Carrot Banana Bread

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My Carrot Banana Bread Is So Good!

This carrot banana bread is what I make when I’m torn between banana bread and carrot cake—it gives you the best of both. The bananas keep it sweet and moist, and the carrots add just the right texture (and make me feel like I’m being a little bit healthy, ha). I usually throw in some chopped pecans for crunch, but walnuts or even raisins work too.

It’s especially perfect around Easter when I’m craving carrot cake but don’t feel like baking a whole layer cake. I’ll sometimes spread a little cream cheese frosting on top and call it dessert—it totally works.

Happy Cooking!
– Yumna

Carrot Banana Bread Ingredients

• Carrots: I recommend using freshly grated carrots rather than pre-grated. Also make sure you’re grating regular carrots and not peeled baby carrots as the taste and texture are different.
• Bananas: Use ripe or overripe bananas. The browner the bananas, the sweeter the bread will be!
• Eggs: This recipe uses large eggs, but you can swap them with two flax eggs instead as a vegan alternative.
• Butter: I like to use unsalted butter when baking so I can control the amount of salt. To make a dairy-free banana carrot bread, sub in the same amount of vegan butter or ⅓ cup olive oil.
• All-purpose flour: Any brand works for this recipe. You can also substitute with a 1:1 gluten-free flour.
• Baking soda: If you don’t have baking soda, you can swap in 1 tablespoon baking powder, but the bread’s texture may be slightly different.
• Salt: I always add a bit of salt to baked goods.
• Dark brown sugar: You can use light brown if that’s what you have, but it won’t be quite as flavorful.
• Applesauce: Make sure you use unsweetened applesauce.
• Cinnamon: Feel free to change up the spices. You can replace the cinnamon with pumpkin spice, a combination of ground ginger and nutmeg or cardamon and cloves.
• Vanilla extract: Look for vanilla extract with minimal ingredients, and avoid imitation vanilla, which contains artificial flavorings.
• Pecans: If you don’t like pecans or have an allergy, you can leave these out or use another type of nut.

Popular Additions

• Add dried fruit. Stir ½ cup raisins, chopped dates or dried apricots into the batter for extra pops of sweetness and texture.
• Give it a tropical twist: Add ⅓ cup unsweetened shredded coconut or just sprinkle a handful on top of the loaf before baking.
• Make it more decadent. Go full dessert mode and add ½ cup dark, semi-sweet or white chocolate chips.
• Frost it. To give it a true carrot cake feel, top with a cream cheese frosting once the loaf has fully cooled.

How to Make Carrot Banana Bread

My Best Carrot Cake Banana Bread Tips

1. Soften the butter before creaming it with the sugar, but don’t melt it. Softened butter allows the fat to distribute more evenly into the batter, which makes it more moist in the end. If it’s melted or too warm, it doesn’t cream as easily.
2. Skip peeling the carrots. As long as the carrots are scrubbed clean, you don’t have to worry about peeling the carrots.
3. Don’t overmix the batter once you add the flour. It should be well combined with no dry flour, but if you overmix it, the gluten can overdevelop and you’ll get a very chewy loaf.
4. Let the bread cool fully before slicing and serving. If you cut it when it’s still warm, it is likely to crumble apart. Be a little patient!

More Quick Bread Recipes:

• Cinnamon Apple Bread
• Lemon Zucchini Bread
• Pistachio Bread
• Sweet Avocado Quick Bread
• Strawberry Banana Bread
• Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread
• Chocolate Cinnamon Banana Bread
• Lemon Blueberry Bread
• Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

If you try this Carrot Banana Bread recipe or any other recipe on Feel Good Foodie, then don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave a comment below! It helps others who are thinking of making the recipe. I would love to hear about your experience making it. And if you snapped some shots, share it on Instagram so we can repost on Stories!

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Review

Carrot Banana Bread Recipe

Carrot banana bread made with fresh shredded carrots, pecans, and ripe bananas. Mix everything together and bake in the oven.

5 from 250 votes

Author Yumna Jawad

Servings 10 servings

Course Breakfast, Dessert, Snack

Calories 309

Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 50 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 5 minutes mins

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Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• ▢ Cooking spray
• ▢ 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
• ▢ 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ▢ 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ▢ 1 teaspoon salt
• ▢ ½ cup Danish Creamery Unsalted European butter softened
• ▢ ¾ cup packed dark brown sugar
• ▢ 2 large eggs room temperature
• ▢ 2 medium ripe bananas mashed (about 1 cup)
• ▢ ½ cup unsweetened applesauce
• ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ▢ 1 cup carrots shredded, about 2 ½ medium
• ▢ ½ cup chopped pecans optional

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350°F and spray a loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray.
• In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.
• In a stand mixer with a whisk attachment or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, mix butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 2 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, until incorporated. Add the bananas, applesauce and vanilla extract and mix to combine. Add dry ingredients and mix until no streaks remain. Fold in carrots and pecans until combined.
• Pour into prepared pan and bake in preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean, 50-55 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow the bread to cool completely in the pan set on a wire rack.

Equipment

• Aluminized Steel Loaf Pan
• Stand Mixer
• Box Grater
• Measuring Cups and Spoons

Notes

Storage: The bread will keep for around 3 days at room temperature or up to a week in the fridge in an airtight container.

Freezing Instructions: This bread freezes really well, and will keep for up to 3 months. You can either freeze individual slices or the whole loaf. Wrap in parchment or plastic wrap and place in a freezer bag to freeze.

Nutrition

Serving: 1slice, Calories: 309kcal, Carbohydrates: 42g, Protein: 5g, Fat: 14g, Saturated Fat: 7g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g, Monounsaturated Fat: 5g, Trans Fat: 0.4g, Cholesterol: 62mg, Sodium: 372mg, Potassium: 220mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 21g, Vitamin A: 2499IU, Vitamin C: 3mg, Calcium: 37mg, Iron: 2mg

Nutrition information provided is an estimate. It will vary based on cooking method and specific ingredients used.

Diet: Vegetarian

Cuisine American

Course: Breakfast, Dessert, Snack