Bourbon Banana Walnut Bread – full flavored, moist, sweet quick bread is a great way to use older bananas, and it’s great for a special breakfast.
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What to do with extra bananas?
I often find myself with a couple extra bananas, meaning to eat them. I really do. But, for one reason or another, there they are, sitting on the counter looking all brown and kinda mushy.
Sometimes I’ll take the bananas and make that banana “ice cream” you see all over Pinterest.
Ripe bananas are necessary
Sometimes, when I have time, I’ll make this awesome banana bread. It’s a moist, tender quick bread with loads of banana flavor.
The trick to getting a sweet moist bread is to use really ripe bananas. Ones that are covered with little brown spots.
No green at all.
At that point, the starches in the banana have converted to sugars, and the banana is so sweet, so good.
Take a look at the picture below for the stage of banana I’m talking about. really ripe bananas – loads of brown spots all over & when you pick them up, they’re soft.
Serve this at the Thanksgiving table
I like to serve this at Thanksgiving dinner. I know, that sounds a bit odd, but who doesn’t love banana bread?
And, it goes so well on the Thanksgiving table.
You can have any leftovers for breakfast the next day too; toast it up and smear some butter on it.
Or, use it as French Toast. So yummy! Great breakfast Some of my other favorite things to have for breakfast are Cream Cheese French Toast Casserole, Cinnamon Sore Throat Tea, Homemade Cinnamon Rolls, or Homemade Granola.
Other breads you’ll love!
Quick breads are great; they don’t take much time or effort. You’ll want to try Cherry Bread, Orange Marmalade Bread, and Best Zucchini Bread.
And don’t ignore yeast breads; they are amazing and really not that difficult to make. Check out No Knead Parmesan Rosemary Bread and Garlic Tomato Twist Bread.
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You can bake them in paper loaf pans as gifts
Bourbon Banana Walnut Bread Recipe
Bourbon Banana Walnut Bread
Ingredients
- 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ teaspoon fine grain salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- 5 1/3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 2 large eggs lightly beaten
- 2 very ripe bananas mashed
- ½ cup coarsely chopped walnuts
- 1 tablespoon bourbon
Instructions
- Have all ingredients at room temperature. Position a rack in the lower third of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Butter a 9×5-inch loaf pan, and set aside.
- Whisk the dry ingredients (flour through baking powder) together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar together using a sturdy fork or in a Kitchen-aid until it’s lightened in color and texture. Mix in the flour mixture until well blended and the consistency of brown sugar. Gradually beat in the eggs.
- Fold in the mashed bananas, walnuts, and bourbon. Scrape the batter into the pan and spread evenly. Bake at 350° F for 50-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in the pan on a wire rack for 5 – 10 minutes before unmolding to cool completely.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations, and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary based on brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes, and more.
I used this recipe last week, and found the result to be somewhat unsatisfying. The size of the loaf was much smaller than I am accustomed to when making other banana or pumpkin bread loaves. I note that the amount of flour in this recipe was 1 1/3 cups. Other quick bread recipes use more flour — typically 1 3/4 to 2 cups. Based on a quick websearch, I did not find anything using less than 1 1/2 cups. I also found it interesting that this recipe directs that the flour be incorporated into the creamed sugar, followed by the addition of the eggs and mashed bananas. Again, other quick breads that I have used incorporate all the wet ingredients into the creamed sugar (eggs, banana or pumpkin) with flour incorporated in the final step.
The taste of my bread was fine, but I would not rate it as great. I am just a home baker and claim no particular expertise. I have used a number of other banana and pumpkin quick bread recipes, and find those other breads to be of better quality than the bread I prepared with this recipe. I will not be using this recipe in the future.
Thank you for taking the time to post this negative review, Doug. So many others would disagree. Life is too short to make banana bread you don’t like, so you should make the one that works for you. And, though it might have given you an idea that it was smaller based on the fact that there is less flour, I can see how a smaller loaf would be so disappointing for some people.
Great recipe! I made a cream cheese bourbon icing for the top, came out great! Thank you for sharing.
loved this recipe! made a loaf so I could have a slice each morning for a quick easy breakfast and it’s my new favorite.
Very yummy!! I doubled the bourbon and added chocolate chunks. Family loved it so much I had to make another one a couple days later!
This was so delicious! You cant even taste the bourbon! SO good!
Can you use brown Rum instead?
Summer, yes, you can use brown rum if you’d like.
This bread is delicious, moist and easy to make. I didn’t have Bourbon in, so used Whiskey in its place. Definitely will make again.
I made this into muffins instead. It made 6 large muffins. These were moist and delicious.
This was so easy and so delicious! I used Irish whisky. yummy
I tweeked a few things.. I doubled the bourbon also I added some mini chocolate chips, switched out to pecans and sprinkled brown sugar over the top before baking!! ❤️
Very yummy!! I doubled the bourbon and added chocolate chunks. Family loved it so much I had to make another one a couple days later!
These were absolutely magical! I doubled the amount of bourbon! This is now my go to recipe for banana bread!!
loved this recipe! made a loaf so I could have a slice each morning for a quick easy breakfast and it’s my new favorite.
This is my favorite banana bread!
I baked this recipe with vanilla extract instead and baked it in a mini bundt pan. I also sprinkled the tops with brown sugar and walnuts.
Convection baked at 325 for 14 min.
Finished cakes with a bit of caramel drizzle!
Very moist, flavorful cakes.
I added some leftover blueberries I had and a little vanilla. The bourbon really soaked up in The blueberries and was a hit with everyone!
Awesome bread! I doubled the recipe, added a little coconut oil and applesauce and it was delicious! Super moist!
It was super delicious