Banana Bread with Pumpkin Seeds Recipe (Pumpkin Spice)

Is There Pumpkin in This Banana Bread?

There is no pumpkin puree in the batter, and that's on purpose. You get warm pumpkin pie spice and intense banana flavor with a crunchy, buttery, sweet texture on top that adds texture to each bite.

If you came here wanting the pumpkin flavor too, or just need to use up leftover pumpkin puree, you can swap half the mashed banana for pumpkin puree and bake it exactly the same.

Why You'll Love This Banana Bread with Pumpkin Seeds

• The pumpkin seed crunch bakes into a sweet, buttery, crackly topping, not a few raw seeds scattered over the batter before it goes in the oven
• It's adapted from a restaurant banana cake I made daily as an assistant pastry chef, so the crumb is tender and almost cake-like instead of overly dense and heavy
• Toasted pepitas bring a nuttiness that keeps the loaf balanced
• No canned pumpkin needed, though you can swap half the banana for puree if you want the pumpkin flavor too
• Makes two 8x4 loaves, one to keep and one to give away, and make-ahead friendly (they freeze for up to 3 months)

Banana Bread With Pumpkin Seeds Ingredients 

You need 10 ingredients for the batter and 4 for the topping, and most are already in your kitchen.

For the batter

• All-purpose flour
• Baking soda
• Kosher salt
• Homemade pumpkin pie spice, or store-bought
• Unsalted butter, at room temperature
• Granulated sugar or pure cane sugar
• Eggs, at room temperature
• Pure vanilla extract
• Buttermilk, at room temperature, or buttermilk substitute
• Overly ripe bananas, the blacker the better

For the pumpkin seed crunch

• Raw pepitas
• Unsalted butter, melted
• Coarse raw sugar (turbinado sugar or aka Sugar in the Raw)
• Salt

Which Pumpkin Seeds to Use

• Pepitas, the hulled green seeds, are what this recipe uses. They toast quickly and get super crunchy and nutty
• Unsalted, raw, not pre-roasted because pre-roasted can sometimes over-brown across a 45 to 50 minute bake
• Do not use whole pumpkin seeds with the hulls on which stay tough and chewy after baking. They aren't a swap here.

NOTE: It's worth noting, there's no pumpkin in pumpkin pie spice. McCormick's blend is cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and allspice, which is why this loaf tastes like fall without a can of puree anywhere in it.

Full ingredient measurements can be found in the recipe card.

How to Make Banana Bread with Pumpkin Seeds

Step 1. Preheat and prep the pans. Heat the oven to 350°F/176°C. Generously butter two 8x4 loaf pans, then flour them. Add a little flour to the first pan, turn and tap it until every surface is coated, then tap the excess into the second pan and repeat. Tap both well to knock out what's loose.

Step 2. Make the pumpkin seed crunch. Add the raw pepita seeds to a bowl with the melted butter, coarse raw sugar, and a pinch of salt and stir to combine, set aside.

Step 3. Whisk the dry ingredients. Whisk the flour, baking soda, salt, and pumpkin pie spice together thoroughly. This is what distributes the baking soda evenly so the loaves rise level instead of lopsided.

Step 4. Cream the butter and sugar. Using a handheld mixer or a stand mixer with the paddle, beat on medium until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Don't rush it. This is where the crumb partly gets its lift.

Step 5. Add the eggs and vanilla. Crack the eggs into a small bowl and add the vanilla. With the mixer on medium-low, add them one at a time, waiting about 5 seconds between each. All three should be in within 15 seconds. Turn the mixer off.

Step 6. Alternate the flour and buttermilk. Add about half the flour mixture on low speed, then a third of the buttermilk, then more flour, then more buttermilk, ending with the last of the buttermilk. Turn the mixer off and finish combining with a rubber spatula.

Step 7. Fold in the bananas and top. Add the mashed bananas and stir gently with the spatula just until combined. Divide between the two pans, tap each on the counter about 10 times to release air bubbles, then top each with half the pumpkin seed crunch.

Step 8. Bake. Bake on the middle rack, pans set on a baking tray, for 45 to 50 minutes, or until the tops are deep golden, the pepitas have toasted to a deep golden brown, and a toothpick comes out clean from the center. Cool in the pans for 15 minutes, then turn the loaves out right side up onto a rack and let them cool completely before slicing.

Find the full instructions in the recipe card

FAQs

Looking for More Banana Bread or Pumpkin Seed Recipes?

Here are a few of our favorite banana bread recipes and recipes featuring pumpkin seeds (pepitas) you may enjoy!

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 Food Safety

• This batter contains raw eggs, so don't taste it before baking. FSIS advises against eating raw or undercooked eggs, since clean, unbroken shell eggs can still carry Salmonella Enteritidis.
• The recipe calls for room temperature eggs, but refrigerated eggs shouldn't sit out more than 2 hours. Take them out while you gather everything else, not the night before.
• Wash utensils, equipment, and work surfaces with hot soapy water before and after they touch raw egg.
• Store eggs in their carton in the coldest part of the refrigerator rather than the door, where the temperature swings. Raw eggs in the shell keep 3 to 5 weeks refrigerated.
• Use bananas that are black and heavily spotted, but never any showing mold. Overripe is the goal, spoiled is not.
• Cool the loaves completely before wrapping. Wrapping while warm traps steam against the crumb, which is what grows mold on a quick bread days early.

Egg safety guidance from the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service, Shell Eggs from Farm to Table.