Pumpkin Spice Banana Bread

Banana bread might just be the official food of quarantine. At one point in the spring of 2020, I felt like everyone was posting photos of it. The furor died down in 2021 and by this October, I was ready to put those overripe fruit back to work.

This is my version of a popular recipe found online. My shifts include cutting the sugar in half and adding pumpkin pie spice along with a small amount of milk or yogurt to make it a bit more moist. If you want to make it with a blend of bananas and pumpkin, replace one cup of pumpkin for two of the bananas.

You can skip the step of greasing and flouring the pan if you use a silicon baking mold, but watch the baking time closely. I’ve also made this in small aluminum loaf pans to give to friends and family, but lined the bottom of the pan with parchment and coated the sides with butter.

Pumpkin Spice Banana Bread

An easy, inexpensive recipe to use up those bananas that have seen better days. This one doesn't require a mixer, either. Coating the pan is a key step unless you use a silicon baker; I use coconut oil to coat the pan before gently shaking in a little flour to coat the edges. I havesuccessfully made this a couple different types of gluten-free flours. No pumpkin pie spice? See the recipe below. Don't have all the ingredients for the spice mix on hand? Substitute cinnamon or a blend of nutmeg and cinnamon. Makes one loaf, about a dozen slices.

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Course Baking

Cuisine American

Equipment

• Loaf pan

Ingredients

  

• 3 or 4 overripe bananas
• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ cup butter softened
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar
• 2 eggs beaten
• 1 ½ teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 tablespoon milk or plain yogurt

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 350º F/180ºC. Grease a loaf pan with butter or coconut oil, then coat the sides with flour. Mash the bananas in a bowl. Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt. Set both aside.
• In a large bowl, mix the softened butter and sugar. Add the eggs, mix again. Then the crushed bananas, spices, vanilla and milk or yogurt and stir well. Add the flour mixture to creamed mixture. Mix just until combined; it should be a bit lumpy.
• Pour into the prepared pan and bake for about 55 minutes or until cooked through. If you use more than three bananas, use a particularly heavy baking pan or utilize a toaster oven, it may need to bake as long as 1 hour and 10 minutes. Let cool before removing from the pan.
• Wrap leftovers tightly and stored in the refrigerator for up to five days.

Notes

You can make your own pumpkin pie spice by mixing the following together. Store in an airtight jar.

• 3 tablespoons ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 2 teaspoons nutmeg
• 2 teaspoons cloves
• 1 ½ teaspoons ground allspice 

Keyword Autumn, Baking, Bananas, Bread, Easy, Pumpkin Pie, Pumpkin Spice

Photos by Kathleen Flinn. This page may contain affiliate links.