Pillsbury Banana Bread Batter Review: We Turned A Tube Of Batter Into A Loaf Of Bread

It would be hard to imagine a world without Pillsbury in it. The brand has brought families together to make memories through food since its first flour mills were erected along the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1869. Today it boasts a catalog of 15,000 recipes and is considered one of the top 25 brands millennials are the most fond of.

The team of experts tasked with developing new products for Pillsbury has introduced a new concept — a ready-to-bake Banana Bread Batter. This no-mix batter comes in an easy-to-use tube that you just cut, squeeze, and bake. It is produced using real bananas and designed to deliver fresh, delectable bread to your table in just over an hour.

We had the opportunity to sample this new invention, which seemed almost too good to be true. Baking from scratch can be tedious, time-consuming, and messy. The notion that you could squeeze batter from a tube without even dirtying a bowl was intriguing. As avid banana bread bakers, we figured we were ideally suited for this task. We evaluated every aspect of this product, including ease of baking, quality, aroma, texture, and taste. While we still maintain that made-from-scratch is best, as far as store-bought banana bread is concerned, this was quite an impressive product.

Before baking off the Pillsbury Banana Bread Batter, we carefully read the instructions on the backside of the packaging. As instructed, we removed the batter from the refrigerator 15 minutes before baking. While it sat on the counter, we pre-heated our electric oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. We also coated an 8.5 x 4.5-inch glass loaf pan liberally with grapeseed oil. As the batter began to warm up, it loosened, becoming more spreadable, which made the tube look like it had been run over by a car. We cut off one end of the packaging before squeezing out the batter like you would toothpaste, inching every last bit that insisted on clinging to the packaging into the pan. Once in the pan, we spread the batter out evenly and placed it in the oven.

Our loaf took precisely 70 minutes to be done. We tested doneness by inserting a toothpick into the center of the loaf. When it came out clean, we removed it from the oven. We will note that the edges of the bread were beginning to get slightly burned before the center of the loaf was thoroughly cooked through. What we would do in the future to minimize this is to either bake it at a slightly lower temperature or cover the top of the loaf with aluminum foil at about the 45-minute mark to keep it from browning further while it finishes baking.

Before getting to the taste, we have to say we were pleasantly surprised at how well the batter rose once baked. It was as fluffy as our homemade quickbreads usually are, which is sometimes an issue with store-bought mixes. We did notice that the top of the bread was very tacky when we touched it to assess doneness. This translated to trying to remove it from the loaf pan once we had allowed it to cool. Even after liberally greasing the pan and scoring around the edges several times, we had to coax the bread out of the baking dish using a knife.

The aroma of this bread smelled like bananas, though it lacked some of the nuances of a homemade loaf made with ground spices, like cinnamon. When we cut a sample slice from the loaf, we assessed that the interior was evenly baked, with no air pockets or clumps. The texture of the bread when you bit into it more closely resembled a pound cake than a quickbread, which is not necessarily bad. It was a bit denser than anticipated, though still moist and tender.

The flavor of this bread was good but underwhelming. The amount of sweetness overwhelmed the bananas. It was not cloying, but there was more sugar than our homemade recipe. We also did taste a bit of the burnt edges, which was detracting. If we baked it covered in foil, we could have avoided that issue, so that's not a deal breaker.

The ingredients of this bread aren't particularly remarkable, containing enriched flour bleached, banana purée, sugar, palm oil, glycerin, canola oil, water, eggs, salt, baking soda, citric acid, ascorbic acid, and natural and artificial flavors. We would be curious about the natural and artificial flavors since we did not taste any spices or extracts. We will also note that there is some controversy surrounding the use of palm oil in food manufacturing due to its environmental impact, as discussed in Health. Palm oil is sourced predominantly from tropical rainforests in Asia and Africa. It is attributed to intense deforestation in these areas, which can disrupt delicate ecosystems.

What we did find perplexing, if not slightly amusing, was that the nutrition label suggests that each loaf of bread contains 15 servings. You would have to slice that loaf into 15 roughly even 1/2-inch thick servings, which would be challenging. Based on that information, each serving contains 190 calories, 6 grams of fat, 200 milligrams of sodium, 17 grams of sugar, 2 grams of protein, and 1.2 milligrams of iron. If you consume a larger slice, which we assume most people do, the sugar, fat, and sodium levels may surpass the recommended daily values. Food allergens in this bread include wheat and eggs.

On the product page, there are several options for purchasing this banana bread, however, we will note that we had trouble locating it at a store near us, nor were we able to find it on Amazon Fresh or Instacart. In urban areas, you should be able to find this product at most major retailers, including Kroger, Target, Vons, and Publix. We expect availability to expand as the product launches and distribution is increased.

Retail prices vary by store and location. We saw prices ranging from $5.89 to $7.99 for a 30-ounce tube. This may seem pricey, but you are paying for convenience here. We also noted on the product page that Pillsbury mentions you can freeze this product for up to two months if it is frozen before the use-by date printed on the packaging. If you see a sale or discount on purchasing in bulk, you might consider buying a few to have on hand.

We found the Pillsbury Banana Bread Batter exceedingly easy to use. This is the main reason we feel confident in recommending it. Even boxed quickbread mixes require your hands and dishes to get dirty and add extra ingredients, like eggs and milk. The fact that you can cut, squeeze, and bake this batter makes it appealing. This product is designed for the busy parent wanting a quick treat, someone needing to entertain in a pinch, or someone who's not a fan of baking. It delivers in spades for these people.

Will we be incorporating this into our baking routine? Not likely. It will never replace the quality of a homemade loaf — the texture and flavor are just not quite the same. We also prefer banana bread with more spices and enjoy adding other ingredients, like fresh fruit, nuts, peanut butter, or chocolate chips. We aren't sure if adding other elements to this product would be doable or advisable without compromising the result.

That said, we have some ideas for improving it besides the issue of being slightly burnt before it was fully baked. You might consider topping it with cinnamon sugar or adding chocolate chips to the top of the batter and gently pressing them into it when you are smoothing it into the loaf pan. We also served it smeared with fresh goat cheese and preserves. Its texture was firm enough to stand up to toppings without tearing, which is a win in our book.