Overripe bananas lounging on the counter collecting fruit flies? This banana date bread is your answer! Chopped dates melt into the buttery crumb, brown sugar brings that deep caramel note, and the whole loaf bakes up soft, rich, and quietly indulgent. This is an old-fashioned quick bread with grown-up flavor-perfect for brunch spreads, coffee breaks, and anyone who thinks banana bread is boring.
Table of Contents
🥰 Is this banana date bread recipe for you?
- You side-eye plain banana bread.
- You like sweetness with a dark edge.
- You intentionally let bananas get over-ripe.
- You want your quick breads soft but not weak.
- You respect dates for their dark, syrupy magic.
If plain banana bread seems a little beige with a side of plain cream to you this is the recipe you've been looking for.
🧾 Ingredients for banana bread with dates
Familiar ingredients, with dates stepping in to deepen the flavor and soften the crumb.
- Flour - the backbone. No chaos without structure.
- Baking powder - lifts the loaf. Quietly. Reliably.
- Baking soda - because baking powder needs backup here.
- Salt - non-negotiable.
- Mace - subtle, old-school, and a little mysterious.
- Ginger - just enough bite to keep things interesting.
- Brown sugar - depth, not sparkle.
- Eggs - holding it all together like the responsible oldest child.
- Buttermilk - tangy, tender, doing the most without announcing it.
- Butter - rich. Obviously.
- Bananas - very ripe. Past their prime. Perfect.
- Dates - pops of syrupy sweetness.
- Pecans - optional, but strongly encouraged.
Download the free banana date bread kitchen cheat sheet and get all the tips, FAQs, variations, and more.
📖 Recipe
Banana Date Bread
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- 2-½ cups flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon mace, can substitute ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¾ cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
- ½ cup pecans, chopped
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- ¼ cup buttermilk
- ¾ cup butter, melted and cooled
- 1 cup banana, very ripe and mashed
- 1 cup dates, pitted and diced
Instructions
- Grease 9x5x3 inch loaf pan. Set aside.
- Preheat oven to 375℉.
- Sift flour, salt, baking powder,baking soda, ginger, and mace together.
- Add sugar and pecans.
- In another bowl mix the remaining ingredients.
- Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients.
- Stir until blended.
- Spoon into the prepared loaf pan.
- Bake in a 375℉ oven for 55 to 60 minutes or until an instant read thermometer registers 200℉ in the center.
Notes
- Line the loaf pan with parchment for easy removal and cleaner edges.
- Toss the dates lightly in flour to keep them suspended in the batter.
- Use room-temperature eggs and buttermilk for a smoother batter.
Nutrition Facts
Nutrition information is estimated as a courtesy. If using for medical purposes, please verify information using your own nutritional calculator. Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
This recipe has been tested several times. If you choose to use other ingredients, or change the technique in some way, the results may not be the same.
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🔪 How to make banana date bread
This is an easy bake, but it benefits from a light hand and a little r-e-s-p-e-c-t. Being too zealous with the stirring will make it tough as a 90 year old steer that ran track for fun.
- Stir together the dry ingredients in a bowl and let them get acquainted. This is the boring part. It matters anyway.
- Mash the bananas, then mix in the wet ingredients until it looks cohesive and slightly questionable. That's normal.
- Add the wet mixture and the dates to the dry ingredients and stir just until combined. If you keep going, that's on you.
- Spoon the batter into the pan and bake until your kitchen smells like you made excellent choices.
😱 What can go wrong (and how to fix it)
🍌 Overmixing turns a tender loaf into something oddly tense. Mix just until blended.
🍌 Underbaking gives you a middle that looks done and absolutely is not. Use the insta-read thermometer to test for doneness.
🍌 Green bananas are stubborn, starchy, and completely unhelpful. Make sure they are really ripe before using.
🍌 Slicing too soon causes structural collapse. Patience matters - let it cool.
👩🏻🍳 FAQs
Yes. Thaw them completely, drain off excess liquid, and proceed like a capable adult. Extra moisture is where good loaves go to die.
Very. Spotted, soft, and slightly embarrassing. If you'd hesitate to eat them raw, they're ready.
You don't have to, but then you're just making banana bread. Dates bring depth and a caramel edge that sugar alone can't fake.
🍽 Same mood, different loaf
If banana date bread is your speed, odds are you're already flirting with other cozy, sliceable commitments. Amish apple fritter bread brings that cinnamon-apple bakery energy without the fryer, old fashioned date nut bread leans old-school and deeply respectable, and pumpkin spice bread shows up like it knows fall isn't a season-it's a personality trait.
And for days when you want the same comfort with a little swagger, brown butter banana pecan muffins step in smelling faintly of caramel and happy memories. Same quick-bread ease, different mood. Rotate accordingly.
Now, which are you going to make first?
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