It’s late May, there’s a bunch of rhubarb in your crisper, and the bananas on the counter are past the point where anyone would want to eat them. That’s the moment this rhubarb banana bread was made for. It’s the bake I get excited to make every spring, the second rhubarb comes into season at Mt. Airy Orchards in Dillsburg, Pennsylvania.
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The trouble with most banana rhubarb bread recipes is the rhubarb itself. It’s about 95% water, and if you fold it in raw, all that water releases during the bake, leaving soggy pockets behind and pieces that shrink and sink through the overhydrated batter as it sets. This version cooks the rhubarb down first, which drives off excess water, softens the fibers, and turns the rhubarb from sharp and stringy into something jammy and tart that folds cleanly into the batter and stays where you put it.
If overripe bananas are a regular thing in your kitchen, this loaf joins my cinnamon crunch banana bread in the rotation. And if there’s more rhubarb in the bunch than this recipe asks for, my rhubarb oatmeal bars are where I send the rest.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- The cooked-down rhubarb stays put. No soggy pockets, no rhubarb sinking to the bottom of the loaf. The pre-cook step in the recipe handles it.
- Sour cream + ripe bananas keep it tender. The fat in sour cream and the natural moisture from soft bananas give the loaf a soft crumb that doesn’t dry out by day two.
- A pinch of Chinese five-spice adds flavor. Star anise, cloves, cinnamon, peppercorns, and fennel pull the rhubarb’s tartness into something a little more interesting than the cinnamon-only versions out there.
- It freezes well. I bake one to eat now and one to wrap and freeze for a future weekday breakfast. Slice before freezing so you can pull what you need. Same freeze-and-thaw approach I use for my pumpkin bread with cream cheese frosting.
Ingredients
- Rhubarb. Fresh stalks, sliced into ¼-inch pieces. About 1¼ cups raw cooks down to roughly ¾ cup, which is the amount this recipe is built around. Frozen works too; add it straight to the saucepan in Step 1 without thawing. It cooks down a little faster than fresh.
- Sour cream. Full-fat, room temperature. The fat content is what makes this loaf tender on day two, where lower-fat substitutes (yogurt, milk) leave it dry. Worth using the real thing here.
- Chinese five-spice. Half a teaspoon, with the cinnamon. Star anise, cloves, cinnamon, peppercorns, and fennel together pull the rhubarb in a more interesting direction than cinnamon alone. If you don’t have it, sub ¼ tsp ground cloves plus ¼ tsp nutmeg, or just leave it out.
- Diamond Crystal kosher salt. If you only have Morton’s kosher salt or table salt, use half the volume (or measure the same weight). Diamond Crystal is less salty by volume than Morton’s because the crystals are larger and lighter.
- Turbinado sugar (for the top). The crunch on top of an otherwise soft quick bread is the textural contrast that makes the slice feel finished instead of plain.
See recipe card below for quantities.
Variations
- Strawberry banana bread. No rhubarb? Use 1 cup of chopped fresh strawberries instead. Skip the cook-down step; strawberries don’t need it.
- Chocolate chip. Stir a handful of chocolate chips (about ½ cup) into the batter at the end of Step 4.
- Nuts. Toss in 1 cup of toasted chopped pecans, walnuts, or almonds at the end of Step 4. For a fully nut-forward version, my banana bread with pecans was built around them from the start.
- Muffins. Divide the batter between 12 muffin cups, filling each about three-quarters full. Bake at 350°F for 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. For a dedicated banana-muffin recipe, try my banana carrot muffins instead.
This recipe has not been tested with other substitutions or variations. If you replace or add any ingredients, please let us know how it turned out in the comments below!
How to Make Rhubarb Banana Bread (Step-by-Step)
Step 1: Cook the rhubarb. Slice the rhubarb into ¼-inch pieces. Put it in a 2-quart saucepan over low-medium heat and stir occasionally until it collapses into a soft, jammy texture, about 9 to 12 minutes. No sugar, no liquid, just rhubarb. Set aside to cool while you make the batter. You should end up with roughly ¾ cup.
Step 2: Whisk the dry ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, kosher salt, Chinese five-spice, and cinnamon until combined.
Step 3: Whisk the wet ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, melted butter, sour cream, vanilla, mashed bananas, and the cooled cooked-down rhubarb.
Step 4: Combine. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry. Whisk gently just until the flour disappears. The batter is thick; that’s right. Overmixing here is what makes quick breads dense, so stop the second you don’t see dry flour streaks.
Step 5: Bake. Pour the batter into a parchment-lined 9×5 metal loaf pan. Sprinkle Turbinado sugar evenly over the top. Bake at 350°F for 55 to 60 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean or an instant-read thermometer reads 200 to 205°F in the center.
Step 6: Cool. Let the loaf cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Lift it out using the parchment overhang, then cool completely on the rack before slicing.
Sarah’s Tips for the Rhubarb Banana Bread
- Use the ripest bananas you can find. Brown-spotted, soft, and fragrant. Underripe bananas give you a loaf that tastes like flour and butter and not much else. If your bananas aren’t there yet, place them unpeeled on a parchment-lined sheet pan and roast at 350°F for 20 to 30 minutes, until the peels turn dark brown and the bananas feel very soft. They’ll be sweet enough to use the same day.
- Weigh, don’t measure. A kitchen scale is the single biggest baking upgrade you can make. Volume measurements for flour can swing 20% depending on how packed your cup is, and that swing is the difference between tender and dense. The recipe card has both grams and cups; use grams when you can.
- Bring the eggs and sour cream to room temperature before you mix. Cold eggs hitting melted butter will seize the butter back into solid bits, which means uneven distribution in the batter and a streaky crumb in the finished loaf. 30 minutes on the counter is enough.
- Doneness without guesswork. I pull mine at 204°F. The standard range for quick breads is 200 to 205°F per King Arthur Baking; I just prefer the slightly firmer texture at the upper end. An instant-read thermometer is cheaper than rebaking a sunken loaf, and it works on every quick bread you’ll ever make.
- Use a metal loaf pan if you have one. A 9×5 metal pan conducts heat faster and more evenly than glass or ceramic. If glass is what you have, drop the oven 25°F and add 5 to 10 minutes to the bake.
FAQs
Storage
- Room temperature: Wrap tightly in plastic wrap or foil. Keeps for up to 2 days. After day 2, the rhubarb starts to release a little moisture, and the loaf softens; still good, just less structurally tidy.
- Refrigerator: I don’t recommend it. Refrigeration speeds up a process called starch retrogradation, in which the starches in the crumb recrystallize, forcing water out of the loaf. The fridge actually accelerates this faster than the counter does (the temperature inside a home fridge is right around the peak rate for retrogradation). The freezer is the opposite, cold enough to pause it entirely. If you do refrigerate, plan to warm slices briefly before serving; chilling also dulls the aromatic compounds that carry the rhubarb-banana flavor.
- Freezer (whole loaf): Wrap tightly in plastic, then foil, then a zip-top bag. Keeps up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge or 1–2 hours on the counter.
- Freezer (sliced): Wrap individual slices in plastic, then bag. Pull what you need, thaw 20–30 minutes on the counter or 30 seconds in the microwave.
- Day-after refresh: A 10-second microwave warm-up brings a day-2 slice back to fresh-from-the-oven texture.
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Recipe
Rhubarb Banana Bread
Equipment
- 9×5 metal loaf pan
- 2-quart saucepan
- Large mixing bowl (for dry ingredients)
- Medium mixing bowl (for wet ingredients)
Ingredients
- 1¼ cups (152.5 g) fresh red rhubarb, sliced into ¼-inch slices
- 2 cups (250 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon (6 g) Diamond Crystal kosher salt (for table salt or Morton's kosher, use half the volume)
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon Chinese five spice optional; sub ¼ teaspoon ground cloves + ¼ teaspoon nutmeg if you don’t have it
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 stick (113 g) unsalted butter, melted
- ½ cup (115 g) full-fat sour cream, room temperature
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup (150 g) mashed ripe bananas about 2 medium
- 2 tablespoons (24 g) Turbinado sugar, for topping
- Cooking spray, for the pan
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Spray a 9×5-inch metal loaf pan with cooking spray, then line with parchment paper, leaving enough overhang on the long sides to lift the loaf out after baking.
- Put the sliced rhubarb in a 2-quart saucepan over low-medium heat. Stir occasionally until it collapses into a soft, jammy texture, about 9 to 12 minutes. No sugar, no liquid, just rhubarb. Remove from the heat and cool completely. You should end up with about 3/4 cup.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, granulated sugar, baking soda, kosher salt, cinnamon, and Chinese five spice (if using).
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, melted butter, sour cream, vanilla, mashed bananas, and the completely cooled rhubarb.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry. Whisk gently just until the flour disappears. The batter will be thick. Don’t overmix; that’s what makes quick breads dense.
- Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and smooth the top with a spatula. Sprinkle the Turbinado sugar evenly over the top.
- Bake at 350°F for 55 to 60 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean or an instant-read thermometer reads 200 to 205°F in the center.
- Let the loaf cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Lift it out using the parchment overhang, then cool completely on the rack before slicing.
Save this Recipe!
We’ll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
Instead of a loaf pan, could this recipe be used for muffins?
Hi Diane, Yes absolutely this recipe will work as muffins. I would bake them at 350 for 18-22 minutes.
Hello, I made this recipe this morning and had a friend taste it too. We both thought it was delicious . I added 3/4 cup of chopped pecans to the flour mixture. I love trying new recipes, it is definitely a keeper. Thank you
Hi there! I’m thrilled to hear you and your friend enjoyed the recipe! Adding chopped pecans sounds like a delicious twist. I’m so glad it’s a keeper for you. Thank you for trying it and sharing your feedback. Happy baking! “