This is a good old fashioned banana nut bread recipe with buttermilk. The recipe that my mom used for her entire life, and was handed down to her from my grandmother. Easy quick bread that’s dense, moist and full of banana flavor.
Serve this with Fried Ham and Potatoes (Country Potatoes) for a good old fashioned breakfast.
Tis the season for baking so I’m posting my mom’s Banana Nut Bread recipe.
Nothing new, nothing special, just a reliable, moist and old-fashioned quick bread using good old Crisco. This recipe uses the creaming method where the shortening, sugar and eggs are creamed together before the bananas and dry ingredients are added.
Creaming adds air, and affects the volume and texture of the bread. And no, I’ve not become an overnight baking expert, I Googled it.
This recipe has been in our family for a very long time. And the reason this old fashioned, is due to the use of Crisco vegetable shortening.
Banana Nut Bread made a regular year-round appearance when I was growing up. Served with butter most of the time, then sometime in the 70’s, my mom came up with the idea of spreading room temperature cream cheese over a warm slice.
However you slice it and serve it, it’s my favorite.
Old Fashioned Banana Nut Bread Recipe
I hope you give this old fashioned banana nut bread recipe a try. And if you do, please come back and let me know how you liked it and give the recipe a star rating.
Your feedback is valuable to me for developing future recipes. And if you have a favorite quick bread recipe, let me know, I’d love to give it a try.
More Quick Bread Recipes
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Old Fashioned Banana Nut Bread
Ingredients
- 2 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup vegetable shortening Crisco
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup banana very ripe and mashed
- ½ cup buttermilk
- 2 large eggs
- ¾ cup pecans — chopped
Instructions
- Sift flour, soda and salt together.
- With a hand mixer or stand mixer, rream shortening and sugar, add eggs and beat until fluffy. About 2 minutes. Add dry ingredients, mashed bananas, buttermilk and chopped pecans.
- Pour batter into greased 9 x 5", 9 ½ x 5 ½ " or two 8" loaf pans. Bake 350 degrees 50 minutes for the larger pans, or 40 minutes for the small pans. Test with a cake tester to make sure batter is cooked through. Oven temps vary, so I start checking doneness after 40 – 50 minutes and add a few minutes on the timer until banana bread is cooked through.
- Let the loaves cool completely. Run a butter knife around the edge of the bread and then invert the loaf to gently nudge out of the pan. If needed, tap the bottom of the pan while the loaf is upside down to encourage it to release.
Notes
- Use very ripe bananas.
- Use butter to grease the pans before baking. You can also flour the pans for extra protection against sticking and easy removal.
- I like to use two 8-inch loaf pans. You can also use one 9-inch loaf pan. If your use the larger loaf pan, increase cooking time to 50 minutes.
Nutrition
Old Fashioned Banana Nut Bread …It’s What’s for Baking.
From The Kitchen Of Lea Ann Brown
Why Trust These Recipes? Lea Ann Brown has lived, worked and played in Colorado for 45 years. She has immersed herself in the Colorado Culinary space, is a Culinary School Graduate and publishes her Colorado food Blog, Cooking On The Ranch.
I am going to bake a loaf of this today. We love banana bread. The only difference in our recipes is the Crisco (my recipe calls for butter) and the amount of sugar (mine calls for 2 cups). I’m using your recipe today , except using butter since that’s what I have on hand. Also I’m using only 1 cup of sugar, like you
I appreciate your directions. My recipe was handwritten and the directions are confusing. Thats what made me start searching for recipes. Thank you!
I have used and LOVED this recipe for years. I like to add a dusting of sugar on top. You can also substitute (or add) ANYTHING such as 1 cup of blueberries or chopped apples. I make my own buttermilk by mixing 1 cup milk with 1 tbs lemon juice or vinegar – and just let it stand for 5 minutes.
Tired of all the B-nan bread recipes @ Allrecipes so tried Google. Never heard of using Crisco so tried your recipe. Oh wow, turned out so good with a nice “crust” and delicate texture. Gotta share with my sister, she will love this too. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Deb and thanks for your note.
In this day and age, using Crisco in a bread recipe does sound “different”. This recipe is a recipe that my mom made all of her life that she got from her Mom. In a day when Crisco was used more commonly. Hence the title, “Old Fashioned”.
It’s the only way I’ve ever made it.
I so much appreciate your note, I’m glad you tried it and so glad you liked it.
MMMMMM! A lovely banana bread! I love it too! 🙂
Thanks Sophie. Happy New Year.
One of my boys’ favorites! I hate the stuff but the rest of the family LOVES it. The hardest part is getting bananas to last long enough in our house to get ripe, the boys devour them before they get ripe.
I always have good intentions with bananas but always seem to have a few that end up getting too ripe. I think you’re the first person I know that doesn’t like banana nut bread.
I love holiday baking but get tired of all the overly rich foods and go quickly back to old standby recipes like this one. A little bit of cream cheese is the perfect addition. Happy holiday, Lea Ann.
You can never have too many banana bread recipes! I have some bananas ready for baking in the kitchen now. This recipe will be perfect, thanks!
The classics are always best!!!
Your photo captured the soft crust of banana bread perfectly. I can almost taste it. I will add this to my cookbook as the “go to” recipe – thanks! (of course I’m drooling over the vintage silver – it’s a total weakness) 🙂
There’s nothing like old-fashioned banana bread! 🙂
I most always have a few mini loaves of banana bread in my freezer. It’s a perennial favorite of ours. I have a tried and true recipe that we love but yours sounds well worth trying. It looks delicious! I also love your mother’s idea of cream cheese on it! That’s something I’ve never tried but certainly will now.
You can never go wrong with good old banana bread! Loving this recipe!
Aaaaaaahhh… just like the banana bread recipe in my family.. I love this!! Simple and perfect…. and I am so going to try the cream cheese spread idea next time I make it… that sounds decadent and wonderful!
Love the idea of cream cheese on the bread in place of butter. We use cream cheese more and more and the low fat version isn’t too bad for you calorie and fat wise.
Sam
You just can’t beat an old fashioned banana bread recipe!
I love any kind of quick bread with cream cheese on it. Yummy!
Yummy is right Karen. 🙂
I love banana nut bread especially when made with black walnuts, like Bev’s mom did. Her dad would spend hours cracking those pesky things and digging out the nut meat.
I would imagine the reward of that banana bread made it worth the tedious task of cracking those walnuts. I love family food memories like this.
Love the creaming part. My Mom and Grandma were great fans of Crisco. That was what made their pie crusts so great. Happy Holidays Lee Ann.