Rhubarb Banana Bread
Celebrate the taste of spring with this delightfully sweet rhubarb banana bread. It's our go-to banana bread recipe dotted with chunks of tart rhubarb and drizzled with a simple vanilla glaze. It will fill your home with the most incredible aromas as it bakes, and it's ready in just over an hour!
If you like fruity banana bread, you'll love our strawberry banana bread, apple banana bread, and poppy seed lemon banana bread.
Table of contents
Banana bread is a household treat we make year-round. This rhubarb banana bread using springtime's prized vegetable is a delicious way to celebrate the season!
It's got that familiar sweet banana flavor that marries so well with the tart rhubarb. It's also moist and rich, with an irresistible soft and chewy texture. The vanilla glaze is delightful but it does make this loaf taste more like cake. If you prefer it less sweet, you can skip it.
Like other quick bread, the ingredients and method are simple, which is perfect for anyone who loves a homemade treat but doesn't want to spend all day in the kitchen.
Rhubarb banana bread ingredients notes
Here's everything you need to make this banana rhubarb bread recipe:
- Rhubarb – in most places you can only find rhubarb for a short period in the spring. Look for its bright red or green stalks when it appears at farmers' markets and grocery stores. Frozen rhubarb also works great too if fresh isn't available. We like to freeze some to use throughout the year, but you can also often find it in the freezer section at the grocery store.
- Flour – we use regular all-purpose flour.
- Granulated sugar and brown sugar – a mix of granulated and brown sugar gives this loaf great texture and sweetness.
- Ripe bananas – save your spotty ripe bananas, because the sweet ripe ones are perfect for banana bread.
- Eggs – it's ideal if your eggs are at room temperature.
- Sour cream – sour cream makes this loaf moist and rich.
- Melted butter + vegetable oil – this combo gives the loaf richness and moisture. For oils, we like to use extra-virgin olive oil, avocado oil, or even melted coconut oil.
- Baking soda + sea salt + vanilla – baking staples!
How to make rhubarb banana bread
This rhubarb banana bread recipe is delicious as a quick breakfast or afternoon snack. And tastes great with a cup of coffee or tea. Let's make it!
- To make it, start by tossing the rhubarb in a bit of flour. This helps to prevent it from sinking to the bottom.
- Mix the wet ingredients and the dry ingredients together in separate bowls. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ones, stir them until just combined, then add in the rhubarb. Transfer it to your loaf pan and press a few extra pieces of rhubarb into the top. Bake it, then allow it to cool completely.
- Drizzle the glaze over the top (if using), slice, and serve. It's a satisfying afternoon snack that's perfect for picnics, potlucks, or with a cup of tea. It travels well so you can enjoy a slice as a quick breakfast or snack on the go!
Full recipe instructions are in the recipe card below.
Recipe FAQs
Yes! Frozen rhubarb works great in place of fresh. Just make sure to thaw it before using it in the recipe.
Store this rhubarb banana bread in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-4 days.
Absolutely! Although we recommend holding off on the glaze until you're ready to serve it.
You can, but we recommend using full-fat Greek yogurt because it's thicker, similar to the consistency of sour cream.
More tasty rhubarb dessert recipes
Favorite banana bread recipes
Rhubarb Banana Bread
If you love this recipe as much as we do, let us know with a 5-star rating!
Ingredients
- 1 cup chopped rhubarb, see notes
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, + 1 tablespoon for the rhubarb
- Ā½ cup granulated sugar
- Ā½ cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 Ā½ cups mashed ripe bananas
- 2 large eggs
- Ā¼ cup EACH: sour cream, melted butter, and cooking oil
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
Vanilla Glaze
- ā cup powdered sugar
- 1 tablesoon vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a 9"x5" loaf pan.Ā Put the rhubarb into a bowl and toss it with 1 tablespoon of flour.1 cup chopped rhubarb
- In a medium-sized bowl, whisk the flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt.2 cups all-purpose flour, Ā½ cup granulated sugar, Ā½ cup brown sugar, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon sea salt
- In a large bowl, whisk the mashed bananas, eggs, sour cream, melted butter, oil, and vanilla.1 Ā½ cups mashed ripe bananas, 2 large eggs, Ā¼ cup EACH: sour cream, melted butter, and cooking oil, 1 tablespoon vanilla
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix just until they come together. DO NOT overmix the batter.
- Pour the batter into your loaf pan. If you'd like, you can top the banana bread with a few pieces of diced rhubarb.
- Bake for 60-70 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let the banana bread cool for 15 minutes in the pan and then remove it and let it cool completely on a wire rack.
- Once the banana bread is completely cool, whisk the powdered sugar and vanilla in a small bowl. Then, drizzle the glaze over top of the banana bread.ā cup powdered sugar, 1 tablesoon vanilla
If you love banana bread, check out all of our delicious banana bread recipes!
This combination of banana bread and rhubarb was delicious! The vanilla drizzle on top elevated it from an everyday bread to something quite special. Everyone loved it!
This bread turned out so well for us, moist and tasty! Going to bake again next week for my friends and family.
So yummy! Rhubarb is one of my favorites!
This sweet banana bread with tart rhubarb throughout was marvelous. I can’t wait to make this again.
Disappointed that there aren’t also metric measurements available
Hi David! That’s actually something that we plan on adding. It’s a HUGE project to add the metric conversion to all of our recipes, but it’s one we have planned to start next month.
This brought me back to a rhubarb bread my mother used to make. Thank you.