Banana Nut Bread
Banana Nut Bread is soft, tender, and loaded with nutty flavor. This baked egg recipe uses ground nuts to safely expose toddlers and young kids to pecans or walnuts.
I just love banana bread. However, as my kids grow older, it becomes harder to keep bananas in the kitchen long enough for them to get to the perfect ripeness for banana bread.
For awhile, I was collecting them one at a time in the freezer until I reached enough to make this recipe. But even that was taking too long.
So I have started hiding five bananas at the back of the cereal shelf whenever I want to make banana nut bread. Otherwise, my toddler starts yelling “I want more ‘nana!” if he sees them sitting on the shelf in plain sight.
I used to make this banana bread with a streusel topping, but honestly chocolate chips are easier and my kids prefer them.
I added the nuts as a nod to my childhood favorite mini banana nut muffins. Remember the kind that came in a package of five or six? I used to just love those. This bread takes me back to those days.
Can infants or toddlers eat banana nut bread?
Good question. I specifically choose to ground the nuts in this recipe so that it would be a family-friendly and developmentally appropriate option. Nuts (and seeds) are considered a choking hazard for children under 4 years of age.
However, nuts that have been ground to the consistency of flour are safe to bake with. Which is why my banana nut recipe is a great way to introduce tree nuts safely to an older infant or toddler.
How do you grind nuts into flour?
Some tree nuts (like almonds) can be purchased in the actual flour consistency. But if you want to save money (or reduce risk for cross contamination with peanuts or other tree nuts), you can easily make pecan or walnut flour at home.
Here are my favorite methods:
Option 1: Place nuts in plastic bag and seal, taking care to remove air. Use a kitchen mallet to pound nuts into flour consistency.
Option 2: Place nuts in a food processor or blender. Blend until nuts are finely broken up but not for so long that they become creamy and turn into nut-butter.
With either option, it is important to double check for any large chunks of nuts before adding to baking mixture.
What are allergy-friendly substitutions for this recipe?
As written, this recipe contains wheat, eggs, and tree nuts. Chocolate chips most likely will contain milk.
To make wheat-free: use wheat-free all-purpose flour blend
To make nut-free: omit walnuts or pecans
To make milk-free: use milk-free chocolate chips or omit
To make egg-free: try my egg-free Banana Muffin recipe
How to make Banana Nut Bread
Step 1: Wash hands with soap and warm water. Gather ingredients and supplies.
Step 2: Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease bottom of 4½ x 8½-inch loaf pan.
Step 3: In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and sugar. Whisk until evenly combined.
Step 4: In a medium bowl, mash the bananas into a smooth puree. Add the eggs, sugar, and oil. Whisk to combine.
Step 5: Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients.
Step 6: Fold in ground nuts and chocolate chips (optional). Pour into loaf pan.
Step 7: Bake at 350°F for 50-60 minutes. Cool in loaf pan for 10 minutes, then remove from pan. Cool before slicing.
More sweet bread & muffin recipes:
Banana Nut Bread
Lisa Woodruff | June 2, 2022
- Prep time:10 minutes
- Cook time:50-60 minutes
- Total time: 1¼ hour
No peanuts | No milk | No soy | No fish | No sesame
Contains wheat, eggs, and tree nuts. Chocolate chips may contain milk.
Ingredients:
- 2 cups flour
- 1½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 5 medium bananas, mashed
- 2 eggs, beaten
- ¾ cup sugar
- ½ cup canola oil
- ¼ cup walnuts or pecans, ground
- ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional)
Instructions:
- Wash hands with soap and warm water. Gather ingredients and supplies.
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease bottom of 4½ x 8½-inch loaf pan.
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and sugar. Whisk until evenly combined.
- In a medium bowl, mash the bananas into a smooth puree. Add the eggs, sugar, and oil. Whisk to combine.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients.
- Fold in ground nuts and chocolate chips (optional). Pour into loaf pan.
- Bake at 350°F for 50-60 minutes. Cool in loaf pan for 10 minutes, then remove from pan. Cool before slicing.
Allergy-friendly Substitutions:
- No wheat: use wheat-free all-purpose flour blend
- No tree nuts: omit walnuts or pecans
- No milk: use milk-free chocolate chips or omit
- No egg: try my egg-free Banana Muffin recipe
