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Cinnamon Sugar Blueberry Banana Bread – I’m on a cinnamon sugar kick and this time I’m adding it to Blueberry Banana Bread. Cinnamon sugar is always a good thing, don’t you think?
Cinnamon Sugar Blueberry Banana Bread is an easy banana bread recipe full of blueberries and topped with a crunch cinnamon sugar topping. It’s a version of my mom’s banana bread and it’s a hit every time I make it for breakfast or brunch!
Why you’ll love Blueberry Banana Bread
Something that brings back loads of memories? My mom’s banana bread and her blueberry muffins. Smelling either of them brings back memories of waking up to sounds of baking and the smell of banana bread.
Today I married my two favorite mom recipes and made Cinnamon Sugar Blueberry Banana Bread. You’re going to love it to, I just know it.
- This bread is soft and moist
- Easy to make
- Full of bananas and bursting with blueberries!
Table of Contents
I love banana bread. I have several recipes here on the blog. But my favorite, hands down, is my mom’s recipe. It’s the best, as mom recipes usually are.
When we got back from a week in San Diego I realized I had 2 very tired bananas in my fruit bowl. Yes, I said “tired”. My mom always called the overripe, brown spotted bananas tired. I call them “banana bread”.
Mmm … Cinnamon Sugar Blueberry Banana Bread
I knew I was going to make them into my favorite quick bread, but I couldn’t decide how. I mean…even though I love my mom’s recipe I feel like, as a food blogger, just making a regular recipe I’ve already shared is somehow wasteful.
Everything I make has a purpose…and a spot on this blog. #foodbloggerproblems
So I decided to add some blueberries to my favorite banana bread recipe. And then I decided to add cinnamon sugar on the top for a nice crunchy crust.
That was a good decision. And the Cinnamon Sugar Blueberry Banana Bread was born!
That crack? Is signature Mom’s Banana Bread. Her recipe always gets an amazing crack on the top. To me, the crack means ALERT: GREAT BANANA BREAD BELOW.
You might not be able to tell from that photo, but one of the secret things about my mom’s bread is the sugared pan. She always greased the ban with butter or Crisco, then sugared it. (Like flouring, only with sugar.) It gives the bread a great crunch and texture around the edges.
Adding the cinnamon sugar on the top gives the same texture and a sweet cinnamon flavor all over the bread. Why should the sides and bottom get all the fun?
Cinnamon Sugar Blueberry Banana Bread is one of the best banana bread recipes out there and is perfect for breakfast or brunch!
How to make the best banana bread:
- I reduced the amount of sugar in the bread to 3/4 cup from the original recipe. One, I knew I was adding the sugar on top. And two, I wanted to see if it would work. Anytime I can reduce sugar, even if just a little bit, it makes me happy.
- You’ll notice the bread calls for “sour milk”. I just make my own by adding some white vinegar to the milk called for (7 tablespoons). Theoretically, you could also use buttermilk, if you have it.
- I also added a healthy 1 cup of blueberries to the bread. I’m not a huge blueberry fan, unless it’s in muffins or bread. I used frozen regular-sized blueberries. I say “regular sized” because I normally use wild or “baby” blueberries, but I was out of them. You can use either, or you can use fresh.
- One note about berries: mine were frozen when I added them to the batter. However, I did rinse and pat them dry because they had been in the freezer awhile and had some chunks of ice sticking them together. You don’t want chunks of ice in your bread or it’ll be too watery. If you are using frozen, just make sure they’re not stuck together, and pat them dry if you rinse them.
- Don’t skip sugaring the pan – it makes the outside so good!
The hardest part about making this Cinnamon Sugar Blueberry Banana Bread is waiting until it cools just enough so you can cut it and eat it without it burning your mouth.
