Cinnamon Banana Bread

Everyone has a favorite recipe for banana bread with two bananas, but what about a favorite recipe for banana bread with cinnamon? This easy cinnamon banana bread recipe has a bit of cinnamon in the batter and is also topped with a cinnamon sugar crust that turns crackly once baked! Each slice is perfectly spiced without being overwhelmingly cinnamon-y, just like my apple cinnamon cake. To make this banana bread even better, I use brown sugar to add a little extra flavor and moisture.

This is an easy banana bread recipe that comes together in one bowl, and it’s one of my husband’s and my favorite baked goods to have at breakfast. Cinnamon banana bread is second only to honey pecan granola or vanilla almond granola on top of yogurt. And if you’re wondering about the flavor combination, don’t be worried: Bananas and cinnamon go together beautifully!

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Ingredients for Cinnamon Banana Bread

Banana bread is an American classic, and that’s partially because the ingredients are largely pantry staples. I made a few adjustments from the classic banana bread I grew up on, including swapping the brown sugar for granulated sugar and adding cinnamon sugar for a crackly top.

• Overripe bananas. For best results, you want to use bananas that are more than 50% brown. These will be sweeter and easier to mash than perfectly ripe, yellow bananas.
  • If you only have yellow bananas and have a craving for banana bread today, you can pop the bananas in the oven as it preheats for a few minutes until the peels turn black. This will soften the bananas slightly to make them a little easier to mash.
• Butter. Melted butter creates a deliciously moist and dense crumb. Use salted or unsalted butter; whichever you prefer.
• Eggs. Eggs contain protein and emulsifiers to help hold this cake together perfectly once baked.
• Brown sugar. The molasses in brown sugar results in a more moist and flavorful banana bread. If you don’t have brown sugar on hand, you can substitute granulated sugar.
• Vanilla extract. Just a teaspoon adds a subtle vanilla flavor.
• Flour. All-purpose flour gives us the right texture and density for this quick bread. A gluten-free 1:1 substitute would likely work, but I have not personally tried it.
• Cinnamon. We don’t want to overpower the banana, so just a little in the batter and a bit extra on top provides the perfect balance of cinnamon to banana.
• Baking soda. Not a typo—bananas and brown sugar are slightly acidic, so baking soda will work best to leaven the bread here.
• Salt. Just a pinch helps to enhance all the flavors, even if you use salted butter.
• Granulated sugar. When sprinkled on top of the batter with cinnamon, the sugar melts and forms a crackly topping that’s irresistible.

Quick Tips for Prepping Cinnamon Banana Bread

Banana bread is one of the easiest cakes or quick breads to make, but there are a few techniques I use to make it even easier, starting with the first step. You can watch this short video on how to make banana bread with brown sugar below:

The Best Way to Mash Bananas for Banana Bread

Some banana bread recipes call for already mashed bananas, but that usually results in an extra bowl you have to wash. I like to place my bananas directly in the bowl I’m mixing everything else up in, then mash them thoroughly with my balloon whisk. If you don’t have a whisk, you can also use a fork, though it will take a little longer.

Mash the bananas until there are very small chunks of fruit and the majority of the banana is fairly liquid. This will give your banana bread the best texture. If you can pick out individual pieces of banana in the bowl, you need to mash them together more.

Adding the Wet Ingredients

Once you have thoroughly mashed bananas, add the eggs and whisk them into the bananas until no streaks remain. I like to whisk the eggs in separately: It’s a lot easier to make sure the egg is well beaten when you have fewer ingredients in your bowl.

Then, add the melted butter, brown sugar, and vanilla extract, and stir until combined. The batter will be a little thicker than it was but still runny enough to drip off the whisk.

Adding the Dry Ingredients

To make things easy, I whisk the dry ingredients together with my wet whisk. This little bit of moisture won’t hurt the cake, and it prevents me from having to clean another whisk. If you prefer, you can use a clean fork to mix the cinnamon, baking soda, and salt into the flour. Giving everything a little stir through the flour helps to prevent them from clumping together in the batter, which could result in a lumpy and unpleasant bake.

You can make this a one-bowl banana bread recipe by sifting the dry ingredients on top of the wet ingredients if you prefer. Sifting helps to distribute the cinnamon, baking soda, and salt more evenly, so there’s less risk of clumping.

Add the dry ingredients into the batter, then mix until just combined and the batter is only slightly lumpy from the bananas. If you can’t tell if the lumps are bananas or flour, poke them with your whisk or spatula. Clumps of flour will break apart into smaller pieces of flour, but the bananas won’t change shape.

Once mixed, pour the loaf into a prepared pan. I much prefer metal pans, as they conduct heat far more evenly than their glass equivalents. I really like using USA Pan’s 1-lb loaf pan because I don’t need to grease or flour it in advance. If you don’t have a nonstick pan, I would recommend greasing and flouring it or lining it with parchment paper to help you get the loaf out unharmed.

How to Get Banana Bread to Split Down the Middle

This next part is optional, but it really helps ensure the bread splits down the center rather than off to the side. I run a clean butter knife down the middle of the loaf lengthwise. Just that little bit does wonders to give you a picture-perfect loaf right out of the oven.

