The Easiest Way to Upgrade Banana Bread: Add Nutella

Name: Nutella Banana Bread
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 65 min
Total time: 80 min
Ingredients: ½ cup unsalted butter (softened); ¾ cup granulated sugar; ¼ cup light brown sugar; 1 ½ cups well-mashed overripe bananas ((usually around 3 large bananas)); 2 large eggs (room temperature preferred); ⅓ cup sour cream; 2 teaspoons vanilla extract; 2 cups all-purpose flour; 1 teaspoon baking soda; ¾ teaspoon table salt; ⅓ cup Nutella ((gently warmed, see note)); 2 Tablespoons Nutella ((warmed, see note)); 1 Tablespoon coarse or regular granulated sugar (for topping (optional))

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Banana bread just got a glow-up! My Nutella banana bread is soft, moist, and swirled with a generous ribbon of chocolate hazelnut spread. Just 15 minutes to prep and leftovers freeze beautifully! Recipe includes a how-to video!

Two slices of nutella banana bread on a plate.

Nutella Swirled Banana Bread

If you love banana bread and Nutella, my Nutella banana bread i the best of both worlds. It’s a moist and tender banana bread swirled with chocolate hazelnut spread for a bakery-style treat that’s easy to make at home.

While, sure, you always could just spread some Nutella over a slice of banana bread, this version adds thick, luscious ribbons of Nutella throughout the bread and on top, and the flavor is next-level. I love it warm, toasted, and covered in butter (over the top, yes, but so worth it).

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

Bakery-style flavor and appearance: We’ll use my popular banana bread recipe as a base (flavored with vanilla, brown sugar, and lots of banana!) and then swirl the Nutella in. I needed something slightly more sturdy than my classic version in order to support a nice thick ribbon of Nutella, and with just a few modifications, it worked perfectly. It looks and tastes so gourmet, but is actually super easy!
Perfect for using up overripe bananas! If your family is inconsistent with their banana consumption (🙋‍♀️), you need this recipe. It repurposes three large overripe bananas that would otherwise end up in the trash or compost bin.
Only 15 minutes of prep. And it’s easy peasy too! Your mixer will do most of the work (though once you are ready to add the dry ingredients, use a spatula!).
Simple ingredients (pantry staples!): You should have everything in your pantry/fridge already–don’t you love when that happens?!

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Nutella Swirled Banana Bread
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Ingredients
How to Make Nutella Banana Bread
Frequently Asked Questions
Related Recipes
Nutella Banana Bread

Ingredients

Let’s chat about a few choice ingredients before we begin.

Bananas. Use super ripe, spotty, mostly-brown bananas for the best results. The more ripe your bananas, the sweeter and more flavorful the bread will be (underripe bananas can result in bland/dry banana bread, though you can always try roasting them!).
Sugar. A blend of granulated and brown sugar adds depth and moisture without making things too heavy and still allowing the Nutella flavor to shine.
Eggs. It’s best if your eggs are at room temperature when you add them; this allows them to incorporate more easily and yields a more uniform batter. If you forget to set them out ahead of time, use my trick to quickly bring eggs to room temperature.
Sour cream. Sour cream haters, I promise you won’t be able to detect it in the final product! Just like in my best blueberry muffin recipe, this ingredient adds moisture and amazing depth of flavor, making our banana bread incredibly tender.
Nutella. You’ll need a heaping ⅓ cup. It will be easier to swirl the Nutella into the batter if you microwave it for 5-10 seconds beforehand; it’s much thicker when at room temperature.

Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!

SAM’S TIP: I like to add a light sprinkle of coarse sparkling sugar on top of my banana bread before baking for a bakery-style look and added crunch. It’s a fun plus but not mandatory.

How to Make Nutella Banana Bread

Overhead view of a banana batter in a bowl.

Step 1: Make the batter. Cream the butter and sugar until combined, then stir in the mashed bananas. Add the eggs one at a time before stirring in the sour cream and vanilla. Put your mixer away at this point–you won’t need it anymore! In a separate bowl, whisk the dry ingredients together, then gradually fold them into the wet ingredients until the batter is just combined. Do not over-mix!

Overhead view of a nutella filling being swirled into banana bread batter.

Step 2: Add the Nutella filling. Pour half of the batter into a greased or parchment lined bread pan, then drizzle ⅓ cup of Nutella overtop. Gently swirl the Nutella into the batter with a knife. Don’t be too vigorous with your swirling; you still want a distinct Nutella layer.

Overhead view of nutella being swirled into banana bread batter.

Step 3: Swirl/sugar the top. Add the remaining batter, then drizzle the final tablespoons of Nutella overtop. Swirl the Nutella into the batter with your knife again, then add a sprinkle of coarse sugar over everything (if you like!).

Overhead view of Nutella banana bread loaf after baking.

Step 4: Bake. Transfer to the preheated oven and bake until a skewer comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs, about 65 minutes or so. Let the bread cool for 15 minutes before removing from the pan and onto a cooling rack to finish cooling.

SAM’S TIP: A parchment sling makes removing your Nutella banana bread from its pan a breeze! I do this with everything from brownies (like my banana brownies) to Rice Krispie treats.

Loaf of banana bread with a swirl of Nutella in the middle and on top.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to use sour cream?

If you don’t want to use sour cream specifically, you could substitute plain, full fat Greek yogurt. I don’t recommend leaving this ingredient out entirely though–while you won’t “taste” it in the final product, you will notice the moisture and depth of flavor it adds.

Can I use this recipe for Nutella banana muffins?

I haven’t tried this recipe as muffins, but I suspect it will work. If you do try it, I’d love to know how it goes for you!

I do have recipes for chocolate banana muffins and chocolate chip banana muffins, if you’d like to try those.

Could I use peanut butter instead of Nutella?

Peanut butter can be very drying compared to Nutella, so I’m not quite sure how it would substitute here. If you’d be interested in a peanut butter banana bread, let me know in the comments. And in the meantime, feel free to throw some peanut butter chips into the batter here!