Take your classic banana bread recipe to the next level! This Snickerdoodle Banana Bread recipe has a crunchy top coating of cinnamon and sugar, a real crowd pleaser!
Love cinnamon and sugar together? Readers like you also love our homemade churros and cinnamon cookies. And don’t skip our cinnamon spice cupcakes too!
Table of Contents
Why this Recipe is Best
When it comes to cookies, Snickerdoodles are hands down one of my favorites. Followed by Oatmeal Scotchies, Oatmeal Raisin cookies then Chocolate Chip Cookies.
Today, I’ve taken my favorite Classic Banana Bread recipe and gave it a good Snickerdoodle twist.
I not only added a little extra cinnamon to the bread, but I coated it in a cinnamon and sugar topping. Much like Amish friendship bread, I greased the bread pans and gave a THICK coating of cinnamon sugar before adding the batter.
Once the bread pans were filled with batter, I then poured sprinkled a generous amount of cinnamon sugar to the top before baking. This creates the sweet crust you see in the photos!
Spread on a layer of whipped butter and grab a cup of coffee and this my friends is my favorite way to start the day.
- Just simple baking ingredients needed. You probably have everything on hand already!
- Makes TWO loaves – one to store in the freezer for later or to share with a friend or neighbor!
- A new fun way to use up those ripe bananas!
Ingredient Notes
Reminder
Scroll to the bottom of the blog post for the full ingredient list with measurements and directions!
- Butter – I use unsalted butter in all of my baking in order to control the amount of sodium. Be sure to let it soften. If you only have salted butter, that’s fine, just reduce the salt in the recipe to 1/4 teaspoon.
- Milk – Skim milk, 1%, 2% or whole milk all work fine here. Use what you have on hand.
- Flour – Regular all-purpose flour works great here, just be sure to measure the flour correctly. You could also use white wheat flour or a mixture of whole wheat and all-purpose flour, but the bread might be slightly more dense.
- Bananas – Over ripe bananas with speckled or black skins are best for sweet, moist bread. If your bananas aren’t ready, use our tutorial on how to ripen bananas in 20 minutes.
- Cinnamon Sugar – The cinnamon sugar mixture is used on the bottom of the pan as well as the top of the loaves. This gives the bread an all over crust that’s just divine!
Easy Instructions
- Step 1. Prep the pans. Start by greasing your TWO loaf pans generously with baking spray. Add a generous coating of the cinnamon sugar mixture. Set the pans aside and preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Step 2. Make the batter. In a large bowl, beat the butter with milk and sugar until blended. Add the eggs and mashed banana and combine completely. Add the dry ingredients. Mix just until blended.
- Step 3. Bake the bread. Pour the batter into the loaf pans. Add a generous sprinkle of cinnamon sugar on top. Bake for 1 hour.
- Step 4. Cool and enjoy. Remove the pans from the oven and transfer the bread to a wire rack. Allow to cool completely before eating.
Tips and Tricks
- Bring the butter to room temperature before starting the recipe. Softened butter is key for blending well into the batter.
- You can mash your bananas using a fork, an electric mixer or a potato masher. Really ripe bananas should mash very easily, with few if any lumps.
- Feel free to add some cinnamon chips as a fun mix-in for this bread. You can find them in the baking aisle near the chocolate chips.
- It’s hard to wait, but this bread is really best enjoyed when it’s cooled completely. Or wait until the next day!
Recipe FAQs
Let the baked bread cool completely, then wrap in plastic wrap or foil and store at room temperature for up to 3-4 days, or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Yes! These loaves freeze beautifully. Let cool completely, wrap in foil and place the loaf in a freezer-safe Ziploc bag. Label and date it and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature overnight and then enjoy!
Aimee’s Tip
Make a batch of muffins instead of bread! Spray a cupcake tin with baking spray (the kind that has flour in it). Then sprinkle about 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon sugar mix into each muffin cavity.
Fill muffin tin cavities about 2/3 full with the batter, then add an additional 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon sugar to the tops of the muffins. Bake for 18-21 minutes then cool.
