Craving pumpkin banana bread but without any actual pumpkin? This Pumpkin Spice Banana Bread, topped with a buttery streusel, brings all the warm and cozy spices you love while letting sweet, ripe bananas steal the show!
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Fall baking is all about cozy, comforting flavors, and this Pumpkin Spice Banana Bread delivers that—without using any pumpkin! As many of you know, from my pumpkin spice latte and pumpkin spice biscuit recipes, I'm just not a fan of Satan’s squash. It is my childhood trauma. But pumpkin pie spice with a moist and delicious banana bread - that is my ideal version of a perfect Fall treat. Pour my morning coffee, I'm having two slices.
What makes this pumpkin banana bread extra special is the streusel topping. It’s a simple mix of butter, brown sugar, flour, and a dash of pumpkin spice, but it creates a sweet, slightly crunchy layer that bakes to perfection. When it’s done, you’ll have a moist and flavorful loaf with a crisp, buttery topping that you will love serving for breakfast and brunch!
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Ingredients & Substitutions
I am serious about making banana bread with just the right amount of banana. If you know you know. Not enough banana and you might as well be making a plain loaf cake. Too much banana and the cake will be gummy and stodgy and will overwhelm the flavors of the pumpkin spice. It's all about balance 🧘🏻♀️
- All-purpose flour - Even though the name has bread in it, I do not recommend using bread flour. Plain all-purpose flour is easy to find and affordable.
- Brown sugar - Brown sugar is the most common sugar used in Fall quick breads. If you don't have brown sugar, but still want the rich brown sugar flavor, you can use plain granulated or caster sugar and add 1 tablespoon of molasses to your wet ingredients.
- Pumpkin spice - I use the simple pumpkin spice blend from my pumpkin spice pancakes, but you can substitute with a store brand or use apple pie spice, or even plain cinnamon.
- Bananas - In my humble, but correct opinion, two bananas, about 1 cup mashed, is the perfect amount of banana for this recipe. See the next section for the why's and the what's.
- Greek yogurt - I like the thick nature of Greek yogurt as it does an exceptional job of keeping your pumpkin loaf moist. You can absolutely use regular yogurt, buttermilk, sour cream, or kefir in place of the Greek yogurt, if that’s what you have on hand.
- Scroll to the bottom of the post for the full recipe card.
Getting more banana flavor
You want a lot of banana flavor in your pumpkin banana bread, so naturally you think "I'll just add another banana or two." Sure you could do that, but you may get more than you're asking for. Add too much banana and you risk the center of the loaf turning out heavy and soggy in the middle, making it rise poorly, look undercooked, and frankly kinda ugly.
Then you might think "I'll just add some banana extract to get more banana flavor". That's not gonna give you the results you're looking for either. Look it up for yourself, but banana extract is actually based upon a banana that was pretty much wiped out sometime in the last century. It's also the reason banana candy doesn't taste like what we know as banana.
If you want more banana flavor the best way to get it is to use overripe bananas. That means to let your bananas ripen until you just can't look at them anymore without thinking "oh, they're going bad." I prefer mine medium dark, like in the picture above, but go black banana, if you dare, and you're gonna get that good good banana flavor.
Variations
This banana pumpkin bread recipe is actually a blank slate that you can make your own by adding any number of add-ins. Except my husband's grandmother's add-in of maraschino cherries. Just say no (sorry honey 😬)
- Choco-nut - My one-bowl banana bread with chocolate chips is super simple, and is the closest to my Grandmother-in-law's version - minus the wet cherries 😵💫
- Apple - I love to add apple to a Fall quick bread. Just a cup of grated apples will practically melt into the bread and give it so much flavor.
- Cranberry - This is as close as I can get to the wet cherry train: 1 cup of fresh or dried cranberries will definitely bring in a Holiday vibe and a nice tart/sweet bite.
Instructions
Making this pumpkin banana bread recipe is a matter of a simple application of the muffin method, or combining wet ingredients and dry ingredients and then baking. We add a delicious streusel topping because we aren't in the fancy hat wearing era anymore and I like to accessorize.
- Preheat oven to 425°F and butter or spray a 9 inch loaf pan and line with parchment paper for easy removal.
Step 1: In a medium bowl whisk brown sugar, flour, and pumpkin spice.
