Pumpkin Banana Bread

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This pumpkin and banana bread is the best of both worlds. It is moist, beautifully spiced, and delicious. It's made with whole wheat pastry flour and has no refined sugar, artificial flavors, or preservatives.

Sliced healthy pumpkin banana bread in a marble serving board

Last night, I had a craving for something different. What was most familiar of all was exactly what my taste buds were looking forward to.

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Ingredients
How to make pumpkin banana bread
Expert Tips
Storing and frizing
Recipe FAQ
Love quick bread? Try these next!
Recipe card
Comments

Yes, all right, pumpkin banana bread! With banana bread and pumpkin pie flavors, this tasty loaf will have you feeling satisfied for hours.

Pumpkin bread is considered autumnal, and banana bread feels something like a "make it once you have bananas nobody wants to eat." Right?

Ingredients

For ingredients and detailed instructions, refer to the recipe card below.

Oil: use flavorless grapeseed oil or replace it with vegetable oil, avocado oil, or canola oil. The olive oil has a powerful flavor, so try to avoid it; otherwise, it will overwhelm the taste of the bread. Melted coconut oil sounds like an oil alternative, but I haven't tried this bread version.
Sugar: the recipe calls for organic coconut sugar. Feel free to swap it for golden brown sugar or white granulated sugar.
Large eggs at room temperature. I have not tried this recipe with flax eggs, which are an egg alternative for vegan pumpkin bread.
Flour: The recipe calls for whole wheat pastry flour, but you can replace it with white whole wheat flour or gluten-free flour.
Baking powder: use fresh baking powder (stored no longer than six months). Please don't confuse it with baking soda.
Pumpkin pie spice: Since the pumpkin puree is pretty bland on its own, adding pumpkin pie spice flavors the bread beautifully. You can replace it with ground cinnamon if desired.
Bananas: Use overripe bananas (brown or yellow bananas with brown spots on them). It is the same rule for most banana bread recipes, such as banana bread and banana bread mini muffins.
Pumpkin puree: Use store-bought 100% pure pumpkin puree, not a pumpkin pie filling: they are not the same. A whole can of pumpkin puree is a lot, so you may decide to make your own.
Maple syrup brings a nice note to your bake. Replace it with apple juice or even orange juice if desired. Use dark rum, cognac, or brandy instead of maple syrup to make a boozy, sweet bread.
Oats: use quick oats to make the streusel topping. They bring additional crunchiness to the crumble.
Butter: a small amount of salted butter is used to make the crumble topping. You can use unsalted butter with a pinch of salt.

Slices of pumpkin banana bread with butter served on a grey plate

How to make pumpkin banana bread

Step 1. To make the crumble topping, combine flour, quick oats, coconut sugar, and cold butter cut into cubes in a medium bowl. Work with your fingertips quickly to make the crumbly sand-looking dough. Refrigerate.

Step 2. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F/150 degrees C. Sift the flour, baking powder, and pumpkin pie spice in a medium bowl and set aside. Butter and flour four porcelain mini loaf pans (9 oz. each).

Step 3. To make the batter, pour grapeseed oil and coconut sugar into a large mixing bowl and mix with a rubber spatula. Add eggs, one by one, to the wet ingredients, mixing between each addition. Add dry ingredients and delicately mix with the spatula.

Step 4. Mash bananas with a fork or a spoon and fold mashed banana and pumpkin puree into the principal preparation. Add maple syrup and mix with a spatula just to combine (don't over-mix).

Step 5. Divide batter evenly into the prepared mini loaf pans. Sprinkle the chilled streusel topping over the batter.

Step 6. Bake the bread on the center rack of the preheated oven for 50 to 60 minutes. Use a toothpick (a wooden pick) to check for doneness: if it comes out clean when inserted into the center of the loaf, it is ready.

Pro tip: You can also use a cooking thermometer to check the bread's doneness. The internal temperature of the bread should be between 200 and 205 degrees F (93 and 96 degrees C).

Step 7. Take the baking pans from the oven, place them on a wire rack, and cool for 10 minutes. Then, remove the bread loaves from the tins by running a butter knife around the sides of the pans. Transfer the baked bread to a cooling rack and let it cool down completely before slicing or wrapping it.

Expert Tips

Line mini loaf pans with parchment paper or grease them with coconut oil or cooking spray instead of butter and flour to prep the tins.
For the best results, don't over-mix the bread butter. It is essential in making quick bread.
To bake the bread in a standard 9 x 5-inch loaf pan, pour the batter in a buttered and floured pan, sprinkle with crumble, and bake at 300 degrees F/150 degrees C for 80 to 90 minutes.
To bake pumpkin banana muffins (you will make about 15 regular-sized muffins), scoop the batter into muffin cups inserted into a muffin pan. Fill the cups up to ¾, sprinkle with streusel. Bake at 300 degrees F/150 degrees C for about 40 to 45 minutes.
To make mini muffins (48 counts), proceed the same as for muffins. Bake at the same oven temperature for 25 to 30 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.

Storing and frizing

Store the bread leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for five days.

Freeze well-covered quick bread in plastic wrap and aluminum foil for up to 3 months. Defrost it overnight on the countertop. You can slice your bread, wrap individual slices, place them in a plastic bag, and freeze them. Then, once you crave a slice of pumpkin bread, take a piece, toast it, and enjoy.

Recipe FAQ

How to make a pumpkin spice blend yourself?

You need to mix 1 ½ teaspoons of ground cinnamon, ½ teaspoon of ground ginger, ¼ teaspoon of ground nutmeg, and ¼ teaspoon of allspice or cloves.

Can you bake this bread with frozen bananas?

Yes, absolutely. Let bananas thaw completely in a bowl or a Ziploc bag at room temperature. Then, mash bananas with their liquid using a fork, a spoon, a potato masher, or a blender.

Can you make no batter streusel topping?

Yes, you can replace butter with oil in the streusel recipe. Just remember that for 3.5 oz. (100 g) of butter, you should use 2.8 oz. (80 g) of vegetable oil.

How to serve this pumpkin banana bread

Slice the cooled bread and serve it with cream cheese and butter, drizzled with honey, Nutella, apple butter, or chocolate hummus.

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