Butter Pecan Banana Bread

How to Make Butter Pecan Banana Bread

Ingredients for Butter Pecan Banana Bread:

• Butter – You’ll need butter for both the loaf and the buttered pecans. Use unsalted butter in baking so you control the amount of salt used.
• Pecans – Chopped pecans are one of the star ingredients of this recipe! You’ll love the crunchy pecans studded throughout this moist banana bread.
• Salt – Also used in the buttered pecans, fine salt balances out the sweetness of the loaf.
  
• All-purpose flour – Make sure your dry ingredients are measured correctly, so you don’t end up with dry or dense banana bread.
• Baking soda – Learn more about the differences between baking soda and baking powder here.
• Cinnamon – Pairs perfectly with the nutty flavors in this loaf.
• Granulated sugar – Sweetens as well as moistens this banana pecan bread recipe.
• Eggs – Helps bind everything together and provide structure.
• Bananas – It’s not banana bread without mashed bananas. Use very overripe bananas for the best texture and sweetness.
• Sour cream or plain full-fat yogurt – Helps achieve a tender, moist texture.
• Vanilla extract – Stir in a splash of vanilla to help make this the most flavorful banana bread recipe.

Can I Add Chocolate Chips to This Recipe?

Yes! Add a scant cup of semisweet chocolate chips, folding in with the flour and pecans as written in the recipe.

How Ripe Should Bananas Be for Banana Bread?

• Be sure to use very overripe bananas.
• Overripe bananas should be very soft and covered with dark brown speckles.
• Appropriately overripe bananas not only provide a sweet flavor but also help to add more moisture to banana bread.
• If you have more overripe bananas than you need for this recipe, you can always peel them, mash them, then freeze them for baking later. Or use them in smoothies!

How to Ripen Bananas Quickly:

1. To speed up ripening, place bananas in a paper bag and store in a warm area for a day or two. The peels create ethylene gas, which fills up the bag and helps them ripen faster.
2. To ripen bananas today, place whole unpeeled bananas on a baking sheet in a 300°F oven for about 30 to 40 minutes, or until the skins are darkened and the fruit is soft. This doesn’t quite yield the same effect as allowing the bananas to ripen naturally, but it’ll work in a pinch.

How to Mash Bananas for Banana Bread

Place overripe bananas on a cutting board and mash very well by hand with a fork or potato masher. I find mashing with an electric mixer or hand mixer makes the batter too thin to rise well, often leading to bread that’s slightly mushy in the center or even slightly sunken in the center.

How to Make Banana Bread MOIST

Besides using overripe bananas, also be sure to measure your flour correctly. This makes a world of difference between moist banana bread and dry banana bread. Lastly, avoid overmixing the batter once the wet and dry ingredients have been combined, otherwise you’ll end up with dry and rubbery banana bread.

The Best Banana Bread Pan

The pan I recommend using is a METAL 9 by 5-inch loaf pan.

• Glass and ceramic pans can take MUCH longer to bake.
• Not just banana bread, but brownies and sheet cakes too – see my experiments on this here!
• You also risk the banana bread collapsing in the center and being underbaked in the middle.
• If you only have a glass or ceramic pan, add anywhere from 5 to 20 minutes to the baking time and use my tips below for judging when banana bread is done cooking.

Additionally, use the correct size loaf pan for best results: 9 by 5-inches.

• I know that an 8 1/2 by 4 1/2-inch pan seems practically identical, but the difference in volume capacity is 15%, and that has a surprisingly large impact on the final loaf.
• If you use the smaller pan size, you may end up with a loaf that spills over the edges and sinks into an underbaked sad crevice in the center.
• If that’s all you have, remove about 15% of the banana bread batter from your bowl before pouring into the pan (feel free to bake the excess in a muffin tin instead, following the baking temperature and time from my Bakery Style Banana Muffins recipe).

How Long to Bake Banana Bread

• Bake your butter pecan banana bread until it registers an internal temperature of 200 to 205°F.
• Use an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center.
• This is the best and easiest way to ensure your bread is perfectly cooked through but not overdone.
• You could also insert a toothpick; the loaf should be done baking when there are a few moist crumbs still attached.

Why is my Banana Bread Gummy?

Banana bread can get gummy if the batter was overmixed or the loaf was underbaked.

How to Store Butter Pecan Banana Bread

Cover and store cooled banana nut bread at room temperature for 2 days. The flavors will actually intensify as the bread sits! If your bread has started to stale, brush both sides with butter and toast in a skillet until slightly caramelized before serving.

How to Freeze Butter Pecan Banana Bread

Tightly wrap the completely cooled loaf or slices in aluminum foil and place in a resealable freezer bag. Butter Pecan Banana Bread can be frozen for up to three months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight or at room temperature for a few hours. If thawing an entire loaf, you can also refresh the loaf by popping into a 325°F oven for about 10 minutes.