These banana nut bread mini loaves are moist, tender, delicious versions of their full-sized counterparts. Adorable mini loaves full of deep banana flavor and the crunch and earthy flavor of walnuts are topped with a thick, rich, sweet, and tangy cream cheese frosting to create miniature versions of everyone’s favorite quick bread.
I love making banana bread. It’s a go-to quick bread recipe for me year-round, but when the holidays approach, I like to do something a little more special with them. I love making these mini banana nut bread loaves for the fall season because they work perfectly for both Thanksgiving and Christmas, and their small package gives them a wonderfully festive feel. The best part is that they’re just as easy to make as traditional banana bread and taste just as good.
Why You’ll Love This Banana Walnut Mini Loaf Recipe
- Basic Ingredients: Just like regular banana bread, these mini loaves use basic baking ingredients found in any kitchen or grocery store.
- Easy: Both the banana bread and cream cheese frosting are quick and easy to make.
- Classic Flavor: These mini loaves explode with banana and walnut flavor and classic cream cheese frosting.
- Customizable: Change out the nuts, add chocolate chips, or do anything else to spruce up these loves just as you would regular banana bread.
- Versatile: These mini loaves have a flavor that makes them perfect for any gathering.
Ingredients
Banana Bread
- Ripe Bananas: Ripe bananas give the bread its deep banana flavor. The riper, the better!
- Sour Cream: Sour cream makes the banana bread extra tender.
- Walnuts: Chopped walnuts add crunch and a classic earthy flavor to the banana bread.
- Eggs: Eggs bind the other batter ingredients together, and the fat helps add richness to the bread.
- Butter: Like the eggs, the fat in the butter adds richness to the bread and a subtle buttery note.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- Cream Cheese and Butter: Cream cheese and butter create the rich base for the frosting.
- Powdered Sugar: Powdered sugar adds sweetness and body to the frosting.
See the recipe card at the end of the post for a full list of ingredients and their exact amounts.
Flavor Variations
- Nuts: You can use walnuts, pecans, almonds, or even cashews in this bread.
- Chocolate Chips: Add chocolate chips for more sweet flavor.
- Greek Yogurt: Full fat Greek yogurt can be used in place of sour cream.
- Frosting: For a sweeter version of this recipe, use buttercream frosting.
- Banana Frosting: Add a bit of banana extract for banana frosting.
How to This Make Banana Nut Bread Mini Loaves Recipe
For the Banana Bread
1: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spray a mini loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray.
2: Beat the butter and sugar until creamy. Then, add the eggs and beat until combined. Add the sour cream and vanilla and beat again.
3: Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and beat until just combined. Then, mix in the mashed bananas and walnuts until combined.
4: Divide the batter equally between the mini loaf pan wells and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
5: Remove the banana loaves from the oven and let them cool completely.
For the Frosting
1: Beat the cream cheese and butter in a medium mixing bowl until combined. Then, add the vanilla extract and beat again.
2: Gradually add the powdered sugar, beating until the frosting is smooth and creamy.
3: Frost the cooled mini banana loaves and top them with a banana slice. Enjoy!
Hint
The secret to really good banana bread is using the ripest bananas possible. As long as they don’t smell, have mold on them, or are leaking, they’re great for baking!
Storage
Refrigerate these banana nut mini loaves for up to 4 days in an airtight container. Bring to room temperature before serving.
What to Serve with These Mini Banana Nut Bread Loaves
Serve these mini loaves as an afternoon snack with a glass of milk or a cup of coffee or tea. You can also serve them alongside savory breakfast dishes like breakfast sliders, bacon-wrapped hash browns, or sausage and egg breakfast casserole for a sweet and savory start to the day.
Of course, their classic flavor and fun package make them a great addition to a holiday or party dessert table, alongside other sweet treats like dark chocolate zucchini cupcakes, apple walnut oatmeal cookies, or pumpkin pecan cake.