Then, stir together the granulated sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle it over the loaf. Make sure to get in the corners and sides of the loaf pan. If the cinnamon sugar covers the line you drew in the batter, run the knife over it once again to help it split in the oven.

Sometimes I use all of the cinnamon sugar; other times, I only use two teaspoons to just barely cover the top. It’s up to you!

Here’s a loaf where I added two Tablespoons of cinnamon sugar and didn’t draw a line down the center. A lot of the cinnamon sugar didn’t change and just fell off while cutting. The loaf also split unevenly, with one portion visible in the top right of the loaf.

Baking the Cinnamon Banana Bread

Bake the banana bread at 350°F/175°C for 45-55 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. I recommend checking on the banana bread halfway and again around the 45-minute mark. If you see that the cinnamon sugar crust has not split at the halfway mark, you can fix it. Open the oven and run that same butter knife down the middle to help it split open and vent properly.

Allow the banana bread to cool for at least half an hour in the pan before slicing it (either in the pan or on a cutting board) and enjoying with loved ones.

FAQs about Cinnamon Banana Bread

Other Recipes You May Enjoy

If you’re a fan of cinnamon in unexpected places, my chocolate gingerbread cookies are right up your alley. They’re like your favorite gingerbread cookies, just with a little cocoa powder and melted chocolate.

If you prefer your cinnamon in more regular applications, try my chai macarons, mini caramel apple pies, or pumpkin pie ice cream.

You might also like my cinnamon apple layer cake and my caramel chai muffins. Both are perfectly spiced with cinnamon!

Dish Cleanup: A Lil Messy

I rate my recipe cleanups on a scale of 1 to 5. 1 is only a handful of dishes, and 5 is everything including the kitchen sink.

This cinnamon banana bread recipe has a cleanup rating of a 3. Most of it is measuring cups and bowls, so you will be able to reduce some of the dishes if you weigh your ingredients. To make doing up the dishes a little easier, rinse your mixing bowl and whisk or spatula right after you put the loaf in the oven. This will prevent the batter from drying onto the bowl, and you won’t have to do any scrubbing!

Cinnamon Banana Bread with Crackly Top Recipe

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Yield: 1 loaf

Cinnamon Banana Bread

Print

Made with brown sugar for added flavor, this cinnamon banana bread is moist with a crispy, crackly crust from a sprinkling of cinnamon sugar on top. It's easy to make and will be your new favorite version of banana bread made with two bananas!

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes

Additional Time 30 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes

Ingredients

For the Cinnamon Banana Bread

• 2 overripe bananas (about 1 cup when mashed)
• 6 Tablespoons butter, melted (84 g)
• 2 large eggs
• ¾ cup brown sugar (185 g)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (5 ml)
• 1 ½ cups flour (210 g)
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon (2 g)
• ¾ teaspoon baking soda (4 g)
• ¼ teaspoon salt (2 g)

For the Cinnamon Sugar Topping

• 1 Tablespoon granulated sugar (14 g)
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon (2 g)

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F/175°C. Grease and flour a metal 9" x 5" (1 lb) loaf pan.
2. In a large mixing bowl, thoroughly mash the bananas with a whisk or fork until they become liquidy.
3. Add the eggs and whisk together until no streaks of egg remain, then whisk in the melted butter, brown sugar, and vanilla extract. Set aside.
4. In a medium bowl, whisk together the baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and flour, then add to the banana mixture.* Stir, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl, until the batter is fully mixed with no dry clumps.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, then, with a thin tool like a butter knife, draw a line lengthwise about an inch deep through the center of the batter. It doesn't seem like it will do anything, but this helps the cake split evenly down the center of the loaf rather than the edges!
6. Stir together the granulated sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar evenly over the loaf, making sure to cover the edges and corners. You may not need to use all the cinnamon sugar. (If the line you drew was completely covered, run your knife through the center of the batter once, just to be safe.)
7. Bake at 350°F for 45-55 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
8. Cool for at least 30 minutes in the pan before slicing and enjoying.

Notes

*To make this a one-bowl recipe, you may sift the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt together over the banana mixture (rather than mixing them together in a bowl first). This helps distribute the cinnamon and baking soda more evenly than just dumping them in all at once.

Store leftovers loosely covered at room temperature for up to four days for best results, or store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.

Recommended Products

As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.

• 
  Cuisinart Silicone Whisk, 10-Inch, Black
• 
  USA Pan Nonstick Standard Bread Loaf Pan, 1 Pound, Aluminized Steel

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

10

Serving Size:

1 slice
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 223Total Fat: 8gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 56mgSodium: 221mgCarbohydrates: 35gFiber: 1gSugar: 18gProtein: 4g

The nutrition facts are estimated and may vary based on specific ingredients used.

I’d love to see how your cinnamon sugar-topped banana bread turns out: Take a photo and tag me on Instagram @floralapronblog to share with me, or use the hashtag #floralapronbakes.