Nutella Banana Bread
Updated April 16, 2026
Craig Lee for The New York Times
- Total Time
- 1 hour 20 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
½ cup/113 grams unsalted butter (1 stick), plus more for greasing the pan
2 cups/256 grams all-purpose flour, plus more for flouring the pan
1 teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon kosher salt
1 ½ cups/310 grams mashed bananas, from about 3 medium bananas
⅔ cup/134 grams granulated sugar
¼ cup/57 grams plain Greek yogurt
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
⅓ cup/99 grams chocolate-hazelnut spread, like Nutella
Preparation
- Step 1
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 9x5x3-inch loaf pan.
- Step 2
Stir the flour, baking soda and salt together in a bowl.
- Step 3
Brown butter: Melt butter in a light-colored saucepan over medium heat. Cook butter, occasionally scraping the bottom and sides of the pan with a rubber spatula until it turns a deep golden brown and smells nutty. Don’t walk away from the pan during this process. The butter will go from browned and nutty to acrid and burnt in moments. Transfer butter to a large heat-safe mixing bowl and let it cool slightly.
- Step 4
When the butter has cooled a bit, add the mashed bananas, sugar, yogurt, eggs and vanilla extract. Stir until well combined, then add the flour mixture and stir until just combined. Do not overmix.
- Step 5
Pour half the batter into prepared pan and spread it evenly with a knife or offset spatula. Spoon half the chocolate-hazelnut spread in several dollops over the top and use a toothpick or skewer to swirl it into the batter. Spoon and spread the remaining batter over the top followed by dollops of the remaining spread. Swirl in the spread, then bake the bread for 55 to 60 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Private Notes
Comments
You can make your own Nutella. It's insanely good. This is the recipe, from Cooks Illustrated's Kitchen Hacks book. Toast the hazelnuts first at 375 for about 10 or 12 minutes, and then roll to remove most of the skins. Grind all of this together in the food processor. • 2 cups (8 ounces) hazelnuts • 1 cup confectioners' sugar • 1/3 cup cocoa powder • 2 tablespoons hazelnut oil. • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract • teaspoon salt
I checked a jar of Nutella yesterday. It contains palm oil. Palm oil production is a major contributor to rainforest deforestation and loss of biodiversity. Please don’t buy products that contain it.
This was better with 2tsp of bourbon. Actually, most things are better with at least 2tsp bourbon.
I never knew how good brown butter was. Where have I been? The smell when it's baking is almost as delicious as eating the Banana bread. Thank you for all your suggestions. They are so helpful. I love to hear how others tweak recipes!!!
I love this recipe so much. I am experimenting with how to achieve almost the exact taste and texture but enhance the health benefits of this delicious recipe. Here’s what worked super well for me. Replace 256 g of all purpose flour with: All purpose flour - 50-60 g Oat flour - 120 - 130 g Almond flour - 60 g Ground flaxseed - 16 g Add on extra egg to compensate for reduced gluten binding. Add 1/4 tsp extra baking soda Benefits? Oat flour adds beta-glucan fiber. Almond flour contributes healthy fats and lowers the glycemic load. Flaxseed adds omega-3s and additional fiber (which helps with blood sugar management). The small amount of all purpose flour holds it together without reducing the benefits of the substitutes. It was delicious - perhaps not as completely light as the original but barely different. Since it is a guilty pleasure it helps me to make these small changes and eat it with less guilt 😉
I love Nutella. I love my ex. But there’s a reason I don’t keep either around. Unlike my ex, this delectable loaf has left me with zero regrets. Also- if you managed to only put 1/3 of a cup of Nutella in this recipe please share your secret.