This Cinnamon Swirled Banana Bread is full of buttery cinnamon sugar throughout the moistest banana bread that’s out-of-this world delicious!
Banana Bread with a Cinnamon Swirl
Please tell me you have some ripe bananas on your counter?! I sure hope so, because this Cinnamon Swirled Banana Bread is the best and it’s calling your name! I’ve baked and consumed a lot of banana bread in my days and this loaf of love is right up there with the greatest I’ve ever eaten. It’s incredible!
Watch Me Make Cinnamon Swirled Banana Bread
Join me in the kitchen as I make a loaf of this amazing banana bread with a cinnamon swirl.
The Best Banana Bread Recipe
Swirls of buttery cinnamon sugar swim throughout the moistest banana bread with the most amazingly sweet crust that’s out of this world delicious! It’s like a cinnamon roll crashed into a loaf of banana bread and it turned into one of my tastiest banana bread recipes ever!
Cinnamon Swirled Banana Bread Ingredients and Supplies
(see recipe card below for measurements and details)
Ingredients:
- Unsalted butter, melted
- Granulated sugar, dark brown sugar
- All-purpose flour and baking soda
- Eggs and vanilla
- Cinnamon
- Ripe bananas
Supplies:
- Loaf pan and non-stick cooking spray
- Whisk
- Small or medium mixing bowl
How to Make Cinnamon Swirled Banana Bread
- First, preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease and flour a 9×5-inch loaf pan and set aside. Then, in a large bowl, melt the butter and let cool slightly.
- Next, whisk in the sugar then the eggs and vanilla before stirring in the dry ingredients. Fold in the mashed bananas with a spatula until just combined.
- In a small or medium bowl, use a fork to stir together the cinnamon sugar swirl ingredients until thick and well combined. If your swirl is too thick to swirl, add an additional tablespoon of melted butter until it is thin enough to swirl. Note: if it’s too thin, it will just spread and not hold its swirl as the loaf bakes.
- Spread 1/4 of the batter evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan. Dollop 1/4 of the cinnamon sugar mixture over the batter in the pan and then make a nice thick swirl through the batter with a table knife or bottom of a wooden spoon. Place 1/3 of the remaining batter evenly over the first layer and swirl with 1/3 of the remaining cinnamon sugar mixture. Place 1/2 of the remaining batter evenly over the second layer and swirl with 1/2 of the remaining cinnamon sugar mixture.
- Spread the rest of the batter evenly over the top and dollop with the remaining cinnamon sugar topping. Make large swirls throughout the entire loaf. Place six thin banana slices down the middle of the batter.
- Place loaf pan on a baking sheet in the middle rack of the oven and bake for 60-70 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. If the top of the bread is browned before the middle is finished baking, tint the loaf with foil and let it continue baking until the bread is cooked all the way through.
- Let the bread cool in the pan for at least 30 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
Tips for This Recipe
- Bananas: The riper the banana, the sweeter the bread will be. Learn more about baking with bananas.
- Oven temperature: If you’re unsure about the fidelity of your oven temperature, use an oven thermometer.
- Tenting with foil: If your bread is browning too quickly while the inside is still undercooked, create a tent with aluminum foil to place over the top while the inside finishes baking all the way through.
- Let it rest: Banana bread keeps cooking for a little while after it comes out of the oven. A toothpick inserted in the center should come out with moist crumbs.
- Review the images and watch the video: Take time to browse the recipe blog post and look at the step-by-step images as well as watch the video of me making this Cinnamon Swirled Banana Bread so that you can see exactly how it should look each step of the way.
How to Store leftover Banana Bread
I can’t wait to bake it again and again for breakfasts, snacks, parties and gifts. It’s pure love from the oven! I hope you have some bananas on hand so you can bake this beauty as soon as possible! Enjoy!
Store any leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to three days. To freeze, cover in a layer of plastic wrap and a layer of foil to keep in the freezer.
More Banana Bread Goodness
- Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Banana Bread: The irresistible combo of chocolate chips and peanut butter does it again. It’s next-level delicious!
- Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins: Made with pantry staples and some overripe bananas, you can have these delicious muffins in and out of the oven in minutes!
- No bananas? If you have a can of pumpkin languishing in your pantry, try this Cinnamon Swirled Pumpkin Bread instead!
If you make this Cinnamon Swirled Banana Bread, be sure to snap a picture and share it with me or tag me on Instagram @thebakermama so I can see. 
I love seeing how inspired and creative y’all get with the recipes I share. Enjoy!
xoxo,
The Best Banana Bread Recipes
From classic banana bread to flourless to chocolate and everything in-between, you won’t want to miss any of The Best Banana Bread Recipes!
Cinnamon Swirled Banana Bread
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 70 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 mins
- Yield: 8-10 servings
- Category: Dessert
Description
Swirls of buttery cinnamon sugar swim throughout the moistest banana bread that’s out of this world delicious!
Ingredients
Batter:
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 and 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana (about 4 bananas)
Cinnamon Sugar Swirl:
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons dark brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
- 6 thin slices of ripe banana, for garnishing
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease and flour a 9×5-inch loaf pan and set aside.
- In a large bowl, melt the butter and let cool slightly. Whisk in the sugar then the eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour and baking soda. Fold in the mashed bananas until just combined.
- In a small bowl, use a fork to stir together the cinnamon sugar swirl ingredients until thick and well combined. If your swirl is too thick to swirl, add an additional tablespoon of melted butter until it is thin enough to swirl. Note: if it’s too thin, it will just spread and not hold its swirl as the loaf bakes.
