This salted caramel banana bread takes everything you love about the classic loaf and takes it up a notch. Overripe bananas, brown sugar, and cinnamon bake into a soft, tender loaf, and it's finished with salted caramel cream cheese frosting, gooey caramel swirls, and flaky sea salt. Every bite has the perfect balance of sweet, salty, and tangy flavors, and it's much easier to make than it looks!
I love a simple banana bread recipe as much as the next girl, but this time I wanted to make one that felt truly elevated. Banana bread is such a warming, cozy dessert, and I knew salted caramel would complement it perfectly. There's no caramel in the banana bread itself; it's incorporated into the salted caramel cream cheese frosting. The slight tang of the cream cheese helps to offset the sweetness. It's so good I could eat it by the spoonful!
If you love banana bread, you'll also want to try this strawberry banana bread and nutella banana bread.
Ingredient Notes
Overripe bananas: If you're making banana bread, you gotta use your overripe brown bananas! They have the sweetest, strongest banana flavor. This is the perfect recipe to use up that bunch I know you have sitting on the counter. If your bananas aren't ripe enough, bake them on a sheet tray at 300°F for 10 minutes or until the skins turn black. Bam, you have ripe bananas ready to bake with!
Vinegar: I know vinegar is kind of a wildcard ingredient for banana bread, but it works wonders! The acid helps soften the gluten strands and make the loaf super soft. Apple cider vinegar is preferred since it's slightly sweet, but regular white vinegar works just fine.
Full-fat cream cheese: For cream cheese frosting, please use full-fat cream cheese that comes in a block! Low-fat cream cheese or any cream cheese spread in a tub will make the frosting too runny. Philadelphia is my favorite brand!
The salted caramel: I used my favorite store-bought caramel- Trader Joe's Fleur de Sel Caramel Sauce. It's buttery, perfectly salted, and tastes homemade! Your favorite store-bought caramel will do, but if you're feeling ambitious, you can make my homemade salted caramel sauce.
A Note on Testing
Something important that I found out during testing is that this recipe makes a lot of batter! So you'll need a 1.5-pound loaf pan rather than the standard 9x5" 1-pound pan. You can make it in a 9x5" (I did!), but you'll have some leftover batter, which you can bake into muffins or freeze for later!
I also want to note that this banana bread takes a long time to bake, about 50 minutes. This is because the batter is so thick and wet. Since it has to be in the oven for a while, the top might start browning a little prematurely. If this is the case, just lightly cover it with aluminum foil to keep the top bits from burning.
Step by Step Instructions
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350°F and mash your bananas in a large mixing bowl.
Step 2: Whisk in the granulated sugar, brown sugar, and oil. Then add the eggs, vanilla extract, and vinegar, mixing until well combined. A few lumps from the bananas are normal!
Step 3: Gently fold in the all purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon just until the dry streaks of flour disappear. Be careful not to overmix or the banana bread might turn out gummy rather than soft and tender.
Step 4: Line your loaf pan with parchment paper and pour in the banana bread batter. Bake at 350°F for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Step 5: Let the loaf cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, then transfer it to a wire rack and cool completely, about 1 hour. If the banana bread is still hot when you frost it, the frosting will melt off!
Step 6: For the salted caramel cream cheese frosting, beat the butter and cream cheese together on medium-high speed until fully combined with no lumps. The butter and cream cheese should both be at room temperature so they blend together smoothly.
Step 7: Slowly add the powdered sugar, about ½ cup at a time, mixing on low speed so the sugar doesn't fly everywhere. Then increase the speed to medium and beat in the salted caramel sauce.
Step 8: Use an offset spatula or the back of a spoon to spread the frosting all over the cooled banana bread. Add extra caramel swirls and a sprinkle of flaky sea salt.
More Caramel Recipes to Try
📖 Recipe
Salted Caramel Banana Bread with Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting
Equipment
- 1 1.5-pound loaf pan also works with 1-pound 9x5 pan but there will be extra batter
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Ingredients
Banana Bread
- 450 grams overripe bananas 4-5 large bananas
- 150 grams granulated sugar
- 50 grams light brown sugar
- 112 grams vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 30 grams apple cider vinegar or white vinegar
- 240 grams all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Salted Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting
- 56 grams unsalted butter room temperature
- 113 grams full-fat cream cheese room temperature
- 210 grams powdered sugar
- 60 grams salted caramel sauce homemade or store-bought
Instructions
Banana Bread
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 1.5lb loaf pan with parchment paper, leaving a little overhang for easy removal. Set aside.
- Add the bananas to a large mixing bowl and mash with a fork until mostly smooth.450 grams overripe bananas
- Add the granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vegetable oil to the mashed bananas. Whisk until well combined, then whisk in the eggs, vanilla extract, and vinegar until smooth.150 grams granulated sugar, 50 grams light brown sugar, 112 grams vegetable oil, 2 large eggs, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, 30 grams apple cider vinegar
- Fold in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon with a rubber spatula just until the dry ingredients are fully incorporated and no streaks of flour remain.240 grams all purpose flour, ½ teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and spread it into an even layer. Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs attached. If the top begins to brown too quickly, loosely tent it with aluminum foil during the last 10-15 minutes of baking.
- Let the banana bread cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Carefully lift it out using the parchment paper and transfer it to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.
Salted Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting
- Beat the softened butter and cream cheese together on medium-high speed for 2-3 minutes, or until smooth and creamy with no lumps.56 grams unsalted butter, 113 grams full-fat cream cheese
- Add the powdered sugar ½ cup at a time, mixing on low speed after each addition until incorporated.210 grams powdered sugar
- Once all of the powdered sugar has been added, pour in the salted caramel sauce and beat until the frosting is light, fluffy, and evenly combined.60 grams salted caramel sauce
- Spread the frosting over the cooled banana bread with an offset spatula or the back of a spoon. Drizzle more salted caramel over the top, swirl it into the frosting, and finish with a sprinkle of flaky salt before slicing and serving.
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