This easy pineapple banana bread is such a fun twist! It's a classic, moist banana bread with pineapple and walnuts and it's sure to be your new favorite banana bread! And if you like this pineapple walnut banana bread, you'll definitely love Pineapple Bars with Cream Cheese and Coconut Drizzle, Vegan Pineapple Upside Down Cake, Dairy Free Banana Bread, and Banana Blondies!
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What can I add to banana bread for flavor?
Today we're making pineapple banana bread! It's got that great banana flavor we all love, but we're adding even more flavor with crushed pineapple! The tropical hint of pineapple complements the banana so well, and adds more moisture to make this banana bread absolutely irresistible!
How do I make sure my banana bread is moist?
Banana bread is a favorite for a reason -- it's easy to make and so tasty! And it's often got a soft, moist texture that everyone loves! That comes from the bananas, mainly -- in this pineapple banana bread we're using three overripe bananas, full of sweetness and ready to add moisture.
But also, if you've worked with pineapple in baking before, you know that it often helps produce a moist result and add flavor. Carrot cake or hummingbird cake are perfect examples! So the pineapple in this banana bread gives us the texture we want, plus a fun hint of pineapple flavor!
And finally, we're using an ingredient that I LOVE: sour cream! You'll note that I use sour cream a lot in my baking: my Chocolate Sour Cream Pound Cake or my Lemon Poppyseed Scones are examples of that. I find that it adds to that moist texture that we want, plus it reacts with the baking soda in this banana bread to give it a bit more rise.
Ingredients
- browned butter - check out this blog post for details on how to brown butter with images and step-by-step instructions! Once your butter is browned, let it cool a bit to room temperature.
- granulated sugar and light brown sugar - this combination of sugars gives this banana bread a nice balanced sweetness. The brown sugar also adds a bit of moisture as well.
- eggs - make sure your eggs are room temperature so that they can help to give you the maximum rise and help your banana bread to bake evenly.
- sour cream - adds moisture, lift, and added flavor!
- overripe bananas - they should be nice and spotty, almost black. Mash them up really well!
- canned crushed pineapple - adds a bit of pineapple flavor and a lot of moisture.
- pure vanilla extract - the vanilla adds great flavor to this banana bread. Make sure you're using high-quality pure vanilla extract. Or better yet, check out my post on how to make vanilla extract at home with just 2 ingredients!
- all-purpose flour - measure it out using the spoon-and-level method, or even better, use a food scale to measure out 256 grams.
- baking soda - gives everything a nice lift, interacting with the acid in the sour cream and the bananas. If you don't have baking soda, try this recipe for banana bread without baking soda!
- salt - brings out all those flavors!
- chopped toasted pecans - my favorite part - I love pecans, and they work so well in this recipe. You can also use walnuts and they work just as well, but you don't need to toast them beforehand.
What happens if you don't use ripe bananas for banana bread?
Most banana bread recipes call for overripe bananas, and this banana bread with pineapple and walnuts is no different! But why? Well, overripe bananas add lots of sweetness and a stronger banana flavor to make our banana bread taste amazing. Plus, overripe bananas have more moisture, which gives us that moist pineapple banana bread we crave! If your bananas aren't quite there yet, see below for some tips!
Tips and F.A.Q.
Almost! Your bananas should be overripe -- definitely past the point where you would eat them. They should have lots of dark spots and should basically be black.
The difficulty with this is that sometimes you'll want to make this pineapple banana bread, but your bananas aren't ripe enough! To prevent that, just save some bananas that are overripe and ready to use for baking, peel them, and pop them in the freezer! That's what I do whenever I have one or two extra bananas, so that I always have a stockpile of frozen overripe bananas ready to go!
If you're in a banana bread emergency and need to ripen your bananas quickly, check out these tips to get your bananas ready ASAP!
Banana cake has a more "cakey" texture, so it's ideally more soft, light, and fluffy than banana bread. Banana bread typically has a denser, more intense banana flavor than banana cake.
One great idea that fits this recipe perfectly is pineapples! If you're missing a banana, just add in another ½ cup or so of crushed pineapple and it'll help to keep your banana bread moist. You won't have as strong of a banana flavor, but it'll still be delicious!
You should let your banana bread cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then remove it to a wire rack to cool almost completely before cutting. This helps to let it complete the baking process. I like to let it cool completely, so I wait an hour or two, but you can likely cut into your banana bread after 45 minutes or so.
You can store it in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days. Also, this pineapple banana bread freezes so well! Just let it cool completely, and wrap the loaf or slices in foil and place in a zipper freezer bag. Then freeze for up to 2 months!
Once your butter is melted and the milk solids have sunk to the bottom of the pan, they’ll start to turn a deep golden brown. You may also smell a nutty or toasty aroma. That’s when your brown butter is ready and when you should remove it from the heat right away! For more details on browning butter, check out my Brown Butter Appreciation Post.
Once you've finished browning your butter, you'll need to cool it to room temperature before adding it to this recipe.
I love to eat this banana bread still warm, or even better -- toasted! With a bit of salted butter melted on top of the slice. And as you can see in the image above, a little honey just adds that much more deliciousness, since this banana bread isn't overly sweet. Other topping ideas are softened cream cheese, Nutella, or coconut whipped cream!
You can also use this banana bread in my banana bread french toast recipe, as I mention below, or top it with ice cream and caramel sauce for a decadent dessert!
More Banana Recipes You'll Love!