- Spread 1/4 of the batter (about 1 cup) evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan. Dollop 1/4 of the cinnamon sugar mixture (about 1 tablespoon) over the batter in the pan and then make a nice thick swirl through the batter with a table knife or bottom of a wooden spoon.
- Place 1/3 of the remaining batter (about 1 cup) evenly over the first layer and swirl with 1/3 of the remaining cinnamon sugar mixture (about 1 tablespoon).
- Place 1/2 of the remaining batter (about 1 cup) evenly over the second layer and swirl with 1/2 of the remaining cinnamon sugar mixture (about 1 tablespoon).
- Spread the remaining batter evenly over the top and dollop with the remaining cinnamon sugar mixture. Make large swirls throughout the entire loaf. Place six thin banana slices down the middle of the batter.
- Place loaf pan on a baking sheet in the middle rack of the oven and bake for 60-70 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. If the top of the bread is browned before the center is baked all the way through, tint the loaf with foil and let it continue to bake until the center is baked all the way through.
- Let the bread cool in the pan for at least 30 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
I didn’t see any questions about adding nuts. Too many posts to read them all – all positive so I can’t wait to put it in the oven! Can I add walnuts to the batter (I’m not a seasoned baker)?
Hi Linda! Yes, you can definitely add walnuts to the batter. That would be delicious! Just be sure to not overfill the baking pan since you’ll have more batter than the recipe calls for. Enjoy!
When I mixed the swirl ingredients, it was crumbly and so it did not swirl. I double checked my ingredients and the were correct. What consistency should it have been? It didn’t come out as pretty as yours, but still tastes amazing. Will definitely try it again.
Hi Karen! Oh goodness, the swirl should not have been crumbly. You measured and melted the butter correctly? And you didn’t happen to add too much cinnamon? Glad to hear it still tasted great!
Same thing happened to me. I made this yesterday and my swirl was crumbly as well and did not swirl into my bread at all. All my ingredient measurements were correct as well
Hi Katie! I wonder if your brown sugar or cinnamon was dried out? Next time, you could add more melted butter until it’s thin enough to swirl. If it’s too thin though, it will not hold its swirl as the loaf bakes and just spread throughout. If you want a good swirl, the swirl needs to be thick. Enjoy!
I made the bread this morning and had the same thing happen. I rechecked the ingredients and measurements and it was correct. Maybe add more butter next time? The bread was delicious!
I’m with Michelle & Karen! Mine was also crumbly! It made for some chunks in the bread after I baked it. That was the only downfall, other than that… good recipe!
Hi Jess! I’m wondering if your sugars were dried out. That is the only thing I can think of that would cause the swirl to be crumbly. You could try adding more melted butter to it next time, but it really shouldn’t be crumbly as instructed. Glad to hear you enjoyed the bread though! 🙂
Perfect quarantine project with the boys. Only changes we made were (1) dusted buttered loaf pan with turbinado sugar instead of flour and (2) increased the amount of cinnamon sugar mixture. Really fabulous!
https://imgur.com/gallery/r7Ev482
hey there….I made this bread yesterday into 4 small loaves, it was awesome! I hate bananas and love this recipe. Easy peasy, and the swirl is the bomb! I’m sending out my “designated shopper” tomorrow and bananas are the first thing on my list. This time I will try making muffins instead of loaves. Just wondering if you have made this into muffins, and if you used the same amount of the cinnamon swirl mixture. Thank you so much for posting this wonderful recipe and for all your beautiful pictures, your hard work is much appreciated.
Hi Barbie! So happy to hear! The recipe will bake great as muffins. I would recommend putting some batter into each muffin cup then swirling it with a heaping teaspoon of the cinnamon sugar swirl, then more batter and another swirl of a heaping teaspoon of the cinnamon sugar mixture. Hope this helps. Enjoy!
This is the best banana bread I have ever made. I did add walnuts to it. We couldn’t stop eating it. Thanks for the recipe!! All I had was self rising flour so I omitted the baking soda.
Hi Lynn! So happy to hear! Love the walnuts addition. Yummm! Continue to enjoy!
I have a couple brown bananas that I have been looking for the perfect banana bread recipe and this one looks delicious! I was wondering though before I make it if this recipe fills two 9×5 pans or just one. I only have 2 ripe bananas so I was seeing if the recipe could be halved or if I just need to buy more bananas.
Hi Paige! The recipe bakes in one 9″ x 5″ pan. If you half the recipe, I would recommend baking the recipe as muffins or in a smaller cake pan such as a 6″ or 8″ round pan. Hope this helps. Enjoy!
Hiii can this be made eggless…??
Hi Astha! Absolutely! You can use 1/4 cup applesauce or 1/4 cup mashed banana to replace each egg in the recipe. Enjoy!
Hello! Will a glass pan make a difference in baking time? Thank you.
Hi Maricela! Absolutely, just reduce the oven temperature by 25°F to 325°F. Enjoy!
All I have is margarine! 😞 during this quarantine. Will it not work with margarine?
Hi Valerie! You can definitely substitute the butter with margarine. Enjoy!
I love cinnamon paired with the banana bread here–a nice change from chocolate. I used half the sugar and all whole wheat pastry flour. Great!
So happy to hear you enjoyed it, Libby! Love that your adjustments turned out just as great. Continue to enjoy! 🙂