Filled with naturally sweet bananas and beautiful bright berries, this moist Banana Berry Bread has a lot less sugar than most quick breads you’ll find in stores and is undeniably delicious!
This Banana Berry Bread and a super simple breakfast to start your day off or a great snack to bring to after school pick-up. It’s filled with delicious tart berries and naturally sweet bananas. Put it in your kid’s lunchbox and get ready to be the best parent ever!
I started coming up with more quick bread recipes several years ago when my kids started getting taller. What does that mean, you ask? Let me explain. For example, when the kids were younger and we would make the occasional stop by Starbucks for some mommy java, the kids would never ask for anything from the bakery case because, most likely, they weren’t tall enough to see into the bakery case.
Then one day – BOOM – Chloe was on her tippy toes with her faced pressed again the glass, drooling and pointing to all the snacks she wanted to try. I relented and let her get a treat, and after that experience, I decided to start making more of my own cake-like breads to slice and put in reusable or wax paper bags to bring as a special snack for after school pick up.
It should come as no surprise that when I made this Banana Berry Bread for the first time and pulled the loaf out of the oven and put it on top of the stove to cool, there was Chloe peering over the edge of the counter, just waiting for it to be ready to slice. It’s crazy to think that now she’s almost as tall and I am and old enough to make quick breads and baked goods all on her own!
Looking for more quick breads and muffins? Try my Banana Chocolate Chip Bread, Gluten Free Banana Bread, Chocolate Zucchini Bread or Banana Wheat Germ Muffins.
Banana Berry Bread
Ingredients
- 2 cups white whole wheat flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 3 small ripe bananas, mashed
- 1/3 cup milk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups mixed berries (fresh or frozen)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350º F.
- In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
- In the bowl of a standing mixer, cream together the butter and sugar for 3 minutes, until light and fluffy.
- Add the egg, bananas, milk and vanilla and mix to combine well.
- Gradually add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just combined. Gently fold in the berries. Frozen berries can be substituted for fresh. Add berries while frozen, no need to defrost. This will help from coloring the bread.
- Pour the batter into a 9 x 5 inch greased loaf pan and bake for 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Allow the bread to cool for 10 minutes, then remove to a cooling rack.
- To freeze: Wrap the bread and then place in a labeled zipper bag for up to 3 months.
How do you get berries to go all over bread? I even put a little flour around berries and they all kinda sunk to the middle and bottom of banana berry bread.
I made mini loaf and it came out really good. I’m sure making muffins would work.
What am I doing wrong if it takes a lot longer than an hour to cook?
Can this recipe be used with just one egg?
Absolutely delicious & soooo moist! Made it for Easter brunch yesterday. Another hit, thank you!
My triplets loved this! Do you have nutritional info on this?
Any idea on the calorie amount?
Banana bread is already “berry bread”. Banana is a berry… But your raspberries and strawberries are not. So technically you turned a berry bread into a fruit salad…
I make this a lot! I always use frozen berries. And, the first time I made it I was out of butter, but I HAD just made apple sauce and so substituted. Turned out amazing!
I want to make try this but its hard to find good fresh berries this time of year. Can you use frozen berries?
I made this exactly as the recipe shows. It was delicious!!
Amy is right, this is one of the best banana breads I have ever tasted too. The addition of coconut was genius. I reduced the sugar as well. My 18 month old loved it!
I haven’t tried that, but I’m sure it would work just fine!
Do you think I could pour the batter in muffin tins rather than a loaf pan?
Delicious! I reduced the sugar to 1/2 cup and sprinkled 1/4 cup sweetened coconut on top of the loaf before baking. One of the best banana breads I’ve ever tasted.
Hi Catherine,
I would really love to try out this recipe, but I am not used to the ‘cups’ measurement. Would you be able to help me check if the conversions below are right, please?
2 cups of flour = 256g
1/2 cup of unsalted butter = 113g
3/4 cup of sugar = 96g (what kind of sugar?)
1/3 cup of milk = 80ml
2 cups of mixed berries = which cup do you use?
Sorry for the trouble, but would appreciate your help on this! Thank you! 🙂
Holy Hannah, this was good! Our three-year-old couldn’t eat it fast enough, but our six-year-old gave it a “so-so” rating; she’s never been one for fruits or berries, so the fact that it wasn’t an automatic thumbs-down is a ringing endorsement indeed!
Yes you can, but the texture will be a bit different!
Can i use one cup of whole wheat flour and one cup white flour?
I like to refrigerate breads since they have eggs and fat in them!
Do you keep it on the counter or refrigerate?
Yes, same amount!
my kids will love this! but i have to use almond milk? would it be same amount?
I use a standard, 9 x 5 inch (or 1 pound) loaf pan! You can use any size you have, you’ll just have to keep an eye on it and adjust the baking time!
What size load pan is recommended?
I made this today and it was completely demolished! Everyone loved it. I used frozen blackberries and fresh strawberries. Thank you Catherine. PS – My daughter (3.5) LOVES watching your videos, she loves to imitate everything your kids do!
I made it with whole wheat flour, fresh strawberries and blueberries and it is amazing!!!
Can I use maple syrup instead of sugar?
Aww, yes it’s ok to wish your kids to stay little:) kids grow and change so fast! This recipe sounds yummy:)
Yes you can!
Could I mix white and whole wheat flour
Then that’s a whole other recipe! Here are some zucchini bread recipes! http://b12.ba4.myftpupload.com/2010/03/10/zucchini-muffins/
http://b12.ba4.myftpupload.com/2012/01/24/chocolate-zucchini-bread/
http://b12.ba4.myftpupload.com/2012/07/05/zucchini-cheddar-bread/
Hi Catherine. How about subbing zucchini for berries?
If it is the same consistency as white sugar, then yes you can use it at a 1:1 ratio!
My son is a diabetic. Can you use a sugar substitute? Would it be the same amount?
Frozen berries should work just fine! Just make sure to gently fold them into the batter so they don’t bleed!
I have the same question! Frozen fruit ok? Do you have to thaw it or can you keep it frozen?
I have the same question! 🙂
Looks delicious! Would it be okay to make with frozen berries? Any changes to the cook time?
You can, but it will come out more dense and chewy!
Can I do it with whole wheat?
Yes, about 20 minutes! Or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Hi Catherine! Looks yummy! If I wanted to make muffins, bake for 20 minutes?
This looks delicious!