C / 375°F
    • Mash the bananas with a fork until most of the lumps have been removed.
      4 small ripe bananas
    • Chop the walnuts quite finely
      ¾ cup / 70 grams chopped walnuts
    • Cream the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl until all the butter has been incorporated.
      ⅓ cup / 75 grams butter, ¾ cup / 150 grams sugar
    • Add one egg and the vanilla and beat until light and fluffy.
      1 large egg, 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
    • Sift in the flour, salt and baking powder and stir briefly
      1½ cups / 210 grams plain all-purpose flour / cake flour, ½ teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon baking powder
    • Add the bananas and mix until well combined.
    • Add the chopped walnuts and stir to incorporate.
    • Pour the batter into a lined 10cm x 20cm loaf tin
    • Bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour, or until a wooden skewer inserted into the middle of the loaf comes out cleanly.
    • Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

    Notes

    Equipment - one 10cm x 20cm loaf tin lined with baking parchment or a loaf tin liner.
    The calorie count assumes the cake will be cut into 10 slices, and is per slice.

    Nutrition

    Calories - 266kcal | Carbohydrates - 39.5g | Protein - 4.7g | Fat - 11g | Saturated Fat - 4.4g | Cholesterol - 33mg | Sodium - 167mg | Potassium - 260mg | Fiber - 2.1g | Sugar - 20.2g | Calcium - 35mg | Iron - 1mg

    I am not a nutritionist. The nutrition information has been calculated using an on-line calculator, and is intended for information and guidance purposes only. If the nutrition information is important to you, you should consider calculating it yourself, using your preferred tool.

    Unless otherwise stated, a cup is the standard US cup containing 240 ml. In all my recipes this cup is assumed to hold 140g of flour. For help converting other ingredients between cups, grams, ounces and other measures, see my recipe conversion calculator.
    All my recipes are developed and tested at sea-level. For tips on adjusting recipes for high altitudes see my post on baking at high altitudes.
    Tried this recipe?If you made this recipe I'd love it if you could leave me a comment and let me know how it went!
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    If you made this recipe and enjoyed it, I'd love it if you could give me a star rating in the comments below. And if you'd like to get in touch, you can email me at [email protected]. I'd love to hear from you. And don't forget to subscribe to my mailing list so you can grab yourself a copy of my FREE COOKBOOK!

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    About VJ

    Before I started my food blog I was an IT Consultant. Now that I've swapped an office for a kitchen I have a lot more time to spend on things that interest me such as trying out new recipes. Most of my cooking is based around quick and easy meals, mostly made from scratch, using everyday pantry ingredients.

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

      5 from 6 votes (1 rating without comment)

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    1. Peter

      September 23, 2023 at 2:12 pm

      5 stars
      Wow! Excellent . This tastes exactly like I remember it growing up.

      Reply
      • VJ

        September 23, 2023 at 2:23 pm

        5 stars
        So glad you enjoyed it 🙂

        Reply
    2. Debbie

      October 19, 2022 at 11:22 am

      5 stars
      I've tried so many banana bread recipes with only mediocre results until now. This one was perfect, with a nice high rise, delicious flavor and excellent texture.

      Reply
      • VJ

        October 19, 2022 at 3:33 pm

        5 stars
        Fantastic, so pleased you enjoyed it. Thanks for letting me know.

        Reply
    3. Kathy

      July 08, 2020 at 5:16 pm

      5 stars
      Divine - just like my mom always made and still does make !!!! 🙂

      Reply
      • VJ

        July 08, 2020 at 6:48 pm

        Glad you enjoyed it Kathy.

        Reply

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