Rum Banana Bread
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Updated: 09/08/2020
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Rum Banana Bread is one of my go-to recipes for using up overripe bananas, creating a perfect blend of sweetness and nostalgia! When you introduce rum into the equation, you take this beloved classic to a whole new level of indulgence. Trust me, everyone is going to be begging you for the recipe!
My Classic Banana Bread always gets rave reviews and my Pumpkin Banana Bread is a must make for the Fall and holiday season. But this Rum Banana Bread and even my Cinnamon Banana Bread are year-round must-makes and incredibly moist and tender.
This rum banana bread really does have a perfectly moist texture and loaded with banana flavor.
I love that it’s all made by hand (no mixers required) and made with simple, everyday ingredients.
A few things to note about why this banana bread is so incredible:
- It’s perfectly moist and has a slightly crunchy top
- The bananas are cooked on the stove. This really vamps up the overall flavor and enhances their sweetness and flavor.
- It’s delicious warm and delicious cold
- Incredibly soft
- It’s tender, delicious and makes the most amazing loaf of banana bread every time. Promise!
Ingredients you need to make banana bread
(For the full recipe, scroll down to the recipe card below)
- Over Ripe bananas: You’ll want your bananas ripe enough for the best results, look for the brown spotty bananas. (No green on the peel). Freckled bananas = banana bread time!
- Brown sugar: Dark or light brown both work well, I’ve made it with both. I love the flavor brown sugar adds to the bread!
- Rum: I recommend a dark rum or spiced rum when baking for greater flavor. Nothing super fancy, I always use Captain Morgan Rum.
- Butter: A little unsalted butter is used in the recipe and some for greasing the pan.
- Buttermilk: Buttermilk adds extra moisture to ensure the bread stays soft and tender. You can sub with milk too but buttermilk is always best!
- Oil: Vegetable oil is what I recommend, but you can also sub with melted coconut oil if you’d prefer. The oil add richness and moisture to the banana bread.
- Eggs: The eggs help to bind ingredients as well as helping to make it rise! You’ll need 2 room temperature eggs for this banana bread.
- Dry Ingredients: flour, baking soda, granulated sugar, salt, nutmeg, cardamom and cinnamon.
How to make Rum Banana Bread
(For the full recipe, scroll down to the recipe card below)
- Mash the bananas and heat them in a skillet on the stove with the rum, butter and brown sugar. Let simmer and then remove from heat to cool.
- Whisk the dry ingredients together in a medium sized bowl.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the sour cream, buttermilk, oil, eggs and vanilla.
- Once the banana mixed has cooled enough, whisk it into the buttermilk mixture.
- Fold in the dry ingredients.
- Pour batter into prepared metal loaf pan and bake until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Bake time can very but it takes typically ~60 minutes.
Does rum banana bread contain alcohol?
There is rum in the actual bread and a little mixed into the frosting. A lot of the alcohol cooks off during the baking and heating process so you should be OK.
If you are concerned if you are pregnant, I would recommend enjoying a slice without the frosting or you can always look into using a rum extract.
Tips for making the perfect loaf:
- Properly grease your pan: Brush with softened butter and sprinkle an even layer of flour around the pan. Or, you can line with parchment paper if you feel that’s easier!
- Mix ins: If you’d like to add in chocolate chips or any other mix ins that have the potential to melt, be sure the banana mixture you cooked on the stove has cooled so it doesn’t melt the chocolate into the batter. Mix in ideas: walnuts, pecans, chocolate chips, or dried fruit. ~3/4 cup – 1 cup should be plenty to add in.
- Don’t over bake: There’s nothing worse than dry banana bread, right? Be sure to check with a toothpick to ensure it’s done.
- Insert a toothpick into the middle and it should come out clean. Top will be golden brown in color.
- Mashing the bananas: You can mash the bananas either with a fork and leave some chunks of bananas if that’s your thing. Or you can use a hand mixer to make almost a banana puree for a smoother consistency.
- Note a darker color metal loaf pan absorbs more heat and may result in a darker and thicker crust. Use a light colored aluminum loaf pan for a lighter more tender crust.
- Bake time: Bake time can vary. I recommend to start checking around 60 minutes.
