Moisture-rich and subtly spiced, this pumpkin banana bread is easily one of the best fall goodies to add to your baking list!
Why this recipe works
This pumpkin banana bread really shows up and shows out! Thanks to the pumpkin puree and mashed bananas, it’s packed with moisture. Possibly one of the best ways to jazz up banana bread, in my opinion.
This loaf is soft, incredibly moist, and gently warmed with cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice. It’s giving everything you want in a baked good for fall. You can easily add in chocolate chips, nuts, or dried fruits to give it a little more oomph, heck, you could even make it into pumpkin banana bread muffins. But truly, it’s perfect all on its own!
Ingredients you will need
Get all measurements, ingredients, and instructions in the printable version at the end of this post.
Ingredient Info and Substitution Suggestions
BANANAS – While you wouldn’t think there’s a science to mashing a banana, the amount of mashing you do CAN affect the science of the baking process. Be sure to mash them up well, large chunks of banana can cause moisture pockets. This can affect the rise of your bread and make you think it isn’t done. If you insert a toothpick into a section with a moisture pocket, you may continue baking and end up drying out your quick bread.
FLOUR – We are using cake flour in this recipe which gives this bread a soft and supple texture as opposed to regular all-purpose flour which produces a denser, chewier loaf. You should measure cake flour the same way you measure flour, by either weighing it or using the scoop and sweep method. Cake flour is finer than all purpose flour, which means it’s even more important to not overmeasure. I highly recommend weighing it and using a kitchen scale.
Pumpkin Banana Bread Variations
You can choose up to 1 1/2 cups of additions for your pumpkin banana bread. Here are some of my favorites.
- Baking Chips – For any kind of baking chips, we recommend 1/2 – 3/4 cup or they can be overwhelming. If you are using cinnamon chips, 1/2 cup is more than enough! White chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate chips are excellent as well.
- Nuts – If adding nuts, 3/4 cup chopped is a nice amount. We like chopped pecans or walnuts for this recipe.
- Dried Fruits – Raisins or other dried fruits work great too. We do suggest rehydrating raisins or dried cranberries first by soaking them in hot water (or juice or alcohol) for a minimum of 15 minutes. You can soak them longer if you like, just remember to drain them and pat dry with a paper towel before adding them to the batter.
- Toppings – Aside from the additions, you can easily add a topping to this loaf. Coarse sugar, cinnamon sugar, chopped nuts, or baking chips are all great! Add the toppings right before baking.
How to Make Pumpkin Banana Bread
These step by step photos and instructions are here to help you visualize how to make this recipe. You can Jump to Recipe to get the printable version of this recipe, complete with measurements and instructions at the bottom.
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Generously butter/grease and flour an 8×4 loaf pan.
TIP – Whenever I grease and flour a loaf pan for quick bread, I always wipe away the top 1/2-3/4” of flour with a piece of paper towel. This can help the bread pull away from the sides and dome in the center better.
- Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice.
- With a stand mixer, beat butter and brown sugar on medium speed until creamy.
- Add eggs and vanilla and beat just until combined.
- Beat in pumpkin and bananas, beating just until combined.
- With a rubber spatula, stir in half of the dry ingredients. Stir in the buttermilk. Stir in remaining dry ingredients. Do not overmix, it’s okay if there are small traces of flour still showing.
- If adding chips, nuts, or fruit, fold them into the batter now.
- Let batter rest 30 minutes. This allows the oven to get nice and hot as well.
- Scrape batter into the prepared loaf pan. Place loaf pan on an insulated baking sheet.
- Bake in preheated oven for 60–75 minutes, or until a butter knife poked into the center comes out clean.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool in pan for 10 minutes, then remove to wire rack to cool completely.
Frequently Asked Questions & Expert Tips
If you don’t have cake flour on hand, here’s how to substitute with all-purpose flour. First, weigh out 320g of all purpose flour. Next, remove 40g of that flour and replace it with 40g of cornstarch. Sift that mixture 3 times. If you don’t have a kitchen scale, the general rule is to remove 2 tablespoons from every cup of flour and replace that with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch. We highly recommend that you weigh your ingredients for the best results.
Allow the loaf to fully cool before transferring to an air-tight container, or you can wrap it well with plastic wrap or foil. Keep at room temperature for up to 3 days. If you wrap the loaf while still warm, you’ll end up with condensation and potentially soggy bread.
Absolutely! Allow your loaf to fully cool before wrapping a few times in plastic wrap, followed by a layer of aluminum foil. Optionally place the loaf in a large freezer safe bag, or leave as is, and freeze for up to 2 months. To thaw, allow the loaf to rest (still wrapped) at room temperature for a few hours.
You can also freeze individual slices by flash freezing them on a baking sheet. Once solid, transfer the slices to a freezer bag or air-tight container separated by layers of parchment paper.
Serving Suggestions
Serve your pumpkin banana bread warm or at room temperature. It’s amazing either way! If serving warm, a smear of butter or cinnamon honey butter makes it even better.
More Quick Bread Recipes
- Apple Bread
- Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
- Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins
- Pumpkin Bread with Maple Glaze
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Pumpkin Banana Bread
IMPORTANT – There are often Frequently Asked Questions within the blog post that you may find helpful. Simply scroll back up to read them!
