Buttermilk Banana Blueberry Bread
by Chungah
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Mini banana bread! The most perfect way to use up those spotty, overripe bananas. Incredibly moist and loaded with all the banana flavor!
Featured Comment
why i love these mini banana bread loaves
- Faster baking time. A full-sized banana bread loaf will typically bake in 1 hour, whereas these mini banana bread loaves bake in about 30-35 minutes.
- Evenly baked. No more burning-sides-overcooked-insides! Because these mini loaves are so much smaller, the banana bread bakes through evenly (no more doughy insides!) without drying out the edges.
- Freezer-friendly. Banana bread freezes very well, keeping in the freezer for at least 3 months, perfect for a rainy (or snowy, sunny, lazy) day.
- So customizable. This banana bread recipe can easily be customized with various mix-ins like nuts, shredded coconut, chocolate chips and so much more.
- Versatile. Little banana loaves work so well for breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert or even an after school snack for the kids (and grown ups, of course).
- Makes for great gifts. Who doesn’t love homemade banana bread? These cute little loaves make for the most adorable, charming gifts for neighbors, teachers, friends and family. The best part? This recipe yields 5 mini loaves!
Why add buttermilk to banana bread?
The buttermilk serves many purposes here, adding increased moisture and tenderness to the banana bread, reacting with the baking soda for a superior rise (think lighter, fluffier bread!), and also adding a subtle tang to balance out the sweetness of the bananas.
freezer hack
Overripe bananas can be frozen.
Have some brown bananas but not ready to make banana bread? These overripe bananas can be frozen for up to 3 months! Peel the brown bananas first and store in a freezer-safe bag, thawing at room temperature for 1-2 hours.
Banana Bread variations and Mix-Ins
One of the best things about banana bread is how highly adaptable it is, dressing it up or down as needed with any of these mix-ins.
Chocolate
Semi-sweet chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, cinnamon chips or mini chocolate chips
Nuts
Pecans or walnuts (nuts can be toasted beforehand for extra flavor)
Coconut
Shredded coconut
Fruit
Raisins, dried cranberries, dried cherries or dried pineapple
Swirl
Cream cheese, peanut butter or Nutella
Tips and tricks for success
- Use ripe bananas. Bananas for banana bread should be ripe to overripe (heavily spotted to mostly black). The browner the banana, the sweeter, more fragrant it will be, yielding moist banana bread. Bright yellow bananas are not ideal as they will be too starchy.
- Frozen blueberries can be used. Both fresh or frozen blueberries can be used in this recipe, while many prefer frozen blueberries for convenience. When using frozen blueberries, skip the thaw and add them directly from the freezer to the batter or else they will bleed. Frozen blueberries can also be coated in a little bit of all-purpose flour to suspend them in the batter and to keep them from sinking to the bottom.
- Fill 2/3 full. For the best results, fill the mini loaf pans 2/3 full, allowing the batter to rise without overflowing. Overfilling the loaf pans can yield an uncooked center with crusty edges.
- Serve at room temperature or warm. Banana bread is so versatile, and can be served with a morning cup of coffee or as an after school snack. Serve at room temperature or warm (lightly toasted) with a slather of butter, if desired.
- Cool on a wire rack. Cooling the warm banana bread on a wire rack prevents over baking and ensures even cooling – allowing air to circulate throughout and preventing the steam from trapping at the very bottom of the loaf pan (which can yield soggy, wet banana bread loaves).
- Freeze as needed. Let the banana bread cool completely on a wire rack prior to freezing to prevent sogginess and freezer burn.
freezing and storage
Make ahead
Banana bread tastes even better the very next day, fully distributing the moisture from the bananas and allowing all the banana flavors to really meld and deepen overnight. If time permits, bake the banana bread 1 day prior, covering tightly with plastic wrap and storing overnight at room temperature.
Storage
Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-4 days. Avoid storing the banana bread in the fridge as the cold air can cause the bread to dry out much faster (think stale, hard banana bread).
Freeze
These mini banana bread loaves can keep in the freezer for a few months. Cool completely and cover the banana bread tightly with plastic wrap, then aluminum foil (this will help prevent freezer burn). Label, date and freeze up to 3 months. To reheat, thaw at room temperature on a wire rack for 2-3 hours (or in the fridge overnight for a slow, consistent thaw). Optional: once thawed, reheat in the oven at 250°F, covered in aluminum foil, until warmed through.
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Buttermilk Banana Blueberry Bread: Frequently Asked Questions
A quick and easy buttermilk substitute is creating your own buttermilk with whole milk and something acidic such as lemon juice or distilled white vinegar.
You can add 1 tablespoon acid (lemon juice or vinegar) to 1 cup milk, letting it stand for 5-10 minutes.
Yes! When using frozen blueberries, skip the thaw and toss them in with some flour before adding to the batter at the very end, mixing gently and as little as possible.
Leftover banana bread can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-4 days.
For the best results, banana bread should be stored at room temperature for a few days or the freezer for long term storage. Unfortunately, the fridge can cause the banana bread to stale much faster (unless the banana bread contains a cream cheese filling or swirl).
Absolutely! Banana bread freezes beautifully for about 3 months, and can be frozen in individual slices or whole loaves.
