Pistachio Banana Bread
Pistachio Banana Bread is super soft, moist, and full of sweet banana flavor and swirled with pistachio spread. You’ll love this quick, easy recipe for breakfast with coffee, as a delicious afternoon snack or dessert!
Servings: 12 slices
Calories: 255kcal
Equipment
- 9x5 inch loaf pan
- Pistachio paste (such as Pistakio or Pisti brands)
Ingredients
- 1¼ cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup ground pistachios 3 ounces, roasted or raw, salted or unsalted
- ½ teaspoon ground cardamom optional
- 1½ cups mashed overripe bananas about 3 medium to large bananas
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup light brown sugar packed or swap in equal parts granulated sugar
- ½ cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- ½ cup sour cream full fat, room temperature
- ⅓ cup pistachio paste (optional) I recommend brands such as Pistakio or Pisti
- 3 tablespoons chopped pistachios for sprinkling on top before baking, optional, or stir up to 1/2 cup into the batter or
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan or coat with baking spray. Line it with parchment paper leaving an overhang on two sides.
- Pulse the shelled pistachios in a food processor til finely ground.
- In a medium-sized bowl, whisk to combine the all-purpose flour, cardamom, baking soda, salt and ground pistachios. Set aside.
- In a medium sized bowl, mash the bananas with a fork, hand held electric mixer, the tip of a whisk or potato masher. Set aside.
- In a large bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or using a handheld mixer, beat the butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar for about 2 minutes or until well combined. Mix in the eggs, one at a time followed by the vanilla and almond extract.
- Mix in the sour cream followed by mashed bananas. Use a rubber spatula to fold in the dry ingredients only until well blended. Do not overmix.
- Microwave the pistachio spread in a small microwave safe bowl for 20 seconds. Stir and set aside.
- Spoon half of the batter into the prepared pan. Smooth it evenly with an offset spatula. Drop spoonfuls of half of the pistachio paste (if using) over the batter. Run a butter knife or skewer to run swirls from side to side and top to bottom of the pan.
- Spread the rest of the batter over top. Drop the rest of the pistachio paste by spoonfuls over the top of the batter.
- Run a butter knife or skewer to run swirls from side to side and top to bottom of the pan. Turn the pan and swirl the knife through the batter one more time. Sprinkle chopped pistachios evenly on top (if using).
- Pour into the pan and bake at 350° for 50-60 minutes or until a thin bladed knife comes out clean when inserted in the center of the bread. Check on bread while it bakes. Loosely tent bread with aluminum foil if you find the top is browning too quickly.
- Once baked, remove bread from oven and set the pan on a wire rack for about 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, remove bread from pan and set on wire rack to cool completely.
Video
Notes
Bananas: Use very overripe bananas for banana bread. They are extra soft and sweet. Your bananas should have brown spots on them or the peels can even be black.
Pistachios: Use raw or roasted salted or unsalted pistachios.
Pistachio paste: I use storebought pistachio paste (also known as pistachio spread) such as Pistakio or Pisti brands for the filling to save time. If you prefer, you can leave this out or save it to spread some on the slices after baking.
Chopped Pistachios (optional addition): For extra crunch and flavor, add an extra 1/2 cup of toasted, chopped pecans or walnuts.
Mixing: Avoid overmixing. Stir dry ingredients in with a spatula until dry ingredients are mixed in.
Baking: Place aluminum foil very loosely on top of the banana bread halfway through baking if you find the top browning too much.
Topping: For extra crunch, sprinkle 1-2 tablespoons of chopped pistachios on top before baking or make a streusel topping such as the one used in this cinnamon banana bread.
Storage: Store banana bread in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Nutrition
Serving: 1slice | Calories: 255kcal | Carbohydrates: 32g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 0.3g | Cholesterol: 53mg | Sodium: 205mg | Potassium: 204mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 16g | Vitamin A: 367IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 31mg | Iron: 1mg
