This Starbucks Copycat Banana Bread recipe is a delicious sweet bread loaded with walnuts and delicious bananas. It’s pure comfort and tastes amazing warm with a bit of butter!
When I worked at Starbucks in college, there was one pastry that always had my love, their Banana Bread! I still get a slice at least once a month because I can’t resist!
Back when I was working there, they actually used to have recipe cards for their pastry items and I was thankful to snag their banana bread recipe!
I’m an absolute sucker for banana bread, my Grammie’s will always have my whole heart, but since her passing, no one has been able to find her recipe, so this one will have to do.
How To Make Banana Bread:
This banana nut bread recipe is very simple to make and the end results are a tender and moist loaf of bread that you likely won’t want to share with anyone else.
- Begin by preheating the oven to 325 degrees F and grease a 9×5-inch loaf pan and dust with flour.
- Next, you’ll whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt and set aside.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, sugar, and vegetable oil until combined. Add the flour mixture and mix just until combined, then mix in the buttermilk, vanilla, and mashed bananas until combined.
- Then, fold in 1/2 cup chopped walnuts and pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan.
- Top the batter with the remaining 1/3 cup of chopped walnuts and bake for 45 to 60 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.
- Finally, let the loaf of bread cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack and remove from pan. Slice and serve warm or room temperature with or without butter.
In my opinion, banana bread is the reason bananas even exist and once you try it, I’m sure you’ll agree! Seriously, there’s nothing more delicious than a warm slice of banana bread slathered in soft rich butter.
Each slice of this delicious bread is loaded with amazing banana flavor and chunks of walnuts! Unlike a lot of other recipes, this bread is made with a touch of buttermilk which adds a lovely little tang to the flavor.
Recipe Notes:
- Always use very ripe bananas for the best flavor, the skin should be almost black and the peel should pretty much fall off.
- Don’t use frozen bananas for this recipe, when you freeze bananas they take on extra moisture which they retain even after being thawed and can mess with the outcome of the recipe.
- The walnuts are optional, so if you have an allergy, simply leave them out and it won’t impact the final product, but feel free to replace them with chocolate chips… YUM!
- I prefer to use a mixing bowl and whip this recipe up by hand, but you can use a stand mixer or hand mixer if you prefer.
More Delicious Banana Recipes:
Tools You’ll Need for this Recipe:
Starbucks Banana Bread Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup + 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoons buttermilk
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 ripe medium-large bananas mashed
- ½ cup + ⅓ cup chopped walnuts divided
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325°F for a glass pan or 350°F for a nonstick pan. Grease a 9×5-inch loaf pan and dust with flour.
- Whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt and set aside.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, sugar, and vegetable oil until combined. Add in the flour mixture and mix just until combined, then mix in the buttermilk, vanilla, and mashed bananas until combined.
- Fold in ½ cup chopped walnuts and pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan.
- Top the batter with the remaining ⅓ cup of chopped walnuts and bake for 45 to 60 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.
- Cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack and remove from pan. Slice and serve warm or room temperature with or without butter. Tastes best after sitting overnight.
Notes
- Always use very ripe bananas for the best flavor, the skin should be almost black and the peel should pretty much fall off.
- Don’t use frozen bananas for this recipe, when you freeze bananas they take on extra moisture which they retain even after being thawed and can mess with the outcome of the recipe.
- The walnuts are optional, so if you have an allergy, simply leave them out and it won’t impact the final product, but feel free to replace them with chocolate chips… YUM!
- I prefer to use a mixing bowl and whip this recipe up by hand, but you can use a stand mixer or hand mixer if you prefer.
Nutrition
Photos by Patty Kraikittikun-Phuong
Deb says
Great Recipe! I made this in a high altitude area and made 3 changes: used 4 bananas, decreased vegetable oil to 1/3 Cup, substituted buttermilk for sour cream (this fat helps keep cake moist and less liquid evaporates at high altitude). My oven bakes differently so I bake for 65 minutes, just keep close watch on browning and do toothpick check for doneness. Good Luck! My loaf turns out moist, golden brown and yummy!
Rebecca Hubbell says
Hi Belinda, I don’t have any experience with high altitude baking, sorry. This recipe is from Starbucks and the recipe cards they used to hand out with their pastries years ago. Bake the bread and let it sit for a day to get that rich dark and moist crumb.
Balinda McClellan says
How do you adapt this recipe when Baking at an altitude of 7000 feet?
Does this recipe Yield a dark rich banana bread like Starbucks, or is it just a close copy cat?
Jacqueline says
I didn’t have buttermilk either! Thankfully, it’s an easy conversion to measure out!
This recipe calls for 1/8 CUP BUTTERMILK (which is, 2 TBSP), therefore you only need 1/8 TBSP WHITE VINEGAR!
USE 2 Tbsp Milk + 1/8 TBSP White Vinegar. Leave to ferment, about 5 minutes, before adding it to the smushed banana!
Hope this helps!