This A to Z Bread gets its name from being able to add any kind of mix in (from A to Z!) into this base quickbread recipe. We always used this for our family’s favorite banana bread recipe!

A loaf pan half full with a nut-topped banana bread on a white towel.

This is probably the recipe my mom baked the most as we were growing up. For me, it conjures up a kitchen enveloped in a warm haze of buttery banana scent and toasted nuts (even though we abhored the nut-topped loaves as kids and always pleaded for a just-plain chocolate chip loaf). Leftovers were always kept moist and plush in a deep orange container and I always looked forward to barely toasted slices for breakfast.

In my years of baking away from my mom’s plastic roladex of handwritten recipes, I’ve found that Smitten Kitchen’s zucchini bread recipe is nearly identical to this recipe. (The main changes: this recipe bumps up the vanilla to a full tablespoon, omits the nutmeg, and requires chocolate chips.

The original recipe calls for a full cup of oil and 2 cups of sugar, but I find that subbing in almond milk for a portion of oil leaves it just as moist and delicious as I remember, and cutting down on the sugar leaves more room for the chocolate chips to shine. If you’d like to halve the recipe, I’ve made this successfully using only one egg and subbing 1/2 tablespoon of flax or chia seeds with 1.5 tablespoons of water for the “half egg.”

A close up on a half slice of chocolate chip banana bread on a white plate.

A slice of chocolate chip banana bread smeared with butter on a white plate with a fork taking a bite.

Ironically, we have never used this recipe for anything other than banana bread, but the good friend and neighbor who gave my mom this recipe listed a bunch of other ingredients you can use as add-ins in place of banana–from A to Z, the ingredients range from apples to eggplant to peaches to zucchini.

A slice of chocolate chip banana bread smeared with butter on a white plate with a fork taking a bite on a white towel.

A loaf pan half full of nut-topped banana bread.

A to Z Bread

Erika Kwee

The classic banana bread recipe I grew up with, this plush and sweet quickbread loaf can also be adapted to any number of add-ins, from apples (A) to zucchini (Z).

5 from 1 vote

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Prep Time 30

Cook Time 1

Total Time 1 30

Course Quickbread

Cuisine American

Servings loaves

Ingredients

3 cups flour I like 2 cups all-purpose, 1 cup whole wheat
3 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
¾ teaspoon kosher salt
2 cups A-Z ingredient see below*
1 ¾ cups sugar
¾ cup vegetable or olive oil
1/4 cup almond milk
3 eggs
3 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup chocolate chips

Instructions

Mix dry ingredients (flour through salt) together. In a separate bowl, whisk together the rest of the ingredients except for the chocolate chips. Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until fully combined, then fold in the chocolate chips. Pour into two well-greased loaf pans.
Bake at 350 degrees for 55-65 minutes, or until inserted tester comes out clean.

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

*A-Z ingredients can include 2 cups of the following: