Seven Brothers is a popular restaurant that popped in Oahu, started by a local family with seven boys. They’ve since opened a couple additional locations in the United States. The core menu is amazing burgers and fries, and one of the limited desert options is Mom’s Banana Bread – with the option to purchase as a mini loaf, or served by slice with ice cream. This banana bread recipe is inspired by that, and while it is featured as a single 9×5 loaf, it can also be made into mini loaves.
Copycat Mom’s Banana Bread
This loaf of banana bread I personally think is as identical as it gets to the real deal! With a tender, flavorful crumb with the perfect amount of chocolate chips loaded inside and on top. Plus, finished off with a sweet, light glaze.
At the restaurant, Seven Brothers, they have the option to take a mini loaf home (for $7, yikes!!) or you can order a slice as a sundae with ice cream. You can do the same for this recipe as well. Bake it as whole standard loaf or minis; serve plain or warm with ice cream.
The taste
This copycat loaf is tender, and almost cake like in texture. It’s filled with chocolate chips, coconut, and my secret ingredient to warm up the flavors of any loaf – cinnamon.
The bonus of making it homemade is that our loaf stayed tender a lot longer. When we brought the loaf home from the restaurant, it was slightly dry, probably due to it just sitting for a bit as we got it at the end of the day.
This homemade loaf stayed very moist for a few days, and it’s incredibly easy to make. Plus, you will save a LOT of money. I had a bit of sticker shock when I learned the tiny loaf was $7. Seven Brothers will always have our heart and date nights, but I think I’ll stick to making the banana bread at home!
TIPS to make Seven Brothers Banana bread
It took me a few tries to nail this, but in the end – we did it. And it was so worth it.
- Use brown bananas!
Not nice and yellow, but not on their last leg of mushy either. Just a nice spotted overly ripe banana. If you are looking to ripen your bananas a bit faster I have the best hack here on my Instagram page. - Don’t overdo the chocolate chips and coconut.
I noticed in the loaf from the restaurant that it wasn’t overloaded on the inside and I appreciated that. I also noticed in some recipe tests that when I added too much, it was too much moisture for the loaf and weighed it down too much and changed the texture a bit. So don’t get overly excited, stick to the recipe for this one. - Consider when you glaze.
If you glaze when it’s piping hot from the oven, the glaze will melt and set into the loaf. If you wait just a bit, and then glaze you’ll get that distinguished glaze look because it won’t have melted and pooled everywhere. Neither choice is bad, just good to consider the effect of both when making your choice. - Line pan with parchment paper.
I used my very favorite loaf pan in this recipe. It is truly a nonstick. I NEVER spray it. In fact, spraying it can ruin its nonstick qualities. So leave the perfection! But even then, I still do like to line certain loaves with parchment just to make them easy to pull out. - Cover with aluminum foil if needed.
This bakes for a good 60 minutes. If you don’t have an oven thermometer, I highly suggest one! It’ll help keep your baking accurate. Because of the long bake time and that coconut goodness on top, it can want to overcook. If it’s browning too quickly but the loaf needs more time, feel free to lightly cover it with aluminum foil to slow down the top browning.
Serving & Storing banana bread
Serving: serve as plain slices, or get fancy like the Seven Brother’s sundae style and serve warm with ice cream, chocolate sauce, and extra coconut.
Storing: I store this banana bread at room temperature because I think the fridge can sometimes dry out bread faster. YES, it can definitely freeze well! Freeze the whole loaf of individual slices and eat within 2-3 months for best freshness.
I hope your family enjoys is as much as I do! If you’re ever around a Seven Brothers location, it’s worth popping in! Enjoy one of their famous burgers, don’t skip out on the amazing fries, and treat yourself to their banana bread sundae!
For my classic banana bread recipe, check it out here.
If you loved this recipe, don’t forget to drop a comment below the recipe card. Your feedback means the world!
Happy baking!
Mom’s Banana Bread (Seven Brothers Copycat)
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter melted
- 350 grams overripe bananas (~ 3 bananas) mashed
- 110 grams (1/2 cup) brown sugar
- 100 grams (1/2 cup) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 120 grams (1/2 cup) greek yogurt or sour cream
- 250 grams (2 cups) all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- ~1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut + more to top
- ~3/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips + more to top
Glaze
- 1 tbsp butter melted
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- ~1 cup powdered sugar
- 1-2 tsp milk to thin out, as needed
Optional toppings
- ice cream
- chocolate sauce
- sweetened shredded coconut
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease a loaf pan with nonstick spray and set aside.
- Mash bananas in a large mixing bowl.
- Add melted butter and sugars to the banana. Use a beater to mix well until combined and slightly fluffy, about 1 minute.
- Add the eggs, vanilla, and greek yogurt/sour cream. Gently mix until just combined.
- Add the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Gently mix together until just combined. Do not over mix.
- Fold in the coconut and chocolate chips.
- Pour batter into your prepared loaf pan. I like to line my loaf pan with parchment paper. (Use a 8.5×4.5 or a 9×5; you can also use mini loaf pans!). The batter should be about 3/4 of the way full.
- Bake for 55-60 minutes (or 30-35 minutes for mini loaves), until the toothpick comes out with moist crumbs on it. If it's starting to get too brown at 30-45 minutes, put a sheet of aluminum foil over the top to slow down the browning.
- While it bakes, make the simple glaze by whisking together all of the ingredients. Adding just a touch of milk at a time to get to a nice silky, runny consistency.
- Let it rest in the loaf pan for 5 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack to finish cooling. Generously drizzle the glaze on top. Serve as is, or warm with ice cream, chocolate glaze, and additional coconut flakes. (online it says they add chocolate sauce on their loaves, but I've never seen that. I just see it on their sundaes. But feel free to add it now if you have a big sweet tooth!)
Best recipe ever! Made it with vanilla quark ( I am in Germany 🇩🇪) instead of the sour cream or yogurt and it turned out fabulous. Sent it to work with hubby and I’m getting emails from his coworkers thank me for the delicious bread!
Thank you for taking the time to comment! Glad it was a hit!
Went to Seven Brothers a couple weeks ago and after trying their banana bread samples, I paid $10 for the mini loaