Christmas Banana Bread

Enrich your festive table with this flavorful Christmas banana bread loaded with lots of bananas, walnuts, and dried cranberries. The aroma of fresh holiday bread will fill the kitchen as you eagerly anticipate its final result.

Do you have a Christmas party coming up? If you are looking for an easy and delicious dessert to make, look no further!

This Christmas-themed banana bread is festive, comfy, and perfect for the holiday season.

It’s also great as a gift if you want to give something special to your neighbor or teacher at this time of the year.

You will love this banana bread because it is full of warm spices that make it taste like Christmas.

The bananas in the recipe make it moist and sweet, so everyone will enjoy eating it too!

Plus, this recipe only takes about 20 minutes of hands-on time, so there won’t be any stress involved with making this dessert either!

All you need is one bowl and a loaf pan - how simple can that get? Everyone will love having some of this on their plate at the next party or gathering.

What better way could there be than sharing food with family and friends during the holidays?

Don't sweat over a fancy cake! This simple banana Christmas loaf will become a new tradition in your home.

Jump to:

• Banana bread gift
• Why you should make this recipe
• Ingredients
• How to make Christmas banana bread
• Recipe variations
• Equipment
• Storage instructions
• Expert tips
• Frequently asked questions
• Love Christmas desserts? Try these next!
• Need to adjust your baking pan size?
• Recipe card
• Comments

Banana bread gift

Christmas is the most magical holiday of the year. Finally, it's time to give gifts to your family and friends.

Have you ever thought of making banana bread for Christmas gifts? Is it too simple?

It seems that a Christmas cookie box is a must-make during the holidays. But what about quick breads as mini loaf gift ideas?

Why not add some flair by turning a classic recipe into something new - a festive twist on traditional banana bread, for example?

Easy to make, full of festive flavors, and beautifully wrapped... What could be better than a homemade bread gift?

When it comes to making your loved ones happy, gift packaging always has the right words to say it. However, bringing a little creativity and dignity to your gift is essential.

Wrapping a loaf of banana bread doesn't present much difficulty. But first, you need to let the bread cool down completely before wrapping it up.

This step is essential; otherwise, the excess moisture will be entrapped between the wrapper and the bread loaf.

Then you need to choose if you give your baked bread in a ceramic or aluminum loaf pan (it was baked in) or present a loaf itself.

And finally, the gift wrapping begins. Use parchment paper, kraft paper, tissue paper... The choice of banana bread wrapping ideas is wide!

Wrap your loaf with a strip of white or brown parchment and tie it with a baker's twine, ribbon, burlap twine, or woolen thread.

Bring some festivity to a simple parchment paper by using decorative edged scissors to cut along the edges of the parchment.

To bring an elegant and refined touch, add a couple of tiny jingle bells, a slice of dried orange, a sprig of greenery, or tie a pink satin ribbon with a large bow.

Or wrap your loaf in a piece of wax paper first and then cover it with a printable bread wrapper. Wax paper will protect the bread from sticking to the paper-based packaging.

The simplest way to banana bread presentation is to wrap it with plastic film, place it in a large cellophane bag, and tie it with a ribbon.

Finally, what is the finishing touch to any self-respecting gift package? A gift tag! I even created one for you.

Just scroll down and look for FREE Christmas banana bread tags below. Then, download the PDF, print it on white or kraft cardstock, and cut the labeled tags with scissors or a paper trimmer.

Make a small hole with a paper punch and attach the tag to your Xmas banana bread. Now your gift is complete!

Why you should make this recipe

This Christmas banana bread recipe is so easy to make: it takes about 20 minutes of hands-on time; the rest is baking.

It is one of the best mini loaf recipes for Christmas: this holiday banana bread just smells and tastes like Christmas.

Baked as mini loaves, this quick bread makes a special treat, a Christmas morning favorite, and an afternoon snack.

Ingredients

Here is a quick overview of what ingredients you will need. Follow the full recipe below for exact amounts and instructions. I recommend making the recipe as written for the best results.

Butter: the recipe calls for unsalted butter, softened at room temperature.

You can also substitute butter for ½ cup + 2 teaspoons or 120 g of vegetable oil if you prefer.

Brown sugar: use golden brown sugar or replace it with light brown muscovado sugar. You can use white sugar (granulated or caster sugar) too.

Large eggs: make sure they are at room temperature.

Flour: the recipe calls for all-purpose flour, but you can use whole wheat pastry flour to make it healthier.

Baking powder: this banana bread is made without baking soda, but baking powder is used instead as a leavening agent.

