10 Delicious Recipes To Celebrate National Banana Bread Day

The number of Americans baking banana bread exploded after pandemic lockdowns sparked a surge in home cooking and, in particular, inspired online recipe searches for the humble loaf, according to CNN. It's understandable considering that banana bread sits at the perfect intersection of an indulgent comfort food and easy-to-make recipe that bakers of any experience level can successfully create. Because it's a quick bread, it needs no kneading or yeast, relying instead on baking soda and baking powder to rise. Even better, banana bread is sweet, moist, and can be enjoyed for breakfast, a snack, or dessert. And it's one of those home-baked goods that can make you feel all warm and snuggly inside no matter the season.

So naturally, a bread that tastes this wonderful and helps get us through our most stressful moments deserves its own holiday, which happens to be February 23! It's designated as National Banana Bread Day, according to Foodimentary, making it the perfect excuse to gather up your brown bananas and bake a loaf. And while you can always go with a classic recipe, you might also want to try an intriguing variation, like Double Chocolate, Cookie Butter, or a banana bread loaded with tropical flavor. Here are 10 delicious banana bread recipes to try in honor of this special day.

How about a banana bread that does double duty as a dessert? This recipe for a classic banana bread has an indulgent twist: Two kinds of chocolate are mixed in to make the treat even more delicious and rich. First, there's cocoa powder in the batter to create a luscious dark brown loaf and then chocolate chunks are stirred throughout, which means there'll be melty bits in every slice. The recipe is just as easy to make as regular banana bread, and bakes up in about an hour. 

Recipe: Double Chocolate Banana Bread

Get your banana bread fix with the fewest ingredients possible with this recipe. The key to this 3-ingredient take is using self-rising flour, which King Arthur Baking explains has the baking powder and salt already mixed in. It's a great shortcut ingredient, but if you don't have any it's easy to make your own self-rising flour. Sweetened condensed milk provides sweetness and moisture, and the third ingredient is bananas, of course — the mushier the better, because that's what always makes the sweetest, most flavorful banana bread.

Recipe: 3-Ingredient Banana Bread

Banana breads do tend to be very sweet, which can leave folks who are trying to cut back on excess sugar feeling left out of the fun on National Banana Bread Day. The good news is that this particular banana bread recipe delivers all the flavor and tenderness of a typical loaf but is made with no added sugars. The sweetness comes from ripe bananas and applesauce (try making it homemade too!), as well as a generous sprinkling of sugar-free chocolate chips.

Recipe: Sugar-Free Chocolate Chip Banana Bread 

Here's an idea to bake up a loaf of moist banana bread with a unique ingredient that gives it an intriguing, spiced flavor. If you haven't tried cookie butter yet, Taste Of Home explains that it's a creamy paste made by grinding up the European spice cookies known as speculoos. It's very sweet and rich, and creates an extra-delicious loaf of banana bread when added to the batter. Best of all, this bread is super easy to make.

Recipe: Cookie Butter Banana Bread 

What's better than a classic banana bread? Combining two favorite quick breads together in one amazing loaf. Celebrate National Banana Bread Day with a new variation, one made with grated zucchini added to the batter, which is an excellent way to use up zucchini that you stashed in the freezer from summertime. The bread has all the sweetness and heartiness of classic banana bread with added veggie nutrition. You can even add mix-ins like chocolate chips or chopped nuts to make it even better!

Recipe: Zucchini Banana Bread