- Banana Blondies
- Banana Bread French Toast
- Fluffy Banana Pancakes with Pecans and Maple Brown Butter Glaze
- Banana Cake with Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting
- Strawberry Banana Sorbet
📖 Recipe
Equipment you may need
Ingredients
- ½ cup (114 g) brown butter - cooled to room temperature
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- ⅔ cup (147 g) light brown sugar
- 2 large eggs - beaten
- ¼ cup (58 g) sour cream - room temperature
- 3 medium overripe bananas - mashed (see note)
- ½ cup (118 g) crushed pineapple - drained
- 1 teaspoon (5 ml) pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups (256 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon (5 ml) baking soda
- ½ teaspoon (2 ml) salt
- ½ cup (50 g) roasted pecans - chopped (or raw walnuts)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF. Spray a 9x5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray and line with parchment paper.
- Using a stand mixer or handheld mixer, cream brown butter and sugars until smooth.½ cup brown butter, ⅔ cup light brown sugar, ½ cup granulated sugar
- Add vanilla, pineapple, eggs, sour cream, and crushed bananas. Stir until smooth.2 large eggs, ¼ cup sour cream, ½ cup crushed pineapple, 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract, 3 medium overripe bananas
- In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt.2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon salt
- Fold flour mixture and pecans (or walnuts) gently into wet ingredients until just combined.½ cup roasted pecans
- Pour into prepared pan and smooth evenly.
- Bake in preheated oven for 55-65 minutes, or until a toothpick entered in the center of the loaf comes out clean.
- Cool at least 15 minutes before slicing. Serve warm or room temperature.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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Last Updated on October 20, 2023 by Chenée Lewis
Anna Martin
I wanted to let you know this is the best pineapple banana bread. I looked at so many before I made a decision to make it and yours was the one I picked I did browned my butter, and I roasted my pecans, I did put 2 teaspoons of vanilla. This will definitely be my go to pineapple banana bread. It was awesome thanks for sharing. I live in Tulsa Oklahoma, and I’m gonna be taking this to my girls at work tomorrow. I hate to share it lol , but I want to cause it’s so good. Thanks again
Chenée Lewis
Thank you so much for the feedback! I love this recipe especially with the brown butter!
Penny
Delicious. About ate it all in one sitting
Chenée Lewis
I'm so glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
Anna
Wow. Like, really. Likely my new go to banana bread. I think I overdid it on the pineapple bc I was trying to compensate for 5 bananas instead of 6 in my doubled recipe, but since my bananas were on the bigger side I’m sure it would have been fine if I’d gone with the listed measure. So it is very very moist, kind of fall apart, but DELICIOUS. Besides the pineapple thing the only other change was to add 1-2 tsp of cinnamon bc I love it. And btw if you go to double your recipe it makes a TON. I did 4 mini loaves, a dozen muffins and whatever the next size down from a 9x13 pan is. I’m going to gift three of the minis and maybe freeze the muffins? Maybe take to work? I dunno, but I’m sure all recipients will feel blessed. THANK YOU SO MUCH
Chenée Lewis
I'm so glad to hear that you liked it! And I love your addition of cinnamon -- what a great idea! Thank you!
Kris
This was without a doubt the most delicious banana bread I've ever made. Worth the extra time to brown the butter. Also, I had to substitute whole milk vanilla Greek yogurt since I started without realizing that I didn't have enough sour cream - turned out great. Moist, and so flavorful. Chenee, your recipe could win an award, and if I could give more stars I would!
Chenée Lewis
Thank you SO much Kris!! I love this banana bread too so I'm so glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
KC
Looks delicious! For dairy free people, what can I sub for the sour cream? Thanks.
Chenée Lewis
Hi! I would suggest dairy free Greek-style yogurt!
Donald Kennedy
Moist as hell, this was awesome. I changed a couple of things....
1. I didn't brown the butter,...I melted it in the microwave.
2. I didn't have canned pineapple so I had to use fresh, I put it in the food processor and turned my back...I had 1/2 cup of pineapple puree.
All in all it came out great and plan on tweaking this recipe some more.
Chenée Lewis
I love your changes! Sometimes I skip the butter browning step too. And I'm sure the pureed pineapple would be even better than canned!
LaShawnda Rooks
I just made this today. I had never browned butter before but it was very easy. It takes time for it to become solid again though. (In the future I will brown my butter the day before or the morning of to give it time to become solid.)
I didn’t add nuts simply because I prefer my banana bread without nuts. I fully intend to try this recipe with nuts the next time just to see how it is.
I replaced 1/3c of brown sugar with Swerve brown sugar.
I split my batch between 2 smaller loaf pans and it worked just fine. House smells great.
It’s very moist, subtle sweetness from the pineapple with the occasional flavor from the pineapple. I will definitely make this again, with nuts.
I plan on freezing one loaf so I don’t go overboard.
Chenée Lewis
Thank you for the feedback! I'm so glad you liked the recipe 🙂
Kayla
Made this today and it was fantastic! Super moist. I took one star off due to the brown butter detail adding an extra hour to my prep time. It was a pain to babysit the butter forever only to realize It wasn’t clear if I needed 1/2 cup butter AFTER being browned or before. I measured before and ended up with 1/4 cup melted brown butter, and had to dirty another dish microwaving another 1/4 cup bc I wasn’t waiting to hear it in the pan. Definitely not worth the effort imo.
Chenée Lewis
Thanks for the feedback! You actually only need 1/2 cup of butter before browning, so I'll be sure to clarify that in the ingredients and instructions. I find browning the butter to be a worthwhile step that for me only adds about 10-15 minutes to the prep time, but if you prefer to just use melted butter next time it would be just fine. 🙂
Courtney
Oh no! I did the same thing.... melted half a stick of butter and it only produced 1/4 cup of browned butter, so I melted the other half of a stick.... It's in the oven as I type. It's going to be too buttery. *cries*
Chenée Lewis
Sounds like it might have been even better! Lol