14 Ingredients That Will Take Your Banana Bread To The Next Level

Everyone (okay, well, mostly everyone) loves banana bread. It's a classic — and so easy that even the greenest home baker can make it, and often with spectacular results. A banana bread recipe is always simple, too, just bananas, eggs, butter, sugar, maybe some milk, flour, baking soda or baking soda, and salt. You likely have all of that in your pantry and fridge right now. Most home bakers find that the hardest part of making banana bread is simply waiting for their bananas to brown up until they're appropriately mushy for use.

You can trace banana bread back to the 1930s, when homemakers were loath to throw out or waste any ingredients, including bananas past their prime. Meanwhile, baking powder and baking soda were being mass-produced, making them readily available. Pretty soon, banana bread recipes began popping up in cookbooks and they've remained a staple ever since.

Some will argue that all of these facts make banana bread perfect, just as it is. However, you can sometimes improve upon a good thing — as can be seen with these ingredients that will take your basic banana bread to the next level.

A lot of baking recipes will ask you to melt your butter before adding it to the rest of your wet ingredients, but when you're making banana bread, consider taking things a step further than just throwing half a stick of butter into a microwaveable bowl and nuking it. Instead, pull out a saucepan and brown your butter.

Browning butter makes use of our good friend, the Maillard reaction. The Maillard reaction is a chemical reaction that occurs whenever you brown a piece of food (like when you sear a steak), and it's what gives browned food an enhanced flavor and aroma. It's what makes oven-roasted veggies taste so much more flavorful than boiled veggies, or what makes grilled chicken so much more flavorful than poached chicken. When you brown butter the milk solids are basically having a chemical reaction in the butter — and anything you add that brown butter to, including your banana bread, will have a richer, nuttier taste because of it.

Just like browning your butter is a simple way to upgrade an ingredient you're already using in your banana bread, so is caramelizing your bananas an easy way to instantly add a bit of decadence to your ho-hum boring 'nana bread.

You will need to take the time to caramelize your bananas versus just mushing them into the rest of your batter ingredients, but the process sounds far more difficult (and impressive!) than it actually is. To caramelize bananas, all you have to do is slice them up, melt some brown sugar in some butter, and then cook the bananas in this mixture. The best part? Because this process softens and adds flavor to your bananas, it's a good option when you're hankering for some banana bread but don't actually have any properly ripened and brown bananas on hand.

Have more than just a few bananas at the ready? Consider using bananas in your banana bread, as usual, but then caramelize some extra bananas for use as a topping, drizzling the caramelized bananas and caramel sauce over each slice.

Bananas and orange juice — they seem to go together at the breakfast table, so why wouldn't they also work well in your banana bread? Adding orange juice to your banana bread provides a bright note of citrusy flavor. Simply replace some of the liquid in your usual recipe with the orange juice.

If you want to kick up the citrusy flavors even more, you can also zest an orange into your banana bread batter. Unsure? If it's a good enough hack for the British king of bread, Paul Hollywood, per one of his Facebook reels, then it's good enough for us.

You can also consider adding an orange glaze, by mixing more orange juice with confectioner's sugar, until you have a pourable consistency. Drizzle it onto your hot, just-out-of-the-oven loaves of banana bread so the glaze can cool along with the loaves. Or, better yet, do all three — incorporate orange juice and zest into your batter, and add an orange glaze on top.

Another celebrity chef-endorsed add-in, sour cream is Martha Stewart's magic ingredient for better banana bread. Stewart published her famous, sour cream-reliant banana bread recipe in her first cookbook ever, noting that the sour cream can take the place of milk or buttermilk in other banana bread recipes, as the sour cream adds that needed moisture, but with a richer texture and tangy flavor.

If you don't have any sour cream on hand, you can use yogurt instead. Plain, unflavored yogurt will give you a closer flavor to what you might get with sour cream, but for a thicker texture, you're going to want to reach for Greek yogurt. Just be aware that it might be even more mouth-puckering than sour cream, so you might want to even out your sour-sweet notes with the addition of some of the other sweet-leaning suggested add-ins on this list, such as caramelized bananas or maple syrup.

