The Banana Bread So Good It Was Served at Buckingham Palace (My Whole Family Loves It)

My kitchen counter is always home to a pile of bananas in various states of ripeness, so we have banana bread quite often. Despite it being a common snack around here, my kids were extra excited about this week’s loaf since it’s fit for a queen. Royal recipes are so fun to try out at home, especially when they’re fancied-up takes on the familiar.

Let me tell you, my five-year-old wolfed down her slice of this banana bread in seconds, and then she asked me for another slice. She liked everything about it and was dejected when I said we needed to stop snacking and save some room for dinner. I’m sure that when she gets home from school today, she’ll ask for more.

Why I Love the Royal Family's Banana Bread

This super buttery, banana-packed loaf is different from any I’ve made before, in both the preparation and the resulting bread. You start by rubbing the butter (a whole stick of it) into the flour, a technique I’m more used to following for scones and other pastries than for quick breads. After that, you toss in dried cherries, raisins, and walnuts. To finish the batter, you mash up the bananas, stir in the eggs and vanilla, and then stir all of that into the flour mixture.

Backing up a little bit, I did have a couple of questions when I read through the list of ingredients. First, I wasn’t sure if “cherries” meant fresh or dried ones, so I referred to royal Chef Darren McGrady’s video, and dried cherries it was. Then, there was the question of “1 pound ripe bananas.” Are we weighing the bananas before or after peeling? I asked my non-cooking spouse his opinion, and he said after, so I went with that. It was a lot of bananas—4 1/2 average-sized ones, to be exact.

Regardless of whether Chef McGrady meant to call for a pound of peeled or unpeeled fruit, my banana bread turned out beautifully. Dense but not heavy, with a crust almost scone-like in texture, the large loaf emerged from the oven beautifully golden brown. I did have to cook it for much longer than the suggested 45 minutes. Mine required an hour and 25 minutes to reach 190ºF in the center. I draped a sheet of aluminum foil over it for the last 25 minutes to avoid over-browning.

One fun fact about this banana bread is that, according to the chef, it keeps for up to three months wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and stored in the refrigerator. While no loaf of banana bread has ever lasted that long around here, it’s nice to know that it keeps so well. It did make me laugh to think about Queen Elizabeth unknowingly munching on a three-month-old slice.

I’m glad that my kids aren’t picky about fruits and nuts in their baked goods—I know many people are! The slightly tart cherries, super-sweet golden raisins, and rich walnuts are all great additions. Of course, you could leave them out or substitute your favorite mix-ins. With chocolate chips taking the place of the fruit, I would serve this as a decadent dessert.

Chef McGrady says to enjoy the banana bread slathered with butter, but we all found it plenty buttery on its own and especially delicious when it was just a little bit warm. Nobody in my house could wait until it had cooled completely. Sorry chef!

How To Make Buckingham Palace Banana Bread

For one loaf of banana bread, you'll need:

• 8 ounces (2 cups) self-rising flour

• 1/4 teaspoon fine salt

• 4 ounces (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

• 6 ounces (3/4 cup) granulated sugar

• 4 ounces (2/3 cup) golden raisins

• 1 ounce (1/4 cup) chopped walnuts

• 2 ounces (1/3 cup) dried cherries

• 1 pound ripe bananas (about 4 1/2 average bananas)

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 2 large eggs

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a loaf pan with cooking spray and line with parchment paper.

2. In a large bowl, rub the butter into the flour and salt until only pea-sized pieces of butter remain. Mix in the sugar, raisins, walnuts, and cherries.

3. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Mash the bananas in a separate bowl, then stir in the vanilla and eggs. Add the banana-egg mixture to the flour mixture and stir to combine.

4. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake on the center oven rack until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with only moist crumbs attached, 1 hour to 1 hour 25 minutes.

This recipe is adapted from Chef Darren McGrady.

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