Easy Breakfast Recipes
- Instant Pot Banana Bread
- Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
- Waffles
- Pancake Bites
- Strawberry Bread
- Snickerdoodle Bars
- Buttermilk Pancakes
- Blueberry Buckle
Quick Bread Recipes
See all Breads recipes
Snickerdoodle Banana Bread
Ingredients
For the Bread:
- ¾ cup unsalted butter softened
- ⅓ cup milk
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 4 large bananas mashed
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 Tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 Tablespoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
For the topping:
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease two 9-inch loaf pans. In a small bowl, combine sugar and cinnamon for the topping. Sprinkle generously over greased loaf pans (saving the remaining mixture for the tops of the bread). Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat butter with milk and sugar until blended. Add eggs and mashed banana and combine completely. Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Mix just until blended.
- Pour evenly into loaf pans. Sprinkle with the remaining cinnamon sugar mixture. Bake for one hour.
- Remove from oven and cool in pans 10 minutes. Remove from pans and cool completely. Store in airtight container for several days, or freeze bread for later use.
Notes
- Make Muffins! Spray a cupcake tin with baking spray (the kind that has flour in it). Then sprinkle about 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon sugar mix into each muffin cavity. Fill muffin tin cavitites about 2/3 full, the add an additional 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon sugar to the tops of the muffins. Bake for about 18-21 minutes. Remove from oven and cool in pan for several minutes, before removing and cooling on a wire rack.
- You can mash your bananas using a fork, an electric mixer or a potato masher. Really ripe bananas should mash very easily, with few if any lumps.
- Feel free to add some cinnamon chips as a fun mix-in for this bread. You can find them in the baking aisle near the chocolate chips.
- It’s hard to wait, but this bread is really best enjoyed when it’s cooled completely. Or wait until the next day!
- Bring the butter to room temperature before starting the recipe. Softened butter is key for blending well into the batter.
- Store cooled bread in airtight container at room temperature for up to a week. Or freeze bread in freezer ziploc bags for up to 3 months.
- See blog post for more recipe tips and tricks.
Could you use buttermilk instead of regular milk?
I’ve made this recipe and it has turned out amazing. I have a sweet little girl in my life who is gluten intolerant and was wondering if I could substitute the all purpose flour with gluten free, has anyone done something like this? Any additional directions.
If you use King Arthur Cup for Cup it works perfect!
I was shocked that people said theirs came out dry. I have made this many times and have never had that problem. Everyone loves it. I am perplexed. I love how it makes two loaves so I can always give one away. Will be making 4 loaves tomorrow with my granddaughters’ help–or 2 loaves and maybe we will try muffins.
I think people don’t correctly scoop flour, thus adding too much. I agree, it’s always moist!
I was excited to try this recipe. It was very dry. I will not make this again.
This is one of my favorite recipes ! So easy. I’ve made this Several times. Love it
About 25 min. Check at 12
Love this banana bread! I’ve made it several times and the first batch was dry so I start checking my loaves at 50 minutes. This is one of the few recipes that I make as is with no tweaks. I usually end up doubling spices when I bake but this has a perfect amount of cinnamon. The cinnamon sugar coating takes is over the top. Always a hit when I make it!
I read the comments after I prepared the bread. I added 2 TBS of oil and some Heath crunchiest to the mix. I also added some on top of the bread along with some sunflower seeds. It came out AMAZING,!! I will definitely make this again.
how much time would i bake it for im making it in mini laof pans ?
Soinds delicious . We will make tonight !
Thank you for sharing .
Thank you so much for the recipe! It’s in the oven now. Just a quick clarification question; in the blog description, you told us to line the pans with Crisco and flour, then sprinkle with the sugar mix, but in the actual recipe card at the bottom you said to only oil the pans then sprinkle with the mixture. I left my bf alone to follow the recipe for 5 min. I told him to flour the pans. I could hear him in the other room saying, “I’m not supposed to flour the pan! What is she talking about?”. We ended up flour lining a bread pan and oil lining muffin pans. Smells great!
Made the snickerdoodle banana bread and it was very disappointing. Will not be adding this to my faves. Very dry which is odd because I’ve never had a banana bread turn out dry.
I made this and it was very good, but a little dry. I made a second time but swapped oil for butter and it was amazingly moist! A keeper!
What about baking them in mini loaf pans. What tempt and how long would I bake them for ?
It is beautiful. Please provide me with recipes of white bread
I couldn’t find my loaf pan so I baked these as muffins for 20 minutes. Light, fluffy, and delicious!
Thanks for letting me know 🙂
I love the crunchy topping but think that may be baking for one hour could be a little long as the inside was pretty dried out – – next time I will cut the baking time down and maybe it will stay more moist inside