Cinnamon apple meets banana in this deliciously moist bread. This Banana Apple Bread is an easy one bowl recipe that comes together quickly! Prepare, bake and enjoy all in the same evening!
We eat a lot of bananas in my home. My husband and son adore bananas, so I am usually buying a bunch every week. There are some weeks where we do find ourselves with a few brown spotted ones and so I have found myself searching for banana bread combinations. Considering we are heading into Fall - aka Apple season - I figured this would be a great time to pair these two delicious fruits!
I also promised myself this would be the last banana bread recipe for this year, and that I am to begin focusing and learning on making other bread recipes. But for now, let's dive into this tasty recipe!
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Why You Will Love This Recipe
Use up your brown spotted bananas! In today's economy we are all doing our best to avoid any waste - especially with food! Banana bread is the perfect way to use up those brown spotted bananas that still have plenty left to give - in bread form!
One Bowl, One Evening. This recipe comes together so quickly and easily! About 30 minutes of prep, toss together in about 10 to 15 minutes, and bake for about 1 hour and tada! You have yourself a delicious loaf of homemade cinnamon apple banana bread!
Variations for all. I wanted a few options for a topping on this one, and I give you 3! A cinnamon sugar topping, an apple cinnamon sugar topping, and a streusel topping - much like a dutch apple pie. All delicious in their own way.
If you are a banana lover then I recommend also trying my Coconut Macadamia Banana Bread, Banana Chocolate Chunk Muffins or my Maple Pecan Banana Bread. Or you can try my Banana Bread Cookies which are just as tasty!
Baking Tips
Weigh Your Ingredients. You will have a better chance of success with this recipe if you weigh your ingredients. A kitchen scale is a low cost investment - as low as $10 if you purchase a simple one on Amazon. Volume measurements are provided for your convenience as well.
Use Ripe Bananas. Or in other words, brown spotted bananas. The bananas need to be ripe in order to work well within the batter and lend to a moist bread. Using non-ripe (green or all yellow) bananas may leave the bread tough and not as moist as it could be.
Loaf Pan. You can either butter and flour the loaf pan, or spray with baking spray and lay a piece of parchment inside. Spray with more baking spray and then add in batter.
Use an oven thermometer. They are a low cost investment and can help you keep an eye on the temperature within your oven. Some ovens run too hot, others too cold - and an oven thermometer can help you determine if yours is doing either one.
Ingredients
Please read through the ingredients list so you can familiarize yourself with each ingredient, along with suggestions or recommendations during the preparation or baking process. Please see the Recipe Card for all details.
Bananas. The star of the show has some rules we need to try and follow to help make this recipe delicious. First - the bananas need to be very ripe. I mean almost spotted brown ripe (as shown in photo). You want your bananas to be very ripe because it will mean a sweeter banana. Check out this guide from Southern Living that helps break down more details on a ripe banana.
Apples. I use a combination of freeze dried apples and fresh apples. The fresh apples are optional, the freeze dried apples are not. The freeze dried apples will be ground into a powder and added to the batter to help provide the apple flavor. The fresh apples you can choose to chop into small cubes and then add on top of the loaf prior to baking.
Sour Cream. This ingredient helps lend a bit of a tang into our bread while also helping to provide added moisture. You can substitute with Greek yogurt if need be.
Sugars. I use a combination of dark brown sugar and granulated sugar. The dark brown sugar has added moisture, and the molasses in the sugar helps amplify the apple flavor. You can substitute the dark brown sugar for light brown sugar.
Spices. I used a combination of ground cinnamon, nutmeg and all spice. You can also opt to use an Apple Pie Spice mix at a 1 ¼ tsp ratio. If you love more of an apple spice banana bread than I recommend increasing the nutmeg to ½ tsp and the all spice to ¼ tsp.
Butter. I use unsalted here. If you choose to use salted butter then just omit the fine sea salt.
Pure Vanilla Extract. We only need a small amount, 1 tsp. You can also use imitation vanilla extract.
Eggs. Make sure they are room temperature before you begin. Place on kitchen counter about 30 minutes before you begin, or place in warm water for about 10 minutes.
Let's Make Banana Apple Bread
This recipe uses baking tools and ingredients that can be found in most homes. Please see recipe card for full list of equipment and ingredients.
Step 1: Combine flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, all spice, baking soda and fine sea salt and sift well. Set aside.
Step 2: In a separate bowl mash bananas until texture looks similar to applesauce.
Step 3: Melt butter in large bowl and allow to cool.
Step 4: Combine butter, bananas, sugars, eggs, sour cream and vanilla. Whisk until well combined.
Step 5: Place freeze dried apples in blender and grind down into a powder. Add to batter and whisk well.
Step 6: Add dry ingredients and whisk until the flour is just combined.
Step 7: Prepare 9x5 loaf pan with parchment paper, or butter and flour method. Add batter to loaf pan.
Step 8: You can choose to either top with diced apples and cinnamon sugar, or with cinnamon sugar streusel. Ingredients and instructions on the recipe card below.
Step 9: Bake at 350 F for 50 - 60 minutes, or until tester comes out with only a few moist crumbs.
Variations
By variations I mean options available for topping the bread. I attempted just a cinnamon sugar, an apple cinnamon sugar, as well as a cinnamon sugar streusel topping. My favorite was the cinnamon sugar streusel because it reminded me of a dutch apple pie, but it truly depends on your preference! Details on how to achieve each topping is within the recipe card.
