Cream Cheese-Filled Banana Bread — 🍌🍞🎉 This is the BEST homemade banana bread recipe! This cream cheese banana bread tastes like it has cheesecake baked in! Soft, fluffy and tastes ahhhh-mazing and it’ll be your new FAVORITE banana bread recipe! A total winner that will impress your friends and family!
Table of Contents
This cream cheese banana bread is soft and moist, and the cream cheese filling is like having a layer of cheesecake baked into the moist banana bread. No complaints here!
It’s an easy, no mixer recipe that goes from bowl to oven in minutes.
The big river of cream cheese is a thick, bold, unmistakeable layer. It really makes this bread out of this world.
Love Cream Cheese-Filled Desserts?
If you love this cream cheese-filled banana bread, then you’ll definitely love my Cream Cheese-Filled Pumpkin Bread as well!
I use melted coconut oil so there’s no butter to cream and no mixer to dirty. Oil keeps bread softer and springier than butter, and I prefer the taste.
And a little sour cream (or Greek yogurt) is extra insurance for a soft, springy, bouncy, fluffy loaf. Using sour cream, Greek yogurt, or buttermilk in quick bread and muffin recipe ensures more tender results.
This banana cream cheese bread has been a reader favorite that went viral in 2014 when I first posted this recipe. The recipe and photos have been stolen and copied over the years, but that goes with the territory with viral recipes.
Most importantly, it’s been adored by thousands of people and those are the comments and feedback I love reading!
Ingredients Needed
After taking a bite of this banana bread, you’ll regret to having made a loaf using cream cheese sooner!
For the banana bread:
- Egg
- Brown sugar
- Granulated sugar
- Coconut oil
- Sour cream
- Vanilla extract
- Ripe bananas
- All-purpose flour
- Baking powder and baking soda
- Salt
For the cream cheese filling:
- Egg
- Softened cream cheese
- Granulated sugar
- All-purpose flour
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How to Make Cream Cheese Banana Bread
Don’t let the cream cheese filling fool you into thinking this is a tough banana bread recipe to make — it’s not! This is an incredibly easy homemade banana bread recipe.
- Make the batter: Whisk together the egg, sugars, coconut oil, sour cream, and vanilla before stirring in the mashed bananas and the rest of the dry ingredients.
- Turn about two-thirds of the batter into a greased loaf pan and smooth out the top with a spatula or the back of a spoon.
- Make the cream cheese filling: Stir together the ingredients for the filling and carefully pour over the banana bread batter.
- Smooth out the top once more before pouring the remaining banana bread batter over the cream cheese layer.
- Bake the cream cheese banana bread until the top is domed, golden, and the center is set, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Note that the toothpick test isn’t the most accurate because the cream cheese never gets totally solid.
Baking Tip
Once the bread is out of the oven, let it cool completely before slicing and serving. The cream cheese center needs time to set fully, and if you slice it too soon it’ll just ooze out.
Recipe FAQs
For this recipe, you need to use brick-style cream cheese (not the whipped kind in a plastic tub). I used full-fat cream cheese, but lite cream cheese will also work so long as it’s the type that comes in a brick. Set the cream cheese on your counter to soften (this will take about an hour, maybe more). I don’t recommend softening the cream cheese in the microwave, as that can make it too soft.
Coconut oil adds a nearly imperceptible undertone that’s sweeter and more fragrant than canola or vegetable oil, but substitute with them if you’d like or if you’re very sensitive to coconut flavors.
I make this banana bread recipe in a 9×5-inch loaf pan, and this bread is a large loaf. I think an 8×4-inch pan would be too small, and the batter may run over the sides. This is the exact pan I use!
No, because the cream cheese filling is baked it’s safe to leave out at room temperature. Bread will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 1 week.
For the best tasting cream cheese banana bread, you’ll want to use really ripe bananas that have plenty of black spots on them.
Tips for Making This Recipe
Measuring the mashed banana: You need to actually measure out the mashed banana to see if it’s 1 cup, because your idea of two “large bananas” may be different than mine, and you want to add the exact right amount of banana to this bread.
Mixing the batter: Once you add the flour to the banana bread batter you should continue mixing the batter until everything is just combined. You do NOT want to over mix the batter, otherwise your homemade banana bread will be a little tough.
Baking times: Tent the pan with a sheet of foil draped over it at the 30 minute-mark if you feel the tops and sides of the cream cheese-filled banana bread will become too browned before the center cooks through.
Baking times will vary based on moisture content of bananas, cream cheese, climate, and oven variances. You need to bake this moist banana bread until done — watch your bread, not the clock.
Storage Instructions
Room temp: Store the banana cream cheese bread in an airtight container for up to 1 week on your counter.
Freezer: Wrap tightly and freeze for up to 3 months. When ready to eat, thaw overnight in the fridge.
Video Tutorial
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Cream Cheese-Filled Banana Bread
Equipment
Ingredients
Bread
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup light brown sugar, packed
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup liquid-state coconut oil, canola or vegetable may be substituted
- ¼ cup cup sour cream, lite is okay Greek yogurt may be substituted
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup mashed ripe bananas, about 2 large bananas
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- pinch salt, optional
Cream Cheese Filling
- 1 large egg
- 4 ounces brick-style cream cheese, softened lite is okay
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Spray one 9×5-inch loaf pan with floured cooking spray, or grease and flour the pan; set aside.
