Pumpkin + Banana Toddler Bread
With whole wheat flour, just a little bit of brown sugar, pumpkin, banana, and warming spices, this Pumpkin Banana Bread is a healthy and easy snack or breakfast that your toddler will love and you’ll feel great about serving.
I have been working on a new recipe lately; a recipe that I am certain is a recipe for disaster. Start with the impending whirlwind of holidays, add one part family traditions, and one part Pinterest, mix with everyone’s expectations and bake with resentment and potential disappointment. Voila! You get a mess.
Is it too soon to feel the stress of the holiday season? Though trick-or-treaters have yet to knock, I know it is creeping into your thoughts too. Plane tickets need to be bought. Holidays negotiated. It’s hard to be present and enjoy the changing leaves, cozy evenings, and pumpkin festivals when my mind is already fast-forwarding to turkeys and candy canes. It has been reassuring to find out I am not alone with the anxiety of the onset of the holidays. In hushed tones on the playground or a walk to the park, I hear my Mama friends sigh, “the holidays are coming.”
What is a Mama to do? My new mantra is=: Slow down and Compromise
It’s hard not to fall prey to attempting to mimic the festive home seen in a pottery barn catalog or attend every holiday festival and gala.
This year, I feel pulled in every direction to incorporate traditions; treasuring the ones that have brought joy to me since childhood, as well as honoring those of new family and friends. Maybe even creating some new ones along the way.
This recipe is a wonderful reminder of how a simple approach with compromise can result in just what you need. Without much hoopla, it is simply perfect. The banana gets a moment to shine, as well as the pumpkin.
And that is what I wish for you, lovely friend, as we embark into this holiday season. A time to shine amongst the joyful things you will do to make this year as every bit wonderful as you envision on your Pinterest board.
Get the recipe: Pumpkin + Banana Bread for Toddler + Kids
Ingredients
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 3 mashed bananas
- 8 tbsp butter melted
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 2 cups whole wheat flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a 9×5 inch loaf pan with butter or parchment paper liner.
- n a large bowl mix pumpkin, mashed bananas, eggs, brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg until smooth.
- In another medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt. Slowly stir in the dry ingredients into wet ingredients until well blended.
- Pour batter into prepared loaf pan. Bake in the oven for 50-60 minutes, rotating once, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Let cool in pan on wire rack.
Notes
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18 Comments on “Pumpkin + Banana Toddler Bread”
TL/DR: delicious; only had pumpkin pie filling; reduced sugar to 2 tbsp; used pumpkin pie spice; added choc chips and protein powder; made mini muffins; baked ~13 minutes
These are so good!! I was a bit worried when I went to go make these, because it turned out I only had pumpkin pie filling on hand instead of plain pumpkin puree, but I decided to make them anyway. I cut the brown sugar down to 2 tbsp, but added pumpkin pie spice (it’s what I had on hand) because I found the filling to be a little bland. I also added 4 tbsp of protein powder to the dry mix. I omitted the salt, because the butter I had was salted.
I made mini muffins and regular muffins instead of bread. I doubled the recipe and ended up with 48 mini muffins and 12 regular sized muffins. I didn’t use liners for the mini muffins, because I find that they stick too much and waste too much of the muffin. I added chocolate chips to half of the mini muffins and to all of the regular muffins, which was a good call. They’re excellent without, but the chocolate chips take them to another level. The plain mini muffs took 11 minutes to bake, the minis with chocolate chips took ~13 minutes to bake, and the regular muffins with chocolate chips took ~20 minutes to bake.
These turned out so moist and it’s an amazing dense texture. I’ve eaten far too many today. And my 5 year old loves them. I plan to freeze the majority of them so I can pop one in the microwave for ~10 seconds for a quick snack, or throw some in my daughters snack box in the morning before heading to school. They also thaw quickly on the counter if you think ahead.
I’ve made several of Michelle’s recipes, and this is definitely one of my faves. My husband loves them, too, so they will go into the regular rotation. While the recipes here aren’t super low in sugar, I definitely feel a lot better feeding my child these than I do store bought snacks that are loaded with sugar and other additives. Plus these are so much less expensive than buying prepackaged stuff from the store.
Eva! Thank you so so much for this review and feedback. And, for sharing the changes you made with results. Im sure it will be helpful to others. Thanks for your support and for trying many of my recipes! xo, Michele
Can you sub butter for a non dairy alternative ? Coconut oil? Love your site thanks !!
Yes, you can use coconut oil, avocado oil or even mild olive oil. Hope that helps!
Hi,
Is the temperature and time the same if I bake it in cupcake pan?
The temperature should be the same but cupcakes will only take 20-22 minutes for the regular size.
Great recipe! Do you think I could use spelt flour, instead? Thanks!
I don’t have much experience baking with spelt flour. If you usually use spelt as a one-for-one replacement to all-purpose flour I think you would be fine, but can’t say for sure.
Hi! I love all your recipes!! I want to use this for our baby led weaning but also feed all the same foods to my 3 year old. Do you think this would be sweet enough without the added sugar? Or maybe add applesauce?
I think it would be sweet enough without the added applesauce but you could try it with 2-3 tbsp of applesauce the first time and adjust from there.
I absolutely love your recipes. However, my toddler cannot have gluten so I was wondering if you’d tried the above with a gluten-free mix at all?
Hello Hannah,
I haven’t tried this recipe with a gluten-free mix but I love Pamula’s Gluten Free mix and find that it can be used to replace flour in almost any recipe. I haven’t tried all of the mixes, so if you have one you love, I would try that. Let me know how it goes;)
xo, Michele
I absolutely love your recipes. However, my toddler cannot have gluten so I was wondering if you’d tried the above with a gluten-free mix at all?
Hello Hannah,
I haven’t tried this recipe with a gluten-free mix but I love Pamula’s Gluten Free mix and find that it can be used to replace flour in almost any recipe. I haven’t tried all of the mixes, so if you have one you love, I would try that. Let me know how it goes;)
xo, Michele
Where/when does the butter get added?
Hello Talia,
Great catch! You add it in step #2 with the bananas and eggs.
xoxo, Michele
Where/when does the butter get added?
Hello Talia,
Great catch! You add it in step #2 with the bananas and eggs.
xoxo, Michele