March 11 2013

Fruit & Nut Banana Bread Mini Loaves Recipe

Name: Fruit & Nut Banana Bread Mini Loaves
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 35 min
Ingredients: 290 g plain flour; 3 tsp baking powder; ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda); 110 g caster sugar; 1 egg; 180 ml skimmed milk; 60 ml sunflower oil; 400 g over ripe bananas (about 4 bananas); 150 g mixed dried fruit and nuts

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Who doesn’t love banana bread? These fruit and nut Banana Bread Mini Loaves are deliciously moist, packed with flavor, and easy to make.

They’re perfect for breakfast or a snack, and the perfectly portioned mini banana bread loaves will satisfy everyone’s sweet tooth!

Two mini banana bread loaves, wrapped with bakers twine stacked on a wooden board, with dried fruit scattered around. Text overlay says"Fruit & Nut Banana Bread Mini Loaves"

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Banana Bread Mini Loaves

The full ingredients list and instructions are found in the printable recipe card at the end of this post. I highly recommend reading the blog post all the way through so that you don’t miss any tips or substitution suggestions, to ensure that you have all the ingredients and equipment required and understand the steps and timings involved.

Making banana bread is a perfect way to use up overripe bananas, and this recipe for banana bread mini loaves has a little bit of a twist!

I came up with the recipe after organizing my kitchen with a baking workstation and found a package of paper mini loaf cases.

There was also a package of dried fruit and nuts which needed to be used, so I decided to put them into the sweet bread mixture, and lo and behold, fruit and nut banana bread was made!

The recipe makes a baker’s dozen – thirteen – which means you could give a dozen to a loved one as a gift, and have one for yourself as a cook’s treat.

Or they could be tied up with some baker’s twine and be handed out as guest favors at a bridal brunch.

Ingredients & Equipment Used In This Recipe

While most ingredients can be bought in grocery stores, for your convenience, any specialized or notable ingredients and equipment needed for this recipe have been linked to Amazon or other stores if available online.

Staple ingredients such as oil, salt, sugar, etc., aren’t always included here as you’re likely to have those in your kitchen.

The complete list of ALL ingredients with measurements is found on the recipe card at the end of this post.

Ingredients Needed For Banana Bread Mini Loaves

Fresh Produce – Bananas (overripe)
Dairy – Skimmed Milk (Skim Milk)
Other – Eggs
Plain Flour – also known as All-Purpose Flour
Caster Sugar*
Baking Powder
Bicarbonate of Soda – also known as baking soda
Sunflower Oil – or other neutral oil such as canola oil or vegetable oil
Dried Fruit and Nuts – you can use which dried fruit and nuts you like, in my mix were cranberries, raisins, sultanas, pistachios, Brazil nuts, pecans, and almonds.

Equipment Needed For This Recipe

Mixing Bowls
Rubber/Silicon Spatula
Whisk
Fine Mesh Sieve – or Sifter to sift the flour.
Paper Mini Loaf Cases – these are similar to the ones that I used. You could also make this recipe in a Mini Loaf Pan and wrap them with Parchment Paper and Baker’s Twine for a pretty presentation. Make sure you grease the pan with nonstick baking spray or some oil before baking.
Baking Cookie Sheet – for placing the mini loaves onto when baking.
Kitchen Food Scales – the measurements for this recipe are in grams, and you will need to weigh the ingredients.

Recipes on The Purple Pumpkin Blog use both cup measurements and/or weighted measurements. American cups and kitchen food scales are handy pieces of equipment to have in your kitchen as it means you’ll be able to make all of the different recipes on my blog. I try to give American, imperial, and metric measurements in my recipes. Please note, that you can mix cup measurements with weighted measurements, but never mix imperial (pounds, ounces, pints, etc.,) with metric (kilograms, grams, liters, etc.,).

What is Caster Sugar?

*Caster Sugar is the most common type of sugar used in baking in the UK. It is just regular granulated white sugar that has been milled into smaller crystals.

This makes it dissolve more easily and is perfect for the best vanilla cupcake recipe.

In the US it is known as superfine sugar which may be found in the grocery store, but can be bought online or at a specialist baking store.

Do not confuse caster sugar with powdered sugar (which in the UK is called icing sugar) as they are NOT the same thing.

You can make caster sugar at home by pulsing granulated sugar in a food processor for a few seconds. Two or three quick pulses should do the trick. You want finely ground sugar, not a powdery consistency.

In most recipes, caster sugar and granulated sugar can be used interchangeably. However, it is best to measure by weight as a cup of caster sugar weighs more than a cup of granulated sugar.

More Recipes Using Bananas

One of the hero ingredients in this dish is bananas, so here are some more recipes using the same:

More Sweet Bread Recipes

Looking for more sweet loaves of bread to make? Check these recipes out next:

How Do I Make Banana Bread Mini Loaves?

The printable recipe card has the full ingredients list and instructions and can be found at the end of this post. To save ink, any demonstration photos do not print.

Step 1: Preheat your oven (temperature is on the recipe card). Place 13 mini loaf cases onto a baking/cookie sheet and set aside. You could also muffin cases in a muffin pan if you prefer. Baking time may need to be adjusted.

Step 2: You will need two mixing bowls for this recipe – one for the dry ingredients and one for the wet ingredients. Start by sifting the flour, baking powder, and bicarbonate of soda into one of the bowls, and pour in the sugar.

Step 3: In another bowl (or a Pyrex measuring jug/cup as I did) whisk together the wet ingredients – skimmed milk, egg, and sunflower oil until combined.

Step 4: Peel the bananas and mash them up on a plate with a fork. Then add the mashed bananas and the wet mixture to the bowl of dry ingredients.

Step 5: Using a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, mix everything together until just combined – do not overmix.

Step 6: Gently fold the dried fruit and nuts into the banana bread batter until distributed. Some people toss dried fruit in flour before adding it to the cake batter, to prevent it from sinking, but on this occasion, I didn’t and it was just fine!

Step 7: Divide the banana bread mixture between the loaf cases.

Step 8: Place the tray of loaves into your preheated oven and bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaves comes out clean.

The mini banana bread tastes great warm from the oven, or you can transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.