Anna Banana's Banana Bread List

Happy Mother's Day! I'm celebrating by hiding out in my office organizing banana bread recipes. If I had to pick one to bake right this second, it would be the Grain-Free Banana Muffins because they're easy and need a new photo. For a full loaf, I'd go with the Cream Cheese Banana Bread because it's rich, reliable and also in desperate need of a photo update. If you have some ripe bananas and are in the mood to bake, let me know what you make!

Classic Banana Bread Recipes

Traditional banana bread recipes with a soft crumb and rich banana flavor. These are dependable recipes that work well for everyday baking and freezing.

• Buttermilk Banana Bread -- Reliable with moisture and flavor from buttermilk. Works well with sugar or allulose.
• Diamond Walnut Banana Nut Bread -- Classic banana bread designed to hold lots of walnuts.
• Two-Banana Banana Bread -- Excellent flavor even with limited bananas.
• Silver Palate Banana Bread -- Slightly less sweet than some. A treasured recipe in many a collection.
• Banana Bread with Sour Cream and Oil -- For a while, this was my go-to recipe. I still like it a lot. It's got a little of everything!
• Betty Crocker Banana Bread from 1972 -- Be still my heart, it's Betty's original. This one is not like the others. It's less sweet, lighter, and will make you feel like you're having a healthy breakfast rather than dessert.
• Sour Cream Banana Bread -- Banana bread made with bread flour and sour cream.

Secret Ingredient Banana Bread Recipes

If you love a good guessing game, here are some recipes with a little "something something" to make serving more fun.

• Claire's Almond Butter Banana Bread -- Cardamom adds flavor and a swirl of almond butter over the top of the loaf makes this one very special.
• Oat Flour Banana Bread -- Not gluten-free or healthy-ish. The oat flour is there to enrich the texture somewhat and add a toasty oat flavor.
• Coconut Milk Banana Bread -- Coconut milk adds flavor, moisture and softness.
• Roasted Walnut Oil Banana Bread -- Why use just walnuts when there's such thing as roasted walnut oil?
• Bourbon Banana Bread -- Boozy banana bread should be a category of its own, but right now this will just go in the Secret Ingredient category.
• Honey Graham Banana Bread -- That one time I made banana bread with ground up graham crackers...

Dark Banana Breads

Some of the other banana breads listed are dark, but the ones here first come to mind as distinctively dark (without chocolate). The darkness comes from baking soda and a low slow bake time.

• Beth's Coca Cola Banana Bread -- Beth is my sister-in-law, and for a while she was going through a banana bread phase. I made her this one with Coca Cola in it. It's a dark one thanks to Coke and baking soda, and should probably be baked in a Bundt or tube pan since it bakes up with a flat top.
• Low Temperature Banana Bread -- Known better by the name Fairmont Hotel Banana Bread, the recipe calls for a ton of baking soda which is not there just for leavening, but for browning the crumb and leaving a lingering finish on your tongue. Love it or leave it.
• Banana Butterscotch Bread with Toasted Pecans -- Another good one which would probably look prettier baked in a fluted pan.

Bakery Style Banana Breads

Taller loaves with a firmer structure and more dramatic doming or breads that contain a little shortening since so many commercial bakeries use it.

• High Rising Banana Bread -- A bread I made over and over when I was obsessed with domed tops.
• Starbuck Bakery Copycat -- Literally everyone's favorite.
• Kona Inn Banana Bread -- This one has a light and fluffy texture thanks to shortening. It's a favorite from The Junior League of Palo Alto and very well-loved.

Celebrity Banana Breads

You're the star of the show when you make people banana bread, but let's give some credit to celebrities who are famous for their versions. I feel like this would be a fun category to expand on.

• Chrissy T's Banana Bread -- Chrissy Tiegen put instant pudding mix in her banana bread for extra moisture and flavor.
• James Beard's Honey Banana Bread -- Honey stands in for some of the fat in Mr. Beard's recipe leaving it sweet, moist, and with a hint of honey flavor.
• Flour Bakery Banana Bread -- Could go under bakery style, but Joanne Chang is a celebrity chef so we'll put it here. It's a sweet one.
• Dominique Ansel's Banana Bread is also very sweet. By the way, he is marketing pastry flour now online and it's good stuff.

