Air Fryer Banana Bread
This air fryer banana bread is a really forgiving recipe that cooks up a small batch that’s loaded with nuts and dried cranberries and is topped with a little sugar to give it a crispy crunch with a soft crumb contrast.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe: Baking banana bread in an air fryer is an easy way to make a small batch of banana bread without heating up the whole house. Plus, air fryer banana bread cooks up with an extra crisped-up top that takes the bread to the next level.
Our favorite banana bread recipe has been in our family for over 30 years. Everyone in our family is all about the mix ins. Our favorite is with classic walnuts and we love the extra splash of flavor from the craisins. However, you can leave them out or mix in your own favorites.
We adapted our family-favorite banana bread recipe to make this easy Air Fryer Banana Bread.
In addition to making a smaller batch, making banana bread in an air fryer gives you a lovely crisp exterior. With the turbinado sugar on top, it made for a really fantastic crunch on top, which was a lovely contrast with the soft crumb inside.
This is one of our favorite breakfast recipes on our site. We often pair the bread with Pressure Cooker Egg Bites or Hard-Boiled Eggs for an easy sweet-savory combo.
Ingredients You Need to Make Banana Bread
This banana bread recipe uses a lot of basic pantry staples. Here’s what you’ll need:
- Flour: We use unbleached all-purpose flour.
- Baking powder: This leavener helps the bread rise while leaving behind a little tanginess from the sour cream.
- Baking soda: Make sure you’re using baking soda that isn’t old or expired; otherwise, it can cause problems with your bread rising.
- Salt: We just use table salt for this recipe.
- Mashed banana: This is about the same as 1 large and 2 small.
- Sugar: We generally use white sugar in this recipe, but we’ve subbed brown in a pinch and still had good results.
- Sour cream: Again, this recipe is pretty forgiving; we’ve subbed yogurt in a pinch and it still works. Flavored yogurt is a bridge too far, however.
- Butter: When you melt the butter, do it at low power and make sure to stir frequently to prevent it from popping.
- Vanilla: We love adding just a bit of vanilla to add depth of flavor to our banana bread.
- Eggs: We like to beat the eggs before adding to the other ingredients to make sure you don’t overmix the batter.
- Chopped walnuts: You can substitute pecans if you like.
- Dried cranberries: We love adding craisins to this bread. They’re not required if you don’t like craisins or dried fruit. But I love the pop of flavor and color they add.
- Turbinado sugar: We buy Sugar in the Raw. This ingredient is optional, but it makes for a delicious topping to your banana bread.
How to Make Banana Bread in an Air Fryer
✅ This easy recipe will work in any brand of air fryer, including the Instant Vortex and Cosori.
We like to combine all the dry ingredients in a small bowl. This ensures they’re evenly mixed when adding to the batter.
Next, use a large bowl to mash the banana and then mix in the sugar. Add the melted butter and mix in, then stir in the sour cream and vanilla, and stir until blended. Add the egg and mix until just combined.
Add half the flour mixture, stirring until just combined, then add the other half. Gently mix in the walnuts and cranberries, if using.
TIP: When mixing the batter, only stir until it just comes together. A few lumps will be visible, which is totally normal! Overmixing can cause flat, dense, and chewy banana bread.
Preheat your air fryer to 300F. (We used the Bake setting for this recipe.)
Spray two mini loaf pans with nonstick baking spray with flour, making sure to get the corners really well. Divide the batter evenly among the two pans, then sprinkle the tops of the bread with turbinado sugar.
Once the air fryer is fully preheated, place the mini loaf pans on a trivet in the air fryer. Bake for 23 to 27 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Important Tips for Making Banana Bread in an Air Fryer
Let the bread cool for 10 minutes in the pan after baking. This allows it to finish cooking all the way through. Then you can let remove it from the pan and let it cool the rest of the way directly on a wire rack. (You can serve it warm, just note that the loaf will not cut cleanly.)
An instant-read thermometer is the most precise way to know for certain that your bread is done baking. When it’s fully cooked, it should register 200 to 205°F in the center; however, the temperature will often rise by a few degrees after you take it out of the oven.
The mini loaf pans we use in this recipe come as a four-pack and are 5¾ inches long x 3 ¼ inches wide x 2 ¼ inches deep. If your pans are much larger or deeper than this, you will need to adjust the cooking time accordingly.
Frequently Asked Questions about Banana Bread
You can bake this in any size loaf pan that fits easily in your air fryer; however, the cook time will definitely increase , and you may need to cover the tops in the last few minutes of baking
Banana bread stores best when you keep it room temperature and keep it covered so it doesn’t dry out. It should keep for 3 to 4 days. If you want to save it even longer, you can freeze it for up to 4 months.
The bake setting generally means the air fryer uses a lower fan setting than the traditional air fry setting. If your air fryer doesn’t have a bake setting, try adjusting the fan speed down a notch. Or just cook it with the air fry setting and keep an eye on the tops of the bread because they might need to be covered for the last few minutes of cooking.
Yes, you can. Just preheat your oven to 350F and bake for about 15-20 minutes for the mini loaf pans. You’ll just miss out on the slight crunch to the tops that you get from the air fryer.
MORE Air Fryer “Baking” Recipes
We love baking smaller batches in our air fryer. Here are other air fryer “baking” recipes you might want to try.
- These pumpkin chocolate chip cookies are the perfect treat when you are craving some classic fall flavors.
- Deep dish chocolate chip cookies have something for everyone, from a crunch outside, to the ooey gooey inside!
- Air fryer whole wheat bagels are a fun challenge and the bagel dough proofs inside an Instant Pot.
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Air Fryer Banana Bread
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup mashed banana about 1 large or 2 small
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 2 tablespoons butter melted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 egg lightly beaten
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
- Turbinado sugar optional
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- In a large bowl, combine the banana and sugar. Add the melted butter, sour cream, and vanilla, and stir until blended. Add the beaten egg.
- Add the flour mixture, stirring until combined. Gently mix in the walnuts and cranberries.
- Select Bake and preheat the air fryer to 300F.
- Spray two mini loaf pans (5 ¾ x 3 ¼ x 2 ¼) with nonstick baking spray with flour. Divide the batter evenly among two mini loaf pans. If using, lightly sprinkle the turbinado sugar over the tops of the loaf pans.
- In a single stroke, gently glide a knife down the middle of the loaf about half the depth of the dough. (This will help the dough split more evenly when it bakes.)
- Once the air fryer is preheated, place the mini loaf pans on a trivet in the air fryer. Bake for 23 to 27 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.
Notes
Nutrition
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I did not have a trivet. I did have some black bananas so…Loved this. Tastes like my grandmother’s recipe.
I looked at the trivet link and i am hoping this will work https://amzn.to/410jFGl
Thanks so much Liane – how fun that it tastes like your grandmother’s recipe.
Will this work in the Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer that you recommended in your recent 30 Kitchen Must-Haves video? If so, any changes in the timing or anything else? I just got my air fryer and am a complete novice!
My air fryer is 4qt. I’ll have to experiment. I’ll let you know if I figure something out.