- Make the Banana Bread
- In a large bowl, add the egg, sugars, coconut oil, sour cream, vanilla, and whisk to combine.
- Add the bananas and stir to incorporate.
- Add 1 cup flour, baking powder, baking soda, optional salt, and fold with spatula or stir gently with a spoon until just combined; don’t overmix; set aside.
- Turn about two-thirds of the batter out into the prepared pan, smoothing the top lightly with a spatula and pushing it into corners and sides as necessary; set aside.
- Make the Cream Cheese Filling
- In a large bowl, add all ingredients and whisk to combine. Alternatively, mix with a hand mixer.
- Evenly pour filling mixture over the bread, smoothing the top lightly with a spatula and pushing it into corners and sides as necessary.
- Top with remaining batter, smoothing the top very lightly with a spatula as to not disturb cream cheese layer and pushing batter into corners and sides as necessary.
- Bake for about 48 to 50 minutes or until the top is domed, golden, and the center is set, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, or with a few moist crumbs, but no batter. Note this is tricky because the cream cheese never gets totally solid so the toothpick test isn’t the most accurate.*
- Allow bread to cool in pan for about 15 minutes before turning out on a wire rack to cool completely before slicing and serving.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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More Easy Banana Bread Recipes:
ALL OF MY BANANA BREAD RECIPES!
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Brown Sugar Blueberry Banana Bread – Blueberry coffee cake meets super soft banana bread.
Six-Banana Banana Bread – Six bananas in one loaf of bread means an extremely soft, moist, and richly flavored bread.
Zucchini Banana Bread — This Zucchini Banana Bread is so soft, tender, uber-moist, dense enough to be satisfying, but still light!
The BEST Strawberry Banana Bread — This strawberry bread is packed with fresh, juicy strawberries in every bite! This is an easy, no-mixer quick bread recipe you’re going to love!
Carrot Banana Bread — EASY, no-mixer, super soft banana carrot bread that reminds me of carrot cake but healthier!! Great Easter brunch idea or spring baked good!
I just cooked a glass bread pan & a square glass pan . Time was same for both to finish.
PS: I just has my first piece & it was Delicious & definitely a keeper. They won’t last long I’m this household!
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I made the cream cheese banana bread and oh my! So moist and delicious! I did decrease the sugar all around but that didn’t impact flavor. I also added walnuts time because I love a crunchy texture
Thank you!!
I made the cream cheese banana bread and oh my! So moist and delicious! I did decrease the sugar all around but that didn’t impact flavor. I also added walnuts time because I love a crunchy texture
Thank you!!
Thanks for the 5 star review and I am glad that this turned out wonderfully for you and that decreasing the sugar a bit didn’t effect anything and it was still great!
I would like to substitute butter for coconut oil – do know how much butter I should use? Thank you.
I suggest using then canola or vegetable oil and not butter. The texture of this bread is better with oil rather than butter in my opinion. Although 1/4 melted butter is fine if that’s what you really want to use.
Well, I am throwing away my old banana bread recipe and using this one! Absolutely delicious.
Well, I am throwing away my old banana bread recipe and using this one! Absolutely delicious.
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad this one is good enough that you can throw out the other recipe you have, that’s great to hear!
I love this recipe and make it often. Thanks!!
I love this recipe and make it often. Thanks!!
Thanks for the 5 star review and I am glad you love this and make it often!
I made this with the vanilla coconut Greek yogurt and substituted the brown sugar with Splenda brown sugar blend and the granulated sugar with Splenda sugar blend due to my husband is diabetic. We loved it. I will make again.
Hey Averie – My family is a big fan of banana bread and someone shared this recipe with me, and it looks like a winner. We are also a fan of cream cheese filling, like in a danish. Would I be able to increase (double) the amount of cream cheese filling in this banana bread or would it have a negative impact? Thanks.
You could increase it, maybe 1.5x the amount, perhaps 2x. I have never tried. The only issue could be that it will fall, or sink through and won’t look neat and clean. However, the taste will more or less be the same. Please report back if you try this. I am curious how it will turn out.
Thanks I was looking for very ripe banana recipe and this worked out great. I used almond flour. Tastes good to me especially enjoy the cream cheese center😋😋 Saving your website for for future recipes.
Thanks I was looking for very ripe banana recipe and this worked out great. I used almond flour. Tastes good to me especially enjoy the cream cheese center😋😋 Saving your website for for future recipes.
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad it was great and you were able to make it with almond flour and you’re saving my site for the future!
I was so disappointed in the cream cheese filling. It has zero cream cheese flavor. It tastes like flour.
I made the cream cheese filled banana bread 2 nights ago I added a about a cup of choped pecans and on top I placed halved pecans in rows so the kids could have a guide line to cut there own slices Three pecans to a slice It was such a hit that I’m back to make it again This time I’m going to try adding a banana to the filling and place a streusel topping per request from my friends son Wish me luck And this is one of the best banana bread receipts I’ve made in a while Thank you
I made the cream cheese filled banana bread 2 nights ago I added a about a cup of choped pecans and on top I placed halved pecans in rows so the kids could have a guide line to cut there own slices Three pecans to a slice It was such a hit that I’m back to make it again This time I’m going to try adding a banana to the filling and place a streusel topping per request from my friends son Wish me luck And this is one of the best banana bread receipts I’ve made in a while Thank you
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad that this is one of the best banana bread recipes you’ve made and that you’re back at it getting creative and making it again!