Spices: use a combination of ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, and ground cloves.

Bananas: the key to the perfect homemade banana bread is overripe bananas with black spots all over. You can use frozen bananas with the potent flavor too.

Cinnamon chips: they bring an exceptional festive touch to this holiday banana bread.

You can substitute them for sweet chocolate chips or butterscotch chips if desired.

Dried cranberries: these berries give the sliced banana loaf a beautiful color. Replace them with halved maraschino cherries if desired.

Chopped walnuts: adding walnuts to banana bread is common, but feel free to replace them with pecans.

Dark rum: it brings a fruity note to banana bread. Replace it with cognac, brandy, or apple juice if you serve the bread to kids.

Almond flour: it is used to make a streusel on top of the bread. Substitute it with hazelnut flour if desired.

Icing sugar: make it yourself with a coffee grinder or use powdered sugar instead.

How to make Christmas banana bread

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F/150 degrees C. Butter and flour four porcelain mini loaf pans (9 oz. each).

To make the bread batter, use an electric mixer to beat softened butter and brown sugar in a large bowl for about 5 minutes.

Add eggs (at room temperature), dry ingredients (all-purpose flour sifted with baking powder, ground cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves), and delicately mix with a rubber spatula.

Using a fork or a potato masher, mash bananas and fold the banana mixture into the principal preparation.

Add cinnamon chips, whole or chopped cranberries, and chopped walnuts, and gently mix.

Add dark rum and mix with a spatula just until combined (don't over-mix!).

Pour the batter into the four prepared loaf pans, smooth it out, and refrigerate while making the streusel.

To make the streusel topping in a separate large mixing bowl, mix all-purpose flour, almond flour, icing (powdered) sugar, and chilled salted butter cut into small pieces.

Work with your hands to obtain the crumbly dough resembling wet sand.

Take the loaf pans from the fridge and sprinkle streusel on top of the batter.

Bake for 50 to 60 minutes. The sweet bread is ready when a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean.

Take the bread loaves from the oven and cool them in the tins on a wire rack for 10 to 15 minutes.

Then run a butter knife around the edges of the pan to carefully remove the bread from each baking pan. Or leave the bread in small pans to present it in such a way.

Finally, sprinkle the top of the holiday bread with icing (powdered) sugar if desired.

Recipe variations

Plain banana bread is delicious, but the Christmas banana loaf is the best.

Still, what mix-ins could you add to improve the already perfect flavor of the bread? Or are there any suggestions on how to increase its nutritional value?

Chopped nuts (walnuts or pecans), sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, dried fruit (raisins, cherries, etc.), and chocolate chips (dark, milk, white) are delicious additions.

Combine 2 to 3 of them to your liking. Just make sure not to exceed ¾ cup of all mix-ins.

First, you don't want the batter to overflow during baking. Second, you want your banana bread to rise.

To make a healthy version of Christmas banana bread, replace all-purpose flour with whole wheat pastry flour or gluten-free flour.

The easy way to make it without sugar is to follow the recipe for No-sugar-added Banana Bread, but add warm spices and unsweetened chocolate chips.

You can also play with streusel topping making it crispier if desired.

What is next? You can turn this Christmas banana loaf into a banana bread bundt cake!

With the vast variety of bundt cake pans from Nordic Ware, you can choose any to use.

Equipment

What baking tools do you need to make cinnamon banana bread? You will need minimum equipment such as a mixing bowl, an electric mixer, a rubber spatula, and mini loaf pans.

Storage instructions

Cover your banana bread with plastic wrap and store it at room temperature for two days or in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Well-wrapped banana bread can be frozen for 2 to 3 months and then thawed at room temperature. You can freeze a whole loaf or slices wrapped individually.

Expert tips

1. Do not over-mix the bread batter once you add mashed bananas. Instead, gently mix just to combine.
2. Watch out for the baking time. Check the loaf for doneness: a toothpick, a long, sharp knife, or a bamboo skewer inserted in the center of the bread should come out clean.
3. Use the same recipe to make a regular loaf in a nonstick bread pan (instead of a mini loaf pan). Bake it for 90 minutes.
4. Make sure to cool the bread before slicing and wrapping.

I hope you enjoy this festive twist on the classic banana bread recipe. Here are free printable banana bread tags.

Download The Printable Banana Bread Gift Tags >>

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Frequently asked questions

Love Christmas desserts? Try these next!

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Recipe card

The nutritional information has been calculated using an online recipe nutrition calculator such as Verywellfit.com and is intended for informational purposes only. These figures should be used as a general guideline and not be construed as a guarantee.