Copycat Starbucks Banana Bread Recipe With Walnuts
Moist, buttery, and loaded with sweet banana flavor, this Starbucks Banana Bread Copycat Recipe brings your favorite coffee shop treat straight to your kitchen—no latte purchase required!
I don’t drink coffee. Never have. But I have eaten my way through the Starbucks bakery case for years — and the banana bread is the one I come back to every single time. There’s something about the way it’s dense and moist without being heavy, with those walnuts on top, that just hits different than regular banana bread.
I figured out how to make it at home a few years ago and now I make it way more than I should. It’s the kind of loaf that disappears fast — I’ve started making two at a time because my kids request it and it never lasts more than two days. The commenter on this post said it tastes even better the next day and they are absolutely right. Something about letting it sit overnight makes it even more like the real thing.
This is a from-scratch recipe with simple ingredients — no box mix, no shortcuts. And it costs a fraction of what a slice at Starbucks runs. Make it once and you’ll understand why it’s been shared over 2,000 times.
Copycat Starbucks Banana Bread Ingredients
Here are the ingredients for Starbucks Banana Bread:
Starbucks Banana Bread Ingredients
all purpose flour
baking soda
tsp salt
cinnamon
vanilla
egg
sugar
vegetable oil
buttermilk or whole milk
mashed bananas (3 extra ripe bananas)
chopped walnuts (inside batter)
chopped walnuts (on top)
Step By Step Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 325.
Spray loaf pan with bakers spray and then line with parchment (for easy release). Spray the parchment with non stick as well and set aside.
Combine flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a bowl. Whisk together.
In a larger bowl add in the egg, sugar and vegetable oil. Whisk together.
Pour wet over into the dry ingredients bowl and using a rubber spatula mix together.
It will coarse and dry at this point.
Mash the bananas and add them to the bowl.
Add buttermilk (or whole milk), vanilla and 1/2 cup chopped walnuts.
Mix well. Making sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl.
Once everything is well incorporated (no dry flour left) pour into prepared pan.
Top with 1/4 cup walnuts
Bake for 75 mins (begin checking around the 55 min mark)
FAQs
Very ripe — ideally mostly black on the outside. The darker the peel, the sweeter and more flavorful the banana. If yours are only lightly spotted, the bread will be less sweet. To speed up ripening, bake unpeeled bananas at 300°F for 15–20 minutes until the skins turn black, then let them cool before mashing.
That crack down the center is actually what you want. It happens as the bread rises and the crust sets — the center continues to expand and splits the top naturally. It’s a sign the bread baked properly, not a problem.
Yes — fold in ½ cup of semi-sweet mini chocolate chips with the walnuts in Step 6. Mini chips distribute more evenly throughout the loaf. This is a popular variation and the chocolate pairs really well with the banana flavor.
Yes, just omit them entirely. The recipe card notes this. You can also substitute pecans for a slightly sweeter, softer nut flavor.
Very close. The key difference in most copycat versions comes down to banana ripeness and bake time — if yours doesn’t taste quite right, try using darker bananas and making sure the center is fully baked through.
Wrap cooled bread tightly in plastic wrap or foil and store at room temperature up to 3 days, or refrigerate up to a week. It genuinely tastes better the next day once the flavors settle. Freeze unfrosted slices individually wrapped for up to 2 months — thaw overnight at room temperature.
Check out this amazing list of incredible copycat recipes to try! The Best Copycat Starbucks Recipes You Can Make At Home!
This bread is soft, moist, full of flavor, and just AMAZING!!!! It keeps very well in the fridge for days after baking too. The kids absolutely love it.
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I add chocolate chips to my bread because it’s delicious, but you can omit them if you want. There is nothing better than eating the warm banana bread right out the oven on a cold day!
This is a must try for all your banana bread lovers!
I am obsessed with this recipe! It’s so good for thanksgiving, or any fall day. You will love it, I promise.
Why This Recipe Works the Way It Does
325°F instead of 350°F: Banana bread is dense and moist, which means the outside will set and start to brown before the center finishes cooking at a higher temp. The lower temperature gives the inside time to fully bake through without the top or edges going dark. This is why the recipe bakes for 75 minutes — it’s slow and low on purpose.
Extra ripe bananas — what that actually means: The bananas should be almost entirely black on the outside. Not just spotted yellow-brown, but deep brown to black with very soft flesh. At that stage the natural sugars have fully developed and the banana flavor is at its most concentrated. If your bananas are only half-spotted, the bread will be less sweet and less flavorful. You can speed up ripening by baking unpeeled bananas at 300°F for 15–20 minutes until the skins turn black.
Dry into wet, not wet into dry: When you add liquid to flour it develops gluten. Adding dry ingredients into wet gives you more control and lets you stop mixing the moment everything is just combined — which is exactly what you want. Overmixed banana bread comes out tough and dense in a bad way.
How do you store copycat Starbucks Banana Nut Loaf?
To store a copycat Starbucks Banana Nut Loaf, first allow it to cool completely before wrapping it tightly in plastic wrap or aluminum foil. Store the loaf in an airtight container at room temperature for up to three days. It can also be frozen for up to two months; if freezing, make sure to thaw the loaf overnight in the refrigerator before serving.
This banana bread has been made thousands of times by readers and the feedback is always the same — make it the night before and it’s even better in the morning. If you try it, leave a star rating and a comment below. I love seeing your versions, especially if you added the chocolate chips. And if you’re on a Starbucks copycat kick, don’t miss my Cinnamon Coffee Cake — another one that hits exactly like the original.
Here are some more fun Starbucks Copycat Recipes to try:
Copycat Starbucks Banana Bread Recipe With Walnuts
Have a craving for the amazing Starbucks Banana Bread? Check out this amazing recipe!
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 large egg
- 1 heaping cup sugar (1 1/8 cups)
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 2 tbsp buttermilk or whole milk
- 1 mashed bananas (3 extra ripe bananas)
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (inside batter)
- 1/4 cup chopped walnuts (on top)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325°F. Spray a standard 9x5 loaf pan with baker's spray, then line with parchment paper and spray the parchment as well. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon until combined. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the egg, sugar, and vegetable oil until smooth.
- Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients bowl and mix with a rubber spatula. The mixture will look coarse and dry — that's normal. Don't overmix.
- Add the mashed bananas (3 extra ripe bananas, mashed until smooth), buttermilk, and vanilla. Mix well, scraping the bottom of the bowl to make sure no dry flour is hiding.
- Fold in ½ cup of chopped walnuts.
- Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and spread evenly. Sprinkle ¼ cup of chopped walnuts evenly over the top.
- Bake for 75 minutes, starting to check for doneness at the 55-minute mark. A toothpick inserted into the center should come out clean with just a few moist crumbs. If the top is browning too quickly, tent loosely with foil.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool in the pan for 15 minutes before lifting out using the parchment paper. Cool on a wire rack before slicing.
Notes
This can be made without walnuts.
Possible substitute would be chocolate chips!
Nutrition Information
Yield
8Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 459Total Fat 23gSaturated Fat 3gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 19gCholesterol 26mgSodium 261mgCarbohydrates 59gFiber 2gSugar 31gProtein 7g
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Made this banana bread (bb) and it is a great substitute for the original Starbucks bb. It tastes even better the next day.
Takes minutes to pull together with simple ingredients and you save a lot of money making your own.
Pecans/chocolate chips/coconut are cool substitutes as well.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!!