Also, if you prefer more of an apple spice bread than I recommend increasing the cinnamon to 1 ½ teaspoons, nutmeg to ½ teaspoon, and the all spice to ¼ teaspoon. The banana flavor is essentially almost overpowered at this point but you can still taste it subtly.
Troubleshooting
Gummy Bread. Over mixing is going to overdevelop the gluten and cause the bread to get gummy. So make sure when folding in the dry ingredients you do it gently and stop when you see just the barest of flour streaks remaining. This will help ensure you get a soft and moist bread all throughout.
Dry Bread. The culprit here might be the bread was over baked which can easily happen in an overly hot oven. I recommend an oven thermometer, but you can also watch for signs of doneness. Look for the bread pulling away from the sides, and you can insert a toothpick to the center - if it pulls away with only a bit of crumbs or banana than your loaf is done. Remove from oven and allow to set in the loaf pan for at least an hour.
Recipe FAQ's
You technically can, but it is not recommended. Unripe bananas will not offer the moisture or flavor (sweetness) that ripe bananas provide.
Brown spotted bananas are your indicator that they are ready to be used in banana bread! The photo of ingredients above can show you roughly how many brown spots mine have when I use them for baking banana bread.
You can if you are substituting with another like ingredients - such as greek yogurt. These help provide moisture to the bread.
I wouldn't recommend it because freeze dried fruit contains more of the fruit flavor than the dried fruit does. Dried fruit also has higher water content and this can alter the texture of the bread.
Storage
The flavors of this banana apple bread really come alive the next day, and the following 2 to 3 days after. To keep the bread fresh store in a ziplock bag, or airtight container at room temperature. It will keep at room temperature for up to 3 days. You can also freeze the bread in a freezer safe ziplock bag or container for up to 3 months. To defrost remove from freezer and allow to come to room temperature in the bag/container - do not open. Microwave your slice of banana bread between 5 to 10 seconds before enjoying.
More Recipes To Enjoy
Mexican Cinnamon Cookies
Apple Pie Cookies
Banana Chocolate Chunk Muffins
If you have tried this Banana Apple Bread recipe, or any other recipe on this website, please don't forget to leave a star ⭐️ review! Your feedback and comments are appreciated!
Banana Apple Bread
Equipment
- mixing bowls
- rubber spatula
- whisk
- kitchen scale optional but recommended
- parchment paper optional
- 9x5 baking loaf pan
- blender or food processor
Ingredients
Homemade Cinnamon Apple Banana Bread
- 1 ¾ cup all purpose flour 230 g
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted 113 g
- ½ cup dark brown sugar, packed 100 g
- ¼ cup sugar 50 g
- 2 cup freeze dried apples 35 g
- 2 large ripe bananas approximately 200 g
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 2 tbsp sour cream, full fat room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp fine sea salt
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp nutmeg
- ⅛ tsp all spice
Cinnamon Apple Topping (Optional)
- ½ Honeycrisp apple, peeled and cubed
- 1 ½ tbsp sugar
- ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
Cinnamon Sugar Streusel (Optional)
- ¼ cup all purpose flour
- 2 tbsp dark brown sugar
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter very cold and cubed
- ⅛ tsp ground cinnamon
Cinnamon Sugar Topping (Optional)
- 1 ½ tbsp sugar
- ¼ tbsp ground cinnamon
Instructions
Preparing Topping (Optional)
- If preparing cinnamon sugar streusel, cube butter and place in freezer for about 5 to 10 minutes.
- Gather remaining cinnamon sugar streusel ingredients and whisk into a small bowl.
- Add very cold butter and use fork to mash / combine butter into sugars. You can also use your fingers. You want to create a crumbly texture. Place back into refrigerator once done so the butter can remain cold.
- If preparing the cinnamon sugar topping, combine into a small bowl and set aside.
- If preparing the cinnamon apple sugar topping, peel and dice apples and place on top of a paper towel to help absorb excess water. Combine sugars in a separate bowl. Set aside.
Preparing Homemade Cinnamon Apple Banana Bread
- Combine flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, all spice, baking soda and fine sea salt and sift well. Set aside.1 ¾ cup all purpose flour, 1 tsp fine sea salt, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp ground cinnamon, ¼ tsp nutmeg, ⅛ tsp all spice
- In a separate bowl mash bananas until texture looks similar to applesauce.2 large ripe bananas
- Melt butter in large bowl and allow to cool.
- Combine butter, bananas, sugars, eggs, sour cream and vanilla. Whisk until well combined.½ cup unsalted butter, melted, ½ cup dark brown sugar, packed, ¼ cup sugar, 2 large eggs, 2 tbsp sour cream, full fat, 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Place freeze dried apples in blender and grind down into a powder. Add to batter and whisk well.2 cup freeze dried apples
- Add dry ingredients and whisk until the flour is just combined.
- Prepare 9x5 loaf pan with parchment paper, or butter and flour method. Add batter to loaf pan.
- Top with preferred topping (optional).
- Bake at 350 F for 50 - 60 minutes, or until tester comes out with only a few moist crumbs.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool for at least 1 hour in loaf pan. Remove from pan to continue cooling.
Ana says
Yummy bread recipe! Thanks for sharing!
Sharon Alvarenga says
thank you so much Ana for trying it!