Banana Breads With Chocolate

The easiest way to make banana bread dessert-like is to add chocolate. Here are some particularly good ones.

• Spiced Chocolate Chip Banana Bread with Rum -- This one's from a man who used to ride around on a bike selling banana bread. They called him "Banana Bread Man". I suppose this could also be classified as a celebrity recipe.
• Mexican Chocolate Banana Bread -- This one is so good. It's a riff on Deb at Smitten Kitchen's recipe, and I need to make it more often.
• Whole Wheat Chocolate Chunk Banana Bread -- Discovered at a little chocolate shop in Chicago and fell in love with this bread.
• Marbled Banana Bread -- Fuzz and I were eating breakfast at a Hilton in NYC and they had this on the menu. We came home and made it ourselves.
• Peanut Butter Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips -- This bread has it all.

Cream Cheese in Banana Bread

Maybe it's swirled into it like cheesecake or mixed in with the batter. These recipes have cream cheese.

• Cream Cheese Swirl Banana Bread -- This recipe can be made as one regular size loaf or divided between two 8x4 inch type pans for two smaller loaves. Great for giving one away and keeping one for home.
• Chocolate Tahini Banana Bread -- This is an attention-grabbing banana bread which could go in the Secret Ingredient category as well.
• Cream Cheese Banana Bread -- A full 8 oz block of cream cheese is stirred into the batter giving this loaf a light but firm crumb and white interior.

Banana Meets Other Fruit Breads

• Tropical Banana Bread -- I almost wanted to put this in the darker banana bread section since the 2 teaspoons of baking soda give it a darker crumb, but with pineapple and coconut in the mix, it's more of a multi-fruit loaf.

Self-Rising Flour Recipes

I don't have a lot of banana bread with self-rising flour recipes because everyone seems to love this one.

• Self-Rising Flour Banana Bread -- Self-rising flour is usually made with a softer wheat, which gives this an appealing crumb.

Healthy-Ish Banana Bread Recipes

Any banana bread is healthy for the soul, but these have a healthy "hook" so to speak. Some are higher in fiber and contain bran.

• Bran Banana Bread -- Calls for unprocessed wheat bran, not the cereal.
• Bran Cereal Banana Bread -- Calls for the cereal, not the unprocessed wheat bran.
• Truvia Banana Bread -- If you like Truvia, it works well in this banana bread recipe.
• Flax Banana Bread -- Flax is my idea of a powerhouse grain. This banana bread calls for a lot of it!
• Vegan Banana Bread -- Don't eat eggs? Don't eat dairy? Try this recipe.
• Low Fat Banana Bread -- Only a tablespoon of oil in the whole loaf, and still very moisty and flavorful.
• National Good Neighbor Day Banana Bread -- I'm not even sure what to file this one under, but the recipe includes both white and whole wheat flour.
• Cottage Cheese Banana Bread -- Cottage cheese in the batter (mostly) disappears when baked.
• Terri's Mom's Banana Bread -- Costa Rica inspired!

Small Batch Banana Bread Recipes

Perfect for when you only have one or two bananas or don't want a huge loaf sitting around all week.

• Half Dozen Banana Muffins
• Banana Bread with One Banana-- Makes one 3x5 loaf or 3 ramekins of moist, flavorful banana bread (no eggs, no dairy)
• Oil Free Chocolate Banana Cake

Yeast Banana Bread

I only have one recipe for yeasted banana bread and this is it.

• Banana Bread With Yeast

Banana Cakes

• Olanda Banana Bread (More of a cake)
• Sour Cream Banana Cake -- A family favorite which needs a new photo. I'm getting tired of writing recipe descriptions and should probably be in the kitchen making this one right now.

Distinctive Banana Muffins

• Banana Muffin Squares -- Banana muffins baked in a brownie bar pan.
• Low Sugar Banana Muffins -- Drain frozen bananas, boil the juice method.
• Chocolate Chip Cappuccino Muffins -- Coffee & banana flavor with chocolate chips!
• Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins -- An excellent banana muffin recipe shared at The Chicago Food Swap. This is a personal favorite now.
• Small Batch Sour Cream Muffins
• Champagne Banana Muffins -- Or just drink the champagne...
• Grain Free Banana Muffins -- Gluten-free banana muffins with almond flour and coconut flour. Flat but moist and tasty.