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Rum Banana Bread
My Rum Banana Bread is moist, easy to make and full of banana flavor! The addition of rum brings a rich, complex, and slightly boozy flavor to the banana bread without it really tasting like alcohol at all. The rums role is to help add moisture, make it tender and all in all, it's a fun twist on the homemade classic banana bread loaf!
Ingredients
- 3 large over ripe bananas, mashed (~1 1/4 cups)
- 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter (plus 1 Tbsp. for greasing the loaf pan)
- 3 Tbsp. Dark Rum or Spiced Rum (I use Captain Morgan)
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1/4 cup sour cream, room temperature
- 1/4 cup buttermilk, room temperature
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 2 cups flour, spooned and leveled
- 2/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. ground nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp. cardamom
For the glaze:
- 1-2 cups powdered sugar
- 1-2 Tbsp. rum
- 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
Last step! If you make this, please leave a review and rating letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business thrive & continue providing free recipes.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Be sure to adjust the oven rack to the lower-middle position.
- Grease the pan: Grease a 8.5 x 4.5 inch light colored loaf pan with softened butter. Evenly spread a thin layer of butter over the interior surface of the loaf pan. Be sure to cover the bottom and sides, including the corners. Add a tablespoon or two of all-purpose flour to the pan. Tilt and rotate the pan, tapping it gently, to distribute the flour evenly across the greased surface. The flour will stick to the butter, creating a light, floury coating. Hold the greased and floured pan upside down over the sink or a trash can to allow any excess flour to fall out. Gently tap the pan to help remove loose flour.
- In a medium skillet add the mashed bananas, butter, brown sugar, and rum. Cook and whisk banana mixture over medium heat until butter melts and mixture begins to simmer. Turn the heat down to low and let simmer for ~3-5 minutes, whisking occasionally.3 large over ripe bananas, mashed (~1 1/4 cups), 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed, 1/2 cup unsalted butter (plus 1 Tbsp. for greasing the loaf pan), 3 Tbsp. Dark Rum or Spiced Rum
- Remove from heat and let slightly cool for about 10 minutes. It does not have to cool all the way, but just so it is not super hot. (If you are folding in chocolate chips into the batter you will want it to cool completely).
- In a large bowl, combine the eggs, oil, sour cream, buttermilk, and vanilla extract.2 large eggs, room temperature, 1/4 cup vegetable oil, 1/4 cup buttermilk, room temperature, 1 tsp. vanilla extract, 1/4 cup sour cream, room temperature
- Add the cooled banana mixture to this and whisk together.
- In a separate mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon, and cardamom.2 cups flour, spooned and leveled, 2/3 cup granulated sugar, 1 tsp. baking soda, 1/2 tsp. salt, 1 tsp. ground nutmeg, 1/4 tsp. cinnamon, 1/4 tsp. cardamom
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and gently fold until combined. Do not over mix the batter.
- Pour this mixture into the prepared pan.
- Bake for ~60-65 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- While the bread cools, you can prepare the frosting. Whisk powdered sugar, rum and butter together. Add more or less powdered sugar and rum until you get the desired frosting consistency; either drippy for a glaze or more thick like a frosting in the photos.1-2 cups powdered sugar, 1-2 Tbsp. rum, 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
- Make sure your bread is 100% cooled down before you drizzle the frosting over the bread. Enjoy!
Notes
- Jan 2024 update: this recipe has been modified from the original recipe. My original recipe had 1 1/2 cups sugar, 5 Tbsp. butter, no sour cream, and I baked it at 325°F for 70 minutes. After making multiple times, the loaf was collapsing in the middle so with my new and perfected recipe, you get a beautiful loaf that rises in the middle, is ultra moist and tender and full of banana flavor!
- Storage: bread keeps for 2-3 days at room temperature. I love this bread best on days 2 and 3 actually! Warmed in the microwave and then with a little butter on top. So good! This loaf can also keep in the fridge for 1 week or up to 2-3 months in the freezer, just be sure to tightly wrap it.