Zucchini bread is just about as much of a classic as banana bread. It's not too sweet and the perfect way to use up the hordes of fresh zucchini that seem to all ripen in your backyard garden at once. But what if you combined the two classics? Adding zucchini to your banana bread can make for a moister, and even healthier loaf of banana bread. Plus, if you're not keen on the flavor of zucchini, rest assured that your banana bread's other ingredients will weigh out any flavors that might give you even the hint that you're getting one of your five a day with this dessert.

Also, because of all the moisture that the zucchini will add to your banana bread, you're probably not going to need to add liquid ingredients like milk or buttermilk to your batter. Furthermore, make sure to not squeeze the moisture out of your zucchini while you're grating it. You want all that liquid goodness seeping throughout your loaves for a super-tender crumb.

You've probably already had the idea to mix chocolate chips into your banana bread, as that's a pretty popular way to take your banana bread to the next level. However, don't limit your thinking to just plain ol' chocolate chips.

As Nicole Johnson, owner, writer, and recipe developer at Or Whatever You Do told Food Republic in an interview, you've got options. Milk chocolate, of course, is a basic that can complement your banana bread's sweetness. However, she also says that mixing regular-sized chocolate chips with miniature chocolate chips can be a fun way to mix up your textures. You can also go with dark chocolate, or roughly chop a chocolate bar rather than relying on chips. If, though, you consider yourself a chocaholic above all else, cross completely over to the dark side by not only using chocolate chips as an add-in, but by also making a fully chocolate batter by incorporating Dutch process cocoa.

Banana bread's better with a little booze and, just as is the case with what chocolate you choose to incorporate into your banana bread, you have options when it comes to choosing the spirit you bestow upon your bread batter.

Amaretto can give your banana bread a hint of almond (consider adding some almond extract, too). Bourbon and rum, meanwhile, can provide complex flavor profiles with hints of vanilla, caramel, and spices. Coffee liqueur gives your banana bread a richer, darker flavor palette. Whichever boozy addition you choose, though, you're guaranteed a banana bread that feels just a little more adult.

While adding a spirit to your banana bread batter will ensure the alcohol cooks out, if you want to retain a bit of that alcohol kick, you can make a spirit-based glaze with the spirit of your choice and confectioner's sugar to pour over the finished loaves, then allowing it to cool.

Along the lines of adding some tangy dairy to your banana bread, you might want to skip the sour cream or Greek yogurt and reach for some cheese instead. Mascarpone adds flavor, texture, and moisture. However, cream cheese works well, too, and you may have it more readily on hand.

The best way to incorporate cream cheese into your banana bread is by taking a close look at your recipe and then making some adjustments. As the cream cheese will add moisture and fat, you may need to reduce the fat and moisture going into your batter elsewhere. For example, you may need to reduce the amount of banana and butter in your recipe. Getting the right amount of fat and water by subbing out ingredients at random can sometimes be tricky, though, and if it's a science that you think you'll struggle with. But if you still want that cream cheese-y goodness, consider simply adding a cream cheese frosting to your banana bread instead of incorporating the cream cheese directly into the batter before baking.

Like chocolate chips, pecans or walnuts are an easy add-in and a part of many classic, family-cherished banana bread recipes. Again, though, these aren't your only choices when it comes to leveling up your banana bread via nuts and nut butters, even if they are staples.

If you want to fully incorporate a nut butter into your batter, go for one that's a little on the runnier side, like almond butter. If, though, you want to incorporate a swirl of nut butter into your batter, leaving a streak of nut butter between bread layers, go for a thicker variety, like peanut butter or Nutella (if we can call Nutella a nut butter). 

For adding nuts, like hazelnuts or any others, consider toasting them first, much like you might brown your butter before adding it to your batter. Toasting nuts for baking projects is one of those little, easy things you can do that is super-simple, but makes a big impact, flavor-wise. You can toast nuts in under five minutes if you go the stovetop route and toss them into a hot skillet, stirring constantly. If you have even just a few minutes more, you can roast them on a sheet pan in the oven.

