Cream Cheese-Filled Banana Bread — This is the BEST homemade banana bread recipe! The banana bread tastes like it has cheesecake baked in thanks to the luscious cream cheese filling! Soft, fluffy, easy and tastes ahhhh-mazing!!
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. But you can give it a try if that’s what you have on hand! Just keep in mind that you’ll likely need to bake the bread for longer as well.
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
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.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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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!
Thabk you for the recipe!!! I made these in my mini loaf pan, they cooked in half the time AND WERE PERFECT! 😍 I just want to eat them all!
Thabk you for the recipe!!! I made these in my mini loaf pan, they cooked in half the time AND WERE PERFECT! 😍 I just want to eat them all!
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad to hear they worked great in your mini loaf pans!
Hello! Thanks for this recipe; I’ve made it a lot! I’m curious about the flour in the cream cheese mixture. Is the flour added to keep the cream cheese more solid when baking? I’m wondering if you’ve made the recipe with no flour/ less flour added to the cream cheese? Thanks!
Hello! Thanks for this recipe; I’ve made it a lot! I’m curious about the flour in the cream cheese mixture. Is the flour added to keep the cream cheese more solid when baking? I’m wondering if you’ve made the recipe with no flour/ less flour added to the cream cheese? Thanks!
Thanks for the 5 star review! Yes regarding the flour, for the texture, and no I haven’t tried it without flour.
Love this bread, it was so easy to make.
Love this bread, it was so easy to make.
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad you loved it and it was easy to make!
Can’t wait to try this! As your recipes are always yummy, Averie, I have no doubts this one will be sure to please. Suggestion from a math teacher about sizes of pans. Just determine the volume (length x width x height) of each pan to see if a pan of a different size will work. It also makes it easy to know if two smaller pans will substitute for one larger. This also helps you find the right size pan if you are going to halve or double a recipe .
Yes I do know this about just the geometry of volume about pan sizes to know what will mathematically work.
The issue is that with banana breads in particular, or any type of dense or moist quickbread like a zucchini bread or carrot bread, that baking times can really vary to get them cooked through based on pan sizes and they have the tendency to burn on the outside and be raw on the inside so that’s always something to consider too.
I hope you enjoy this bread and LMK what you think!
I was just thinking of content to pan ratios – a math teacher’s plague! Not once did cooking temp and time cross my mind……I’ll be mindful of that when I slit it to two smaller pans! Thanks!
Yes and one of the most finnicky things to bake IMO is banana bread because of the raw in middle/burnt on outside conundrum! But I do appreciate you posting that comment because THE most common question I get it….can I double this recipe and in what size pan!
I have just started baking during this pandemic and started with your Starbucks Lemon Loaf! That was amazing and my family couldn’t believe it was homemade! I have made that several times, and then started trying out other recipes from other sites and I didn’t get the same reaction from the kids and hubby.
And then I had some ripe bananas and cream cheese and voila! Your recipe showed up and guess what, I had the same raves from everyone and they started calling me such an expert! After a little slump from my baking experience, I think the secret was to go back to your recipes :=) I also love the simple ingredients you use and minimal clean up, and that I can use my hand (as I do not have a mixer). More importantly, the taste is next level!
Just wanted to say thank you so much for making me look like an experienced baker with your recipes! –
I have just started baking during this pandemic and started with your Starbucks Lemon Loaf! That was amazing and my family couldn’t believe it was homemade! I have made that several times, and then started trying out other recipes from other sites and I didn’t get the same reaction from the kids and hubby.
And then I had some ripe bananas and cream cheese and voila! Your recipe showed up and guess what, I had the same raves from everyone and they started calling me such an expert! After a little slump from my baking experience, I think the secret was to go back to your recipes :=) I also love the simple ingredients you use and minimal clean up, and that I can use my hand (as I do not have a mixer). More importantly, the taste is next level!
Just wanted to say thank you so much for making me look like an experienced baker with your recipes! –
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad to hear that people are calling you an expert when you bake my recipes! Simple ingredients, minimal cleanup, hand mixer, with a next level taste – this is in a nutshell what I have been striving to do for the last 11+ years with my site. Not everyone has a fancy stand mixer, a budget for expensive ingredients, etc. and giving people accessible recipes has always been my goal so comments like yours are the ones that ring the most true for me and make me the happiest! Thank you for taking the time to write what you did, makes my day when a nonbaker turns into a baker and the family approves!
Averie, this banana bread was out of this world. I have made tons of recipes but this blew me and my family away. I can tell that this will be repeated many, many times in our household! We made the recipe as written using Greek yogurt (not sour cream) and it was perfect.
Averie, this banana bread was out of this world. I have made tons of recipes but this blew me and my family away. I can tell that this will be repeated many, many times in our household! We made the recipe as written using Greek yogurt (not sour cream) and it was perfect.
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad to hear it was out of this world for you and that you’re going to repeat it many many times!
I love this bread . Have made it a lot.
I love this bread . Have made it a lot.
Wonderful thank you so much!
I love this banana bread isa great bread to get together with friends and have coffee and this bread
I love this banana bread isa great bread to get together with friends and have coffee and this bread
I am glad to hear you love it!