Cranberry Pumpkin Banana Bread
Cranberry pumpkin banana bread combines bananas and canned pumpkin with dried cranberries for a moist, heavenly scented breakfast! Try my pumpkin chocolate chip cookies next.
It just turned into September, and I'm seeing pumpkin flavored everything, everywhere already. Does anyone else feel like it happens earlier and earlier every year? I'm fully expecting that next year I won't even get a chance to have summer beers because we'll go straight from spring to fall and skip summer entirely.
Honestly, I wouldn't totally mind it because I'm not a huge fan of summer with the heat and the humidity and the bugs and the high AC bill, and the heat and the humidity… have I mentioned I don't care for the heat?
So bring on fall.
We're going to be in Hawaii for our honeymoon for most of the month of September, which is obviously awesome because we're going to be in Hawaii. But it's also a little bit of a bummer because there's a decent chance we're going to miss all the apple picking and all the foliage (it's poised to peak early this year in New England) – two of my favorite things that I look forward to every year.
But I just keep reminding myself that LESLIE YOU'RE GOING TO BE IN HAWAII TO SHUT UP AND GET APPLES UNDER PRETTY COLORED TREES NEXT YEAR. God, I'm annoying.
Thankfully, we won't miss out on picking up some pumpkins. I'm that typical New Englander who covers her porch steps with various sized pumpkins and gourds and I have zero regrets about it.
What I am not typical about is pumpkin flavored foods and drinks. Don't like them. AT ALL. I mean seriously, get your PSL out of my face and give me a normal coffee please and thank you.
But I've finally found a pumpkin recipe that I can get on board with: this cranberry pumpkin banana bread. I found the perfect balance of pumpkin to other flavors where I can still be a part of Basic Autumn Society ™ but not want to scrape my own taste buds off my tongue.
This bread is soft, moist, and smells heavenly. I had my doubts about combining banana and pumpkin, because they're both pretty strong flavors and I wasn't sure if they would become this intolerable flavor battle or if they would balance each other out. Surprise! Balance was achieved. And the little pockets of dried cranberries add a nice little tartness to each bite.
This recipe makes two 9×5 loaves, which is great because you can either make two for yourself, or you can give one to a friend who is deserving of your delicious creation.
Or maybe send it with your kid to school and have them give it to their favorite teacher. I'm sure they could use a little extra sustenance at the start of the school year, and lordknowstheydeserveit.
I like to dot mine with extra cranberries on top before baking, just for a little extra cranberry flavor in each bite. It's not necessary and will probably look more normal without them, but the heart wants what it wants and I'm not going to tell it no.
After the first loaf was gone, I realized that I didn't add any condiments to a single piece. As in, I didn't warm them and slather them with butter, I didn't add a drizzle of honey… nothin'. Not to say that both of those things would be completely delicious, but it tasted so good without it that it didn't even occur to me to add anything.
Ohhhhhhhh but now that I'm thinking about it, this would be so good with some cinnamon honey butter. Or cranberry jelly!
Great, now I need to go make another batch of this bread to try both of those. OH DARN.
Can't get enough pumpkin?
- Make your own homemade pumpkin spice mix (from Whitney Bond)
- Then have this cranberry pumpkin banana bread and some pumpkin pancakes for breakfast (from Taste and See)
- Whip up some pumpkin soup for a quick lunch during the week (from Savory Nothings)
- For dinner, have some pumpkin and beef chili (from Hunger Thirst Play) or pumpkin fettucini alfredo (from Bowl of Delicious)
- Drink some apple cider pumpkin shandy (from Hunger Thirst Play)
- And for dessert, try this three layer pumpkin buttercream cake (from Hunger Thirst Play), a pumpkin cake roll with toffee cream cheese filling (from Tara Teaspoon), or my Paleo Nutella Swirled Pumpkin Pie Bars
- And once you get your hands on some actual pumpkins, make roasted pumpkin seeds (from Wholefully)!
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Cranberry Pumpkin Banana Bread
Ingredients
- 4 eggs, room temperature
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- ⅓ cup coconut oil, melted (can substitute vegetable or canola oil)
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 3 ½ cups all purpose flour
- 3-4 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice, to taste
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup canned pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling
- 1 cup overripe bananas, mashed (about 2 bananas)
- 2 ½ cups dried cranberries
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line two 9×5 loaf pans with parchment paper, then coat with nonstick spray. Set aside
- In the large bowl of a stand mixer, combine eggs, brown sugar, coconut oil, butter and vanilla, and beat on medium speed until well combined.4 eggs1 cup (220 g) light brown sugar1/3 cup (72 ⅔ g) coconut oil5 tablespoons unsalted butter1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- In another large bowl, whisk together flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda and salt.3 1/2 cups (437 ½ g) all purpose flour3-4 teaspoons (3 teaspoons) pumpkin pie spice2 teaspoons baking powder1/2 teaspoon (½ teaspoon) baking soda1/2 teaspoon (½ teaspoon) salt
- Add dry ingredients to the bowl of wet ingredients and mix on low speed until mostly combined. Add pumpkin and bananas and mix until well combined.1 cup (245 g) canned pumpkin1 cup (150 g) overripe bananas
- Add cranberries and stir until just combined.2 1/2 cups (303 g) dried cranberries
- Divide the batter evenly between the two prepared loaf pans and bake for 45 minutes (or until the tops have started to brown) and then cover with foil and bake an additional 10 minutes (or until a toothpick or skewer inserted into the center comes out with only a moist crumb).
- Let cool completely in pans, then remove, slice and serve. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition Facts
Nutrition Disclaimer
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***** Love this recipe, too! Pumpkin & banana- genius combination. I confess I made some substitutions to try to increase the fiber & lower the sugar content: (1) substituted 1.5 cups of flour with 1c oat flour + .5 c wheat germ, (2) 3/4 c brown sugar, (3) 1.5 cups dried blueberries + cherries (all I had in pantry) + 1 c walnuts. Delicious crowd-pleaser despite my tinkering.
I’m going to make it but with fresh cranberries
I’m going to make it but put fresh cranberries in it
I made this with such high hopes. It wasn’t sweet enough and I cooked the bread for an hour and it is still doughy, raw.
Oh my goodness! I don’t know what might have happened to your loaf. I definitely didn’t intend for it to be a very sweet bread, but I certainly intended for it to be cooked through! And unfortunately it’s hard for me to help troubleshoot, but I’d like to try. Is there any chance your oven temperature dropped suddenly during baking, or that the actual temperature inside the oven is lower than what your dial might indicate?
The smell of this bread alone made it worth making. Thanks for the recipe we loved it
The smell really is amazing, isn’t it? Thanks for stopping by to leave your feedback and a rating!
This is the ultimate fall recipe. I think I am in love! I have a regular go-to pumpkin bread recipe, but with BANANA? You took it to the next level!
I LOVE the Cranberry/Pumpkin combo here!!! I can’t wait to make a big batch of these, I am ready for Fall, I may be the only one…. but bring it on! :) Thanks for linking to my cinnamon honey butter, you’re right, that would be a PERFECT pairing!
Oh, I’m TOTALLY ready for fall. When I get back from Hawaii, it’s going to be *all things fall*!