Print It Pin It Rate ItIngredients
- 11.3 ounces cake flour 2 1/2 cups, 320g
- 1 Tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened, 8 Tablespoons, 114g
- 6.35 ounces packed brown sugar 3/4 cup, 180g
- 2 large eggs at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 4.5 ounces pumpkin puree 1/2 cup, 128g
- 2 overripe bananas mashed well
- 2 ounces buttermilk at room temperature. 1/4 cup, 59ml
Things You’ll Need
- Stand mixer or electric mixer
Before You Begin
- While you wouldn’t think there’s a science to mashing a banana, the amount of mashing you do CAN affect the science of the baking process. Be sure to mash them up well, large chunks of banana can cause moisture pockets. This can affect the rise of your bread and make you think it isn’t done. If you insert a toothpick into a section with a moisture pocket, you may continue baking and end up drying out your quick bread.
- You should measure cake flour the same way you measure flour, by either weighing it or using the scoop and sweep method. Cake flour is finer than all purpose flour, which means it’s even more important to not overmeasure. I highly recommend weighing it and using a kitchen scale.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Generously butter/grease and flour an 8×4 loaf pan.TIP – Whenever I grease and flour a loaf pan for quick bread, I always wipe away the top 1/2-3/4” of flour with a piece of paper towel. This can help the bread pull away from the sides and dome in the center better.
- Whisk together cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice.11.3 ounces cake flour, 1 Tablespoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 3/4 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- With a stand mixer, beat butter and brown sugar on medium speed until creamy.6.35 ounces packed brown sugar, 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- Add eggs and vanilla and beat just until combined.1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract, 2 large eggs
- Beat in pumpkin and bananas, beating just until combined.4.5 ounces pumpkin puree, 2 overripe bananas
- With a rubber spatula, stir in half of the dry ingredients. Stir in the buttermilk. Stir in remaining dry ingredients. Do not overmix, it’s okay if there are small traces of flour still showing.2 ounces buttermilk
- If adding chips, nuts, or fruit, fold them into the batter now.
- Let batter rest 30 minutes. This allows the oven to get nice and hot as well.
- Scrape batter into the prepared loaf pan. Place loaf pan on an insulated baking sheet.
- Bake in preheated oven for 60–75 minutes, or until a butter knife poked into the center comes out clean.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool in pan for 10 minutes, then remove to wire rack to cool completely.
Expert Tips & FAQs
- Allow the loaf to fully cool before transferring to an air-tight container, or you can wrap it well with plastic wrap or foil. Keep at room temperature for up to 3 days. If you wrap the loaf while still warm, you’ll end up with condensation and potentially soggy bread.
- Freezing – Allow your loaf to fully cool before wrapping a few times in plastic wrap, followed by a layer of aluminum foil. Optionally place the loaf in a large freezer safe bag, or leave as is, and freeze for up to 2 months. To thaw, allow the loaf to rest (still wrapped) at room temperature for a few hours.
- You can also freeze individual slices by flash freezing them on a baking sheet. Once solid, transfer the slices to a freezer bag or air-tight container separated by layers of parchment paper.
Nutrition
The recipes on this blog are tested with a conventional gas oven and gas stovetop. It’s important to note that some ovens, especially as they age, can cook and bake inconsistently. Using an inexpensive oven thermometer can assure you that your oven is truly heating to the proper temperature. If you use a toaster oven or countertop oven, please keep in mind that they may not distribute heat the same as a conventional full sized oven and you may need to adjust your cooking/baking times. In the case of recipes made with a pressure cooker, air fryer, slow cooker, or other appliance, a link to the appliances we use is listed within each respective recipe. For baking recipes where measurements are given by weight, please note that results may not be the same if cups are used instead, and we can’t guarantee success with that method.
Amanda Davis
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Dianne says
We made the Pumpkin Banana Bread and it was delicious! We loved it! We added pepitas to ours :) Thank you for another great recipe!
Amanda Davis says
Looks beautiful Dianne, so glad you loved it! :)
Sarah mickey says
Delicious and moist. Amanda always has the best recipes.
Amanda Davis says
So glad you loved it Sarah, thank you!
Jennifer says
Hi there, I tried this because I had a couple of super ripe bananas that needed to be used. I used 3/4 c. chopped pecans as my add-in but followed the rest of the recipe as written. Our first impression was – ooh, dry. :-( The next day it was better/less dry, but I think we just prefer PUMPKIN or BANANA vs a mixture of both! LOL So if you expect PUMPKIN, don’t. The flavor profile, to us at least, is super subtle. and I think we just prefer something a bit more of one flavor or the other. Thanks for sharing!
Amanda Davis says
So sorry you didn’t enjoy it as much as we do. The pumpkin flavor is subtle, banana has a tendency to overwhelm the flavor. Question, how well did you mash your bananas? I mention in the post that if you don’t mash them well enough, then you can end up with moisture pockets. Then when you do a knife test to see if it’s done, it can trick you into thinking it’s not and you end up baking it too long, hence the bread being dry.
Louise says
Just want I was looking for. Thank you for this delicious bread