Nutrition Information
Serving: 1thick slice, Calories: 325kcal (16%), Carbohydrates: 47g (16%), Protein: 3g (6%), Fat: 14g (22%), Saturated Fat: 8g (50%), Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 4g, Trans Fat: 0.4g, Cholesterol: 67mg (22%), Sodium: 287mg (12%), Potassium: 204mg (6%), Fiber: 1g (4%), Sugar: 41g (46%), Vitamin A: 516IU (10%), Vitamin C: 4mg (5%), Calcium: 36mg (4%), Iron: 0.5mg (3%)
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is automatically calculated. It should only be construed as an estimate rather than a guarantee. Ingredients can vary and Kroll’s Korner can’t make any guarantees to the accuracy of this information.
Photography: photos taken in this post are by Megan from The Broke Girl Table.
Made this delish bread for the second time today for my husband to take for a work meeting tomorrow. Left off the glaze this time. It has so much yummy flavor. Your recipes are very easy to follow and always awesome 👍🏻
I baked a loaf tonight and followed the recipe to a T but the batter overflowed the baking dish. Either the pan was too small, it was a regular, 9×5″ glass loaf pan, or there was too much sugar. Luckily I had put a pan underneath the bread jic. The ratio of flour to sugar doesn’t seem right. 2 cups of flour to 2 cups of sugar?! I’ve never followed a recipe that has that much sugar in relationship to flour. I loved the different spices and inclusion of rum but I won’t try it again unless someone can set me straight and tell me where I went wrong!
Oh no. I am so sorry! I’ve made this recipe honestly hundreds of times and have never seen this. But, I always bake mine in a light colored aluminum pan, never have made it in a glass pan.
This is the MOST DELICIOUS banana bread in the world. I am not a fan of banana bread but there are not enough yummy words to describe this. Used 4 bananas. Plain dark rum. Not putting any icing on it because it is sweet enough. Might add walnuts or pecans next time. Cream cheese frostings might be good but leaving that off this time. Unfortunately, I am a diabetic so I am only allow a little taste so I know. Made 4 mini loaf pans as a gift. Baked about 42 minutes. Beautifully moist.
So glad you enjoyed it and made mini loaves, so fun! thank you! 🙂
Now, your challenge is to come up with this yummy bread for a diabetic but no almond flour. I am allergic to almonds! Thanks for posting this. I cannot wait to give these to people.
This will be my new go to banana bread because it truly is the best! I only had coconut rum so I used that, and we couldn’t wait for it to cool down so I skipped the icing, and it was still amazing?However I do look forward to trying it with the icing next time;)
I am sooo glad! I will have to try with coconut rum next time I make it, that sounds delish!! Thank you 🙂 so, Tawnie
I have used this recipe several times and when I ask if I should make banana bread, the response is: Only if it’s that rum one! ?
Aw, that is amazing. Im so glad it’s a hit. Thank you!
The best banana bread! Worth the extra step of cooking the bananas, takes it to another level! I let bananas go bad just so I can make this!
That makes me so happy! Thank you so much 🙂 i intentionally so the same with my bananas hehehe
Fun take on an old classic! Very tasty
Looks great!! Thank you so much for making it!
Amazing!!!!! I had enough batter for 8 muffins a small loaf of bread and a regular loaf. How did mine make so much batter?! ?. My boys (3 & 21 months) are devouring these muffins! They are so so good!!! I was going to give my mom the small loaf but I don’t think the big loaf and muffins will make it through tomorrow. I substituted allspice for cardamom because I didn’t have it. Bomb recipe!! Printing this one for sure to keep!
Hi!! Oh my gosh you got a lot of banana bread goodies from this recipe, haha! When I make it, I get 1 loaf in a 9×5 inch pan. Always spoon and level the flour, you could have gotten more flour if you just scooped into the bag?? I’m not sure, or if your bananas were extra large? haha. Regardless, I am so happy for enjoyed!! 🙂 Thank you!!
Best one so far! Reversed the amount of oil and buttermilk, by accident. Didn’t have vegetable oil so replace it with refined coconut oil. Used 1/2 cup of sugar less. Put pecans on the top and slightly pushed them down into the battery. It was delicious! Thank you.
Love the pecans addition, thank you so so much! 🙂
Fantastic recipe! Only change was to add toast coconut flakes to the recipe and also to the top with the glaze.