Many banana bread recipes already contain buttermilk, but if you've been sleeping on this banana bread addition, it's time to stop. Buttermilk adds a little tang, and the acidity makes for a lighter, airier crumb once your banana bread is perfectly baked and moist.

If you only have regular milk on hand, you can basically make buttermilk at home by adding acid to regular milk. This acid can come in the form of plain white vinegar or lemon juice. After adding the acid, let it sit in the milk for a few minutes, until the milk begins to form clumps. If you don't want to wait, you can also dilute some sour cream with regular milk, until it's thin enough for use. Some believe that the best way to make a buttermilk substitute is to dilute plain yogurt with milk. Whichever hack you use, though, you'll end up with a tangy, creamy liquid that can improve your banana bread's flavor and texture.

Yes, your banana bread technically already contains a fruit, but why not add more? Beyond orange juice and zest, you have a veritable cornucopia of options.

Blueberries work well in just about any existing banana bread recipe, without negatively impacting the moisture-fat ratio. Raspberries and blackberries are also good picks. If you're already adding rum or coconut to your banana bread, why not take the tropical vibes further with the addition of pineapple? To ensure the pineapple doesn't add too much moisture to your batter, though, make sure to drain your canned pineapple well, and opt for crushed pineapple rather than juicy chunks. Apples are likewise a favorite, but they similarly require a bit of thought. You'll want to pick out an apple variety that can hold up to the high heat of baking, without falling to pieces, while also providing a complementary flavor; try Granny Smith, Honeycrisps, or Braeburns.

Maple syrup is popular with bakers looking to swap out refined white sugar with something perhaps a little more natural and with a lot more flavor. It just so happens that maple syrup can wonderfully complement the flavors of a banana bread, especially if you're also adding in some nuts, chocolate, and/or caramelized bananas.

However, you don't want to necessarily swap out maple syrup for sugar, 1-to-1, and call your job done. While, yes, if your recipe calls for a cup of sugar, you can use a cup of maple syrup, you'll need to adjust the liquid in your recipe, too. For example, if your banana bread recipe calls for a ½ cup of milk and 1 cup of sugar, you might need to reduce the amount of milk by a few tablespoons. Be sure to buy real maple syrup, not a high fructose corn syrup-based imitation, for the best flavors.

If you've already considered the possibilities of adding coffee liqueur to your banana bread, but you're not really big on alcohol, you might want to skip over the spirits and go straight for your coffee pot. You don't need much coffee to make a big impact. Two ounces of espresso plus a teaspoon of instant espresso powder can add a fair amount of flavor to your bread. If you don't have espresso or an espresso machine, just make some extra-strong coffee.

You can also make a coffee-flavored glaze to go atop the coffee banana bread, too. All it takes is dissolving a little espresso powder in water and then mixing it with powdered sugar until you reach a pourable consistency. Taste as you go, to ensure you're getting the right balance of coffee and sugar. Then, drizzle the glaze atop your baked banana bread and let it cool.

Love coffee flavor but don't exactly want to stay up all night after eating banana bread for dessert? Keep with all of the above, but just opt for decaf instead.

Do you know one of the easiest ways that you can level up your banana bread without worrying about how fat or water ratios are going to be impacted, whether or not you have too much moisture, or whether or not you need to decrease your sugar or the total number of mashed bananas, or any of the above? Just add some extracts.

Even just a ¼ teaspoon of an extract can provide a large amount of flavor, without impacting the moisture content of your banana bread in the slightest. Be careful not to do overdo things (again, some extracts really pack a punch) and opt for favorite options like almond extract or peppermint extract. 

That said, if you're considering an extract like coffee or maple, try using the real thing instead, for a more authentic flavor. Likewise, if you're tempted to use banana extract, thinking that it'll rev up your banana bread's banana flavor, keep in mind that banana extract doesn't taste like the bananas you're accustomed to. Instead, banana extract is based on the flavor of banana cultivars from decades ago, a cultivar widely unavailable today, so the flavor's not quite the same thing.

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