“Spring cleaning” has a pretty generous definition at my house, and includes concepts such as “spending an afternoon reading old magazines so I can recycle them” or “at-home makeover day to use up my hoard of beauty samples.” Another acceptable definition is “turning about-to-die banana and zucchini into delicious sweet bread.” This banana-zucchini-cranberry bread is practically a pantry cleanout in itself! It also makes for a sweet reward after de-cluttering your bookshelves.

Cranberry banana bread

My loaf was inspired by this delicious cranberry banana bread at Laurie’s Homestead Breakfast House in Long Beach, WA.

Banana-Zucchini-Cranberry Bread

Ingredients

3 eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 cups grated zucchini
3 bananas, mashed
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease and flour two 8×4-inch loaf pans.

In a large bowl, beat eggs until light yellow and frothy. Add oil, brown sugar, white sugar, grated zucchini, bananas, and vanilla; blend together until well combined. Stir in the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix in the cranberries and nuts. Divide the batter evenly between the two prepared loaf pans.

Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 50 minutes. Allow to cool in the loaf pans on a wire rack before removing and serving.

Stephanie Perry
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