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Banana Pecan Nut Bread (with Peanut Butter!)

Three slices of Banana Pecan Bread and loaf on parchment paper with a bread knife.
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5 from 1 review

This Banana Pecan Nut Bread is incredibly moist, soft, and absolutely delicious! It uses less eggs and sugar than most other recipes, and is still wonderfully fluffy, sweet, and nutty thanks to the addition of creamy peanut butter and pecans!

Ingredients

Scale
  • 3-4 medium overripe Bananas (about 1.5 – 2 cups mashed)
  • 100g grams (1/2 cup) Unsalted Butter – cut into smaller chunks
  • 1 large Egg
  • ¼ cup Light Brown Sugar
  • ¼ cup granulated White Sugar
  • ¼ cup Creamy (smooth) Peanut Butter
  • 1 TSP Vanilla Extract
  • 2 cups Unbleached White All-Purpose Flour
  • ½ TSP Baking Powder
  • 1 TSP Baking Soda
  • ½ TSP Fine Sea Salt
  • ¾ TSP ground Cinnamon
  • ¼ TSP ground Nutmeg
  • 100 grams (about 1 cup) Pecans – coarsely chopped*
  • Olive Oil or melted butter, for greasing the pan

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 165°C/325°F/Gas Mark 3. (Note: If using a nonstick metal or aluminum steel loaf pan, preheat to 175°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4). Grease a 9×5-inch glass loaf dish or a 9×5-inch loaf pan with olive oil or melted butter.
  2. Peel the bananas and place the flesh in a large mixing bowl. Use a potato masher (or fork) to mash until mostly smooth (it’s okay if there are a few small lumps).
  3. Place the unsalted butter in a microwave safe measuring cup or bowl and heat for 30-45 seconds, stirring in between, until melted.
  4. To the bowl with the mashed banana, add the egg, melted butter, brown sugar, granulated white sugar, peanut butter, and vanilla extract. Stir until combined well. (It’s okay if there are still some peanut butter swirls: they should disappear in the next step.)
  5. Next, add the all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, fine sea salt, ground cinnamon, and ground nutmeg. Mix until combined well and there are no longer lumps of flour visible.
  6. Add ¾ cup of the pecans and fold into the batter until just combined. Do not overmix. (Overmixing can cause more air bubbles and gluten to form in the batter, which can result in a rubbery and chewy loaf. So be sure to mix until JUST combined!) Then transfer the batter to the prepared baking pan/dish and smooth the top with a rubber spatula or the back of a large spoon. Top evenly with the remainder chopped pecans.
  7. Bake for 65-75 minutes (if using a nonstick metal or aluminum steel loaf pan, bake for 55-65 minutes), or until a wooden toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.
  8. Transfer the baking dish to a cooling rack and allow to rest for 10 minutes. Then carefully invert the loaf onto the cooling rack and set it upright. Cool completely, then slice and enjoy!

Equipment

Notes

  1. Baking time may vary: A lot of factors such as the size of your eggs, size of your bananas, the type of oven you have – electric or fan, and even altitude can affect how long it’ll take the banana bread batter to fully cook through. That’s why I recommend testing for doneness with a wooden toothpick. Once it comes out clean, you’ll know that the bread is done.
  2. Storing: The banana bread can be stored sliced or whole in a sealed airtight container either in the fridge or on the counter for 4-5 days. Cling wrapping the loaf (or individual slices) and placing in the sealed airtight container will ensure that the bread remains moist and fresh.
  3. Freezing: You can freeze the banana loaf whole or as slices. Wrap up the loaf tightly in cling wrap after it cools completely, then wrap it up again in foil for an extra layer of protection. Alternatively, place the cling wrapped banana bread in a sealed freezer bag instead of wrapping it in foil. Then freeze for up to three months. To thaw, unwrap the banana bread loaf and place it on a paper towel lined cutting board on your counter. The loaf will take around two hours to fully thaw. To freeze individual slices, follow the same procedure as for freezing the loaf. It will take around 30-60 minutes to defrost for the slices. Microwave the slices for a few seconds to enjoy warm banana bread if you like.
  4. Pro-tip for overmixing: Sometimes stirring the batter too much can cause air bubbles to form in the batter. To force them to be released, firmly tap the baking loaf pan/dish on the counter a few times before placing in the oven to bake. The bubbles will be forced to the top and “pop”. The less air bubbles there are, the more moist your loaf will be.
  5. Chopped pecan sizes: I like to have a variety of pecan sizes in the banana bread loaf and for topping it with. You can chop them all up coarsely if you like, or leave some bigger pieces like I do.

Nutrition

Find it online: https://thatspicychick.com/banana-pecan-nut-bread/