Step 2: Cut in the butter using your fingers or a pastry blender, until it easily clumps together when pressed in your hand and then breaks apart easily into large and small clumps. Set aside.
Step 3: In a large mixing bowl combine flour, brown sugar, pumpkin spice, baking powder, baking soda, and kosher salt. Set aside.
Step 4: In a separate medium bowln, use a fork or potato masher to mash bananas until just a few lumps remain. If you prefer them more smooth, keep going, or use a hand mixer to pulverize them.
Step 5: Add eggs, Greek yogurt, oil, and vanilla extract to your mashed banana and whisk together.
Step 6: Add the wet ingredients to the flour mixture and combine with a rubber spatula until just combined.
Step 7: Pour batter into the prepared loaf pan and smooth the top with your spatula.
Step 8: Sprinkle the streusel topping evenly over the top of the bread.
Bake: Bake at 425° for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes turn the oven down to 350°, without opening the oven door. Bake for another 40 to 45 minutes, or until a clean toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Then, and I know this is a big ask, let it cool completely before slicing. As if.
Making your own pumpkin spice
To have delicious pumpkin spice flavor available at all times, making your own is a breeze. Combine 3 tablespoons ground cinnamon, 2 teaspoons ground ginger, 2 teaspoons nutmeg, 1 ½ teaspoons ground allspice, and 1 ½ teaspoons ground cloves in a small bowl. Store in a glass or plastic jar or container with a tight fitting lid.
Spice blends are best if used within a year of making them, and it's best to use fresh spices to make them. They won’t spoil, but they will lose their potency over time and eventually won’t taste as strong. Storing them in a dark place can help extend their life by a few months.
Recipe FAQs
One thing I learned as a professional baker was about something called 'oven spring". Normally applied to yeast breads and croissants, it still applies to a smaller degree to quick breads. When your banana bread goes into the oven at the higher temperature, the initial blast of heat tells the baking powder to get to work, giving your bread a head start on rising. This happens in the first 5 to 10 minutes. Then you turn the temperature down and allow the loaf to fully rise and finish baking.
Leave the loaf unsliced if possible and store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. For longer storage, slice your bread and wrap individual slices in plastic wrap. Store them all in a zip top bag in the freezer for up to 3 months. When you crave a slice, let it thaw on the kitchen counter. It's also perfect for packing in a lunch box!
Because we used vegetable oil, instead of butter, in this bread, you don't actually have to reheat it. It is delicious cold. But if warm banana bread warms your heart, just zap it in the microwave for 10 to 15 seconds.
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-Cynthia
📖 Recipe
Pumpkin Spice Banana Bread (without Pumpkin)
Equipment
- 9 inch loaf pan
Ingredients
Streusel topping
- 6 tablespoons (84 g) unsalted butter room temperature
- ⅓ cup (75 g) brown sugar light or dark
- ⅓ cup (40 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon (2 g) pumpkin spice
Dry Ingredients
- 2 cups (240 g) all purpose flour
- ½ cup (110 g) brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons (4 g) pumpkin spice
- 2 teaspoon (8 g) baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
Wet Ingredients
- 1 cup (225 g) mashed bananas from 2 medium bananas
- 2 (100 g) large eggs room temperature
- ½ cup (125 g) Greek yogurt room temperature
- 4 tablespoon (60 g) vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or paste
Instructions
Prep
- Preheat oven to 425°F. Spray a 9 inch loaf pan with nonstick spray. Line with parchment paper.
Make streusel
- In a small bowl whisk brown sugar, flour, and pumpkin spice.
- Cut in the butter using your fingers or a pastry blender, until it easily clumps together when pressed in your hand and then breaks apart easily into large and small clumps. Set aside.
Make batter
- In a large bowl combine flour, brown sugar, pumpkin spice, baking powder, baking soda, and kosher salt. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, use a fork to mash your bananas until just a few lumps remain. If you prefer them more smooth, keep going, or use a hand mixer to pulverize them.
- Add eggs, Greek yogurt, oil, and vanilla and whisk together.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and combine with a rubber spatula until just combined.
- Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and smooth the top with your spatula.
- Sprinkle the streusel topping evenly over the batter.
Bake
- Bake at 425° for 5 minutes. After 10 minutes turn the oven down to 350°, without opening the oven door.
- Bake for another 40 to 45 minutes, or until a clean toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
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