Buttermilk Banana Blueberry Bread
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ⅛ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 large eggs
- ¼ cup buttermilk
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 ripe bananas
- 1 cup blueberries
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly coat 4 mini loaf pans with nonstick spray.
- In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar on medium-high until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
- Beat in eggs, buttermilk and vanilla until well combined.
- Beat in bananas until well combined. Gradually add flour mixture to the sugar mixture at low speed, beating just until incorporated.
- Stir in blueberries and lemon zest.
- Scoop the batter evenly into the loaf pans. Place into oven and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Remove from oven and let cool for 15 minutes before inverting the loaves onto a wire rack.
Equipment
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I was wondering I love bananas and so does my husband, my little boy not so much BUT he loves blueberries, Is the banana taste really strong in these?
Tiffany, feel free to omit the blueberries to accommodate your son’s preferences.
WOW! these are soo yummy! I just finished making them and they are perfect! thank you! 🙂
I have no buttermilk, but 3 very ripe and 3 extra ripe bananas, could I use extra banana and omit the buttermilk? Thanks! Hoping to make it today to give to my husbands Marines.
Bonne, I do not recommend completely omitting the buttermilk. If you do not have buttermilk on hand, you can easily create a substitute with milk and lemon juice or vinegar.
OK…thanks..I only have skim milk though…may have to wait and try this another time.
I use skim milk to make buttermilk all the time with perfect results! Skim is all we use…
Hey! I’m from México city and found this on pinterest, last week i tired and it was awesome! My Mom and sister were happy hahaha thanks for the recipe, right now i’m making one for mothers day. do yo know any chocolate cake recipe?
This is one of my favorite chocolate cake recipes: https://damndelicious.net/2013/02/22/chocolate-sour-cream-bundt-cake/.
I made this last night! We loved it. Thanks for a “keeper” recipe!
These are great! I only had 2 bananas, so increased the buttermilk to half a cup to make sure there was enough moistness, and used a full teaspoon of vanilla, because why not? I also decided to make them into muffins instead of loaves, took probably 20 minutes to bake. Delicious….the buttermilk made them moist and rich.
I made this tonight and YUM! The blueberries at my local grocery were not looking so hot so I substituted them for what I had on hand….choclate chips. It turned out to be a really good flavor combo. Thanks for sharing your recipe! I’ll for sure be making this again.
Hey!
Thanks for share such amazing recipe.
I want to know if is 13/4 cups all-purpose flour? or 3/4 cups all-purpose flour? because not is clear for me how much is 13/4? In Europe we use the “amount” with “gr”.
Thanks.
“1 3/4 cups all purpose flour” = 1 cup plus 3/4 cup all purpose flour.
I tried this with the blueberries, with blackberries and today dark red cherries. All berries I’ve used worked well with buttermilk, it stores we’ll in my covered dessert plate. Also it freezes beautifully.
This is a great recipe. I found you on Pintrest, I love the flavor and the texture of the bread. I shared with my sewing circle and they are all trying it. Thank you
Have you tried sub rice flour for all purpose (gf reasons)… Wondering how it would affect the bread… be it taste or rise…?
Thanks
Ivy, unfortunately, I have not tried substituting rice flour. You can certainly use this ingredient but please remember that by using a substitution, I cannot speak for how much this will change in the overall taste or texture of the dish.
Delish! To keep berries from falling to bottom soak in water then toss with a bit of flour and sugar before adding to mixture!
this is my 2ed batch today…….first ones flew right past me, ok so i caught a little myself, they are expected now so no more store bought lol thanks
I have a Zojirushi 2 lbs. Bread maker that I just purchased, will this recipe work with a bread maker? If unsure , will just have to give it try and see.
Unfortunately I have never tried making this in a bread maker.
Do you think you could bake these as muffins. How would you adjust the baking time?
Yes, Julie, you can certainly bake these as muffins. However, I have personally not done so myself so you would have to adjust baking time as needed.
This is absolutely delish!! I felt bad for the bananas that there were no nuts for them to party with, so I added sliced almonds to the top!! VERY attractive! I have another recipe which is my go-to for banana nut bread cravings and I find this recipe is missing ‘something’, not sure what it is though. Don’t get me wrong, it is still wonderful…. but if I can figure out what it is, I think it would be FAB-ulous!
I’m more the fancy free, not so much OCD type and I just took a perfect dozen of these muffins out of my oven. I opted not to try a full sized loaf pan or the minis, hence the muffins. They bake perfectly at exactly 30 minutes. Fighting the urge to eat a second one right now. They are a hit, so easy that I’ll be making a second batch soon.
Just made this today!! I didn’t have blueberries 🙁
This was AWESOME!!!
I will end my search for banana bread here!! My go to recipe from now on!! Thank you so much!!
I dont have buttermilk, but i do have skim milk and a lemon. Can i make the buttermilk substitute with skim? and how much lemon should be added?
You can make 1 cup of buttermilk by combining 1 cup milk (whole, 2%) with 1 tablespoon lemon juice or vinegar. Let the mixture stand for 5-10 min.
DELISH!!! I made it today and it was all I could do not to eat all four loaves! Can’t wait to pull this out for a quick breakfast for my boys! Thanks!