Tips
- Use the ripest bananas possible for the best results. For example, those bananas with the dark brown or blackish skins that have soft, mushy, brown fruit on the inside are perfect for baking.
- Mix your banana bread batter until just combined. Overmixing will make the bread dense and tough.
- Fold the mashed bananas and walnuts into the bread batter to prevent creating excess gluten.
- Be sure your banana bread loaves are fully cooled before frosting them, or the frosting will thin and slide off of the bread.
Frequently Asked Questions
When it comes to baking, skip perfectly yellow bananas. They’re great for snacking but terrible for baking. Instead, use those bananas that are so soft and mushy that they almost collapse when you touch them. The skin should be dark brown to almost black. These bananas give baked goods the sweetest, most concentrated banana flavor.
Bananas can be too ripe for eating but not for baking. Super-soft bananas with brown fruit may have bacteria, but the baking process will kill it. The only time a banana is too ripe for baking is when it’s officially gone bad. Never use a banana with mold on the skin, a strong fermented smell, or one that’s leaking any kind of fluid.
To quickly and easily get your bananas super-ripe for baking, place them in a paper bag. The bag allows for air circulation while trapping the ethylene gas, which causes the bananas to ripen. Add a ripe apple, pear, or banana to further concentrate the ethylene gas to make the process even faster.
If your banana bread was dry, you probably used too much flour. Most people scoop the flour out with their measuring cup, but this compacts it and causes too much to be used. Instead, loosely spoon the flour into your measuring cup and level it off with a knife.
Adding sour cream to baked goods gives them a subtle tangy flavor. However, more importantly than that, the acidity of the sour cream makes the baked goods extra moist and tender.
Try These Banana Nut Bread Mini Loaves Today
These banana nut bread mini loaves are just as loaded with banana and walnut flavor as their big brothers, and they’re finished off with a healthy dose of cream cheese frosting for the ultimate banana treat. With easy prep and so much delicious flavor, this is one banana bread recipe you need to try. Make it just once, and you’ll be hooked.
More Banana Recipes You’ll Enjoy
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Mini Banana Nut Loaves
Ingredients
Banana Loaves
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup butter, softened
- 1 ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 medium bananas, mashed
- 1 cup walnuts, chopped
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
- ½ cup butter, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1 banana, sliced
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spray a mini loaf cake pan with non-stick cooking spray.
Banana Loaves
- In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar together until creamy.
- Add in eggs and beat until combined then beat in sour cream and vanilla.
- Next, add flour, baking soda and salt then beat just until combined.
- Stir in mashed bananas and chopped walnuts. Mix until well combined.
- Pour equally into prepared mini loaf cake pans and bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven and cool completely before frosting.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- In a medium mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and butter together until combined, then add vanilla extract.
- Gradually add in powdered sugar and beat until smooth and creamy.
- Once cakes have cooled, frost cakes and top with a banana slice.
Nutrition
This is my go to banana bread recipe! As someone who has been on the search for a delicious banana bread recipe for years, this one is my favorite!
I don’t make the frosting.
These loaves are moist and delicious!
I want to make this banana bread, but banana’s are not listed in the ingredients of this recipe. How many bananas does this recipe call for?
Thank you so much, Pat. The recipe has been updated. It takes 4 medium bananas. I hope you enjoy these. :)
How much mashed bananas for this recipe? Seems the bananas were omitted by mistake on the recipe.
The recipe has been updated. Sorry about that. :)
How much mashed banana is used in the banana bread? All I see is the sliced banana garnish.
Hi Lynn, the recipe uses 4 mashed bananas. :)
There is no mention of bananas listed in the ingredients, for the banana bread portion of the recipe. How much banana do I need?
Hi Patricia, I have updated the recipe. Sorry about that. I hope you enjoy these. It takes 4 mashed bananas. :)
How many bananas?
The recipe has been updated. It takes 4 mashed bananas. :)