Although if you go after it with a fork I probably wouldn’t judge you. #beentheredonethat
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Cinnamon Sugar Blueberry Banana Bread
Ingredients
- 1 cup granulated sugar divided
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter softened
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 overripe bananas
- 2 large eggs
- 7 tablespoons sour milk make sour milk by adding 1 teaspoon vinegar to 6 1/2 tablespoons nonfat milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries if using frozen, be sure to remove any ice crystals
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease a 9x5x3” loaf pan with butter and coat it with sugar. (You do this like you would grease and flour a pan. Grease it first, then add about 2 tablespoons sugar to the pan and move the pan side to side until the bottom and sides are coated with sugar. Do NOT substitute cooking spray for the butter. You can skip the sugaring and just use cooking spray, if you wish.)
- Cream butter and 3/4 cup sugar with a hand mixer. Set aside.
- Add bananas, eggs, milk, vanilla, salt, and baking soda to a blender jar and blend until smooth.
- Pour half the banana mixture into the butter mixture with 1 cup of flour. Mix with hand mixer until just incorporated, then add the remaining banana mixture and flour. Mix until just incorporated. Stir in blueberries. (Make sure that your frozen berries are not overly wet; pat them dry and/or remove any ice crystals or your batter will be too wet.) Pour into prepared pan.
- Combine 1/4 cup sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Sprinkle evenly over the top of the batter.
- Bake for 45-50 minutes until a toothpick comes out with just a few crumbs. The edges will be a dark brown and there will be a nice crack down the center.
- Cool completely before removing loaf from pan, but you can cut slices from the pan after it’s cooled for about 15-20 minutes.
Recipe Video
Recipe Nutrition
Click here for easy ways to use overripe BANANAS
Peanut Butter Banana Bread with Maple Glaze
**Did you make this Cinnamon Sugar Blueberry Banana Bread recipe? Don’t forget to give it a star rating below!**
Last Updated on February 2, 2023
This recipe is amazing! I made extras and gave it to neighbors and friends, and everybody raved about it. Next time, I think I will try to decrease the butter and sugar a little bit to try to make it a little healthier. Because it’s more like an incredibly delicious dessert as is!
The final product is DELICIOUS. Love the lower amount of sugar. I used an 8.5″ x 5″ x 2.5″ pan instead of 9″ x 5″ x 3″ though and those missing half inches caused it to overflow so definitely use the right sized pan haha. I also found it took almost twice as long to bake than the recipes states. Because of these things I almost gave up, but I’m glad I didn’t. It’s so yum. Next time I’m adding less cinnamon sugar to the top though. I dumped a few tablespoons of dry sugar off the top after it had baked.
One thing I’m a bit confused about though is the amount of blueberries. The recipe calls for 2 cups but in the blog post/description above the recipe Dorothy mentions “a healthy 1 cup of blueberries”… so is it 1 or 2 cups?
I made this hoping to take over to my son’s tomorrow but I won’t be. I won’t ever coat the pan with sugar again. By time the bread was done, the sides and bottom were burnt. After slicing the bottom and sides off the taste was fine.
I notice this happens if my oven is too hot. Do you have an oven thermometer? It can also happen if you’re using a glass pan, where it gets super done on the outside but isn’t done inside, so it ends up burning the outsides. I recommend metal pans.
Thank you for sharing this delicious recipe. It has become my go-to banana bread favorite. Although sometimes I swap the blueberries for chocolate chips
This recipe is bomb! I have made it countless times for family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, etc. Everyone LOVES IT!
I was searching for a banana bread recipe to use my over rip bananas and wanted something different and here it is! I am going to make this as soon as I complete this review to say thank you so much for posting I will be replacing the sour milk with sour cream and I will post after and report how it came out or failed.
I’m excited to make this thank you again for sharing.😊
how did it turn out with the sour cream??
This is an EXCELLENT recipe! So easy to make and it tastes delicious! I’m so happy I pinned this one. Thank you!
So glad you liked it!
Best banana bread ever!! I’ve made this so many times…
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