Skip to Content

Cardamom Banana Bread Recipe

A classic sweet banana bread recipe with the addition of an exotic spice re-invents this American classic. Cardamom Banana Bread pays homage to the quick bread we have enjoyed throughout the decades. An easy quick bread becomes a real treat for your family and friends, just make two.

I didn’t grow up with banana bread baking in our oven at home. My parents weren’t bakers.

They weren’t really home cooks either, at least not by todays expectations. My parents were of the frozen and canned food preparers generation. With the exception of my Dad’s potato soup and meatloaf with mashed potatoes, I can’t think of anything they prepared from scratch on normal days.

Even the holidays didn’t escape the ‘better living’ through convenience foods phenomena that was America’s cultural norm after World War II. The turkey was baked from scratch and maybe the mashed potatoes and yams but we still had dinner rolls in a tube, green beans and cranberry ‘sauce’ from a can and stuffing from a box. Don’t let me fool you though, these dinners were delicious and I have many fond memories of picking caramelized marshmallows off the top of my Mother’s sweet potato dish when she wasn’t looking.

Step-by-step photos of making the batter.
A banana bread in a loaf pan.

Banana bread never made it into my childhood but I was sure to make up for it when I was introduced to it by a friend. She pulled out a red and white checkered cookbook and whipped up two loaves of banana bread and gave me one. I watched her mix the batter, prepare the loaf pans and bake in the oven.

‘That’s it? That doesn’t look hard.’ – I said.

‘It’s not hard, haven’t you ever made a quick bread before?’ – She countered.

A golden loaf of banana bread on a cooling rack.

Ever since then I have used that same basic recipe and just substituted the fruit and spices out to make different quick breads. I also adapted the recipe to a food processor but you can make this using a stand mixer or a hand mixer.

Growing up we didn’t have any of these nifty appliances so I learned to mix and whisk by hand which helped me grow into a buff home cook with biceps.

Some of my genius inventions include Pumpkin Bread with Pecans, Apple Quick Bread with Mince and now Cardamom Banana Bread. I was in the mood for a bread inspired by the gingerbread cookie.

Enjoy this version of banana bread and feel free to come up with your own personalized version of your own.

Sliced banana bread.

Did you make this recipe?  Don’t forget to rate the recipe and comment below!  Take a picture and tag us @FusionCraftiness #FusionCraftiness on Instagram for a chance to be featured in our Insta Stories:)

A golden loaf of banana bread on a cooling rack.

Cardamom Banana Bread

Yield: 10 Slices
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 55 minutes
Additional Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 25 minutes

A classic sweet banana bread recipe with the addition of an exotic spice re-invents this American classic. Cardamom Banana Bread pays homage to the quick bread we have enjoyed throughout the decades. An easy quick bread becomes a real treat for your family and friends, just make two.

Ingredients

  • Cooking spray, oil or butter to grease pan
  • 1.5 cup all purpose flour
  • 1.5 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 2 tsp cinnamon
  • 2 tsp cardamom powder
  • 1/4 tsp clove powder
  • 1 tsp powdered ginger
  • 3/4 cup white sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 cup of mashed bananas
  • 1/4 cup light flavored oil such as canola, veg, sunflower seed 
  • 1/2 chopped walnuts, pecans or almond slivers (optional)

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350F.
  2. Grease 9 inch loaf pan with butter, oil or cooking spray.
  3. In the bowl of a food processor, add first 8 ingredients (dry ingredients) and pulse 10 times to mix the dry ingredients well.
  4. Add next 3 ingredients and mix until a batter forms and the wet ingredients are well incorporated. Try not to overmix, this will develop the gluten more than you want to.
  5. Add nuts if using and pulse a few times.
  6. Pour batter into loaf pan and place on middle rack in oven.
  7. Bake for 55 minutes or until toothpick comes out clear when inserted in the middle.
  8. Remove from oven and place on rack to cool for 10 minutes.
  9. Remove from pan and cool for another 10 minutes or serve warm.

Notes

  • If you don't have a food processor, you may use a stand mixer or use a large mixing bowl and use a hand mixer. You may mix by hand if you have none of these appliances and develop upper body strength the old-fashioned way.
  • I like to eat my bread warm, fresh from the oven with a smudge of salted butter and a cuppa.
  • I like to pour the batter into mini foil pans and bake for holiday gifts. After baking, I cool the loaves in their pans, wrap with plastic and put a bow on it.

Recommended Products

As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Nutrition Information:
Yield: 10 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 285Total Fat: 13gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 11gCholesterol: 19mgSodium: 887mgCarbohydrates: 38gFiber: 3gSugar: 19gProtein: 6g

Did you make this recipe?

Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Pinterest

Skip to Recipe