I’ve spread Nutella on just about everything, but one of my favorites is freshly baked banana bread. In an “aha! moment” I decided to swirl the Nutella right into the batter and bake them together. I’m not claiming to have discovered this combo, but I believe this may be the tastiest pairing ever there was. I now always make two loaves of Nutella swirled banana bread, otherwise it disappears too quickly. One we eat while it is still warm and a bit gooey, the other sits for breakfast the next day. It is magnificent and super simple to make.
The first time I tried Nutella was in France, on my honeymoon. I thought French kids were the luckiest people on earth. There was no way my mom would have given me a chocolate hazelnut spread on anything. (For the record it was the 1960s, she was a hippie and didn’t allow any sugar at all. Hence my full on sugar rebellion and career as a pastry chef.)
French kids get Nutella for breakfast, on their bread at lunch or as a late night snack. They all seemed healthy enough, so I think the French moms are on to something. My honeymoon was more than 30 years ago and in the meantime we Americans have had a hazelnut spread revolution of our own. Now you can find it on the shelves of Costco and 7-eleven. My house is never without a jar.
How to Make Nutella Swirled Banana Bread
Find the full recipe at the bottom of this post!
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease two Loaf Pans (8.5 x 4.5 x 2-3/4-Inches)
Mash the bananas with a Potato Masher, so they still have some small lumps. Set aside.
In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the sugar, butter, milk, eggs, and vanilla. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the sugar/butter mixture, just until smooth. Add the bananas and mix just until they are combined.
Heat the Nutella in a microwave for about 20 seconds to soften it. If you don’t use a microwave, you can heat the Nutella over a double boiler for a couple of minutes. Drizzle 2/3 of the Nutella over the banana bread batter.
Using a rubber spatula gently fold the nutella into the batter, trying not to over mix, so you can see the swirls when it is baked.
Carefully divide the batter into the pans, trying not to overly mix the batter, so the swirls stay well defined.
Add the rest of the Nutella and swirl into the batter.
Bake for about 45 mintues or until a tester comes out clean.
Allow to cool in pan for about 10 minutes on a cooling rack.
Remove and eat one of them while it is still warm and gooey. Save the other Nutella swirled banana bread for the next day and serve with more melted Nutella.
Tips for Great Banana Bread
- Use SUPER ripe yellow bananas with lots of brown spots on them. That’s when they have the most flavor. Never use green bananas in banana bread.
- You can peel and freeze ripe bananas if you have too many that are getting too ripe. When they thaw they’ll look brown and gross and soupy but they work very well and taste great in banana bread.
- I prefer to mash the bananas with a potato masher instead of pureeing them so you get little chunks of banana. It’s up to you whether you puree or mash them. When you mash you want it to mostly be mush, but with some bigger pieces of banana in there. It should be almost turning to liquid. If they’re ripe enough it will happen pretty quickly.
- I discovered that I really liked swapping buttermilk for the whole milk in this recipe.
- I use baking powder and baking soda in this recipe because bananas are heavy and I don’t want the bread to be dense, I want it to have a nice lift to it.
- Grease your loaf pan with baking spray then add a parchment paper sling to ensure you can easily remove the bread from the pan. Use metal clips to hold the parchment paper down while you pour the batter in the pan, but be sure to remove the clips before baking.
- Place your loaf pan on a baking sheet when you put it in the oven so the bottom doesn’t over-bake.
- When you think your banana bread may be done, start by tapping it in the oven to make sure it’s not jiggling. When you remove it from the oven, test with a cake tester, toothpick or skewer in the very center of the bread. Ovens vary, so bake times are always just a suggestion.
Video: Banana Bread with Nutella
Watch me make this Nutella Swirled Banana Bread in my video. Be sure to check out all my videos on my YouTube channel!
Video
Ingredients
- 2 cups (480g) mashed very ripe bananas about 4 large
- 1 cup (200g) lightly packed brown sugar
- 1/2 cup (110g) unsalted butter melted
- 1/2 cup (120ml) whole milk or buttermilk
- 2 eggs at room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 1/3 cups (400g) all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 cup (140g) Nutella
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350℉ / 175℃. Generously grease two 8 by 4-inch / 20 by 10cm loaf pans, then line them with greased parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, combine the bananas, brown sugar, butter, milk, eggs, and vanilla and mix well with a wooden spoon.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the banana mixture and stir just until smooth.
- Heat the Nutella in the microwave for about 20 seconds to soften.
- Divide half of the banana batter between the prepared pans. Drizzle half of the Nutella over the two pans and run a knife through the batter in a zigzag pattern to distribute.
- Add the remaining batter to the pans, top with the remaining Nutella, and swirl into the batter with the knife again.
- Bake until a tester comes out clean, about 50 minutes. Let the cakes cool in the pans for about 10 minutes, then remove from the pans and set on a wire rack to cool completely before serving.
Zoe, you are such a joy to watch!! You definitely put a smile on my face. Everything I made from your two books is amazing. Thank you for the constant knowledge and great recipes!!!
Before printing reduced it to make 1 loaf. However, there’s an issue with the noted amount of flour – yes it shows 1.67 cups but it kept the grams at 400grams (which is for 2 loaves) so my batter was waaaaaay too thick of course! Please correct so that flour will be 200g for only one loaf!
Thank you for letting us know, Laura and so sorry you had issues because of the adjustment! Because of the way the recipe card plugin works, we would only be able to include either grams or cup measures, not both and have them adjust properly. Since Zoë has readers who use both of these types of measurements, we include both. I turned off the serving adjustment so this doesn’t happen to anyone else. Cheers!
Another great recipe! I’m not a big fan of banana bread, but this is delicious. I can always count on your recipes being perfect, even the first time making them.