Blueberry Banana Bread

This Blueberry Banana Bread Recipe, at a Glance

• No mixer. This easy blueberry banana bread recipe comes together in minutes, no mixer needed.
• Freezer-friendly. Bake two loaves and freeze one for later.
• Use up ripe bananas. The best bananas for this recipe are overripe and spotty. Perfect whenever I have older bananas in the fruit bowl!
• Fresh or frozen blueberries. One of the best things is that you can make moist blueberry banana bread with fresh blueberries in the summer, or all year round with frozen berries.

Gather Your Ingredients

You’ll find the full ingredients list and recipe amounts in the recipe card, but here are the key ingredients you’ll need to make this blueberry banana bread recipe.

• Bananas – Riper, spotty bananas are sweeter and are easier to mash.
• Butter – Melted. You could use vegetable oil here instead, but I prefer the flavor of butter. And, since this is a quick bread, the texture is a little denser, but still tender.
• Sugar – Granulated white sugar or light brown sugar.
• Eggs – Bring the eggs to room temperature so they blend more easily into the batter.
• Sour Cream – Greek yogurt is a good substitute.
• Flour – Measure the flour using a digital kitchen scale. If you don’t have one, spoon the flour into your measuring cup and then level it off. Don’t scoop from the bag, or you’ll end up with too much flour and a dry, crumbly loaf.
• Blueberries – These can be fresh blueberries, or frozen if they’re out of season. To prevent the berries from sinking in the batter, toss them in a little flour.

Can I Use Frozen Blueberries?

Yes. To make blueberry banana bread with frozen blueberries, thaw the berries and pat them dry before tossing them with flour and adding them to the batter.

How to Make Blueberry Banana Bread

This blueberry banana bread recipe is on repeat all summer long in my house. The steps are super easy:

1. Mix the batter. Mash the bananas in a bowl with a fork. In a new bowl, cream the butter and sugar together. Then, mix in the eggs, vanilla, sour cream, and mashed bananas. Stir in the baking soda, salt, and lastly, fold in the flour until the batter is just combined.
2. Add the blueberries. Toss the blueberries with flour, and then stir them into the banana bread batter.
3. Bake. Pour the batter into a greased and lined 9×5 loaf pan. Sprinkle a few extra berries on top, and then pop the blueberry banana bread into the oven at 350ºF for 50-60 minutes. A toothpick stuck into the center of the bread should come out clean.
4. Cool. Allow the bread to cool in the pan for 15 minutes, and then carefully remove it. Wait until the blueberry banana bread has cooled completely before slicing, so it doesn’t crumble.

Can I Bake Muffins Instead?

Yes! In fact, I use the same banana bread base recipe in my banana muffins. You can follow that recipe and add blueberries, or adapt the baking time in this recipe. To make this banana blueberry bread recipe as muffins, you’ll need to bake in a muffin tin at 350ºF for 25-30 minutes.

Tips for Bakery-Style Banana Bread

• Use sour cream. Sour cream is the secret to ultra moist banana bread. Don’t skip it! If you need a substitute, use plain Greek yogurt or regular yogurt instead.
• Use overripe bananas. Using overly ripe bananas produces sweeter, moister bread. Underripe bananas don’t have nearly as much flavor, and they’ll be chunky after you mash them. Stick with the brownest, senior citizens of the bunch for the best banana bread!
• Don’t overmeasure. Ideally, weigh out the ingredients or use the spoon-and-level method to avoid adding too much or too little to the recipe. Accurately measuring ingredients like flour is key.
• Toss the blueberries in flour. This keeps them from sinking to the bottom of the bread. I also add a few blueberries to the top of the batter before baking. This just makes it pretty when it’s baked!
• Avoid overmixing. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet batter just until they’re combined, and don’t overmix, for a tender crumb. Too much mixing leads to a dense loaf.

Easy Variations

There are more ways than one to make a delicious, moist banana bread with blueberries. These are some ideas.

• Blueberry banana nut bread: Add in chopped pecans, walnuts, or almonds.
• Chocolate chips: Make chocolate chip blueberry banana bread with semi-sweet, dark, or milk chocolate chips.
• Lemon blueberry banana bread: Add fresh lemon zest to the batter.
• Add a streusel: Before baking, top the blueberry banana bread with streusel topping for extra crunch.

How to Store

I always find that banana bread tastes even better the next day! Here are some quick storage tips.

• At room temperature. I like to use large zip-top bags just for ease, but you can also use plastic wrap, or aluminum foil. Store it airtight and it will stay moist for up to 4 days.
• Refrigerate. You can extend this banana blueberry bread’s shelf life by storing it in the fridge. I recommend taking it out 30 minutes or so ahead of serving, though, so it can come back to room temperature.
• Freeze it. Freezing banana bread is a great way to double the batch. Wrap the loaf (or individual slices) twice in plastic wrap, and freeze it for up to 3 months.

More Quick Bread Recipes

• Chocolate Banana Bread
• Strawberry Bread
• Zucchini Bread
• Pineapple Banana Bread
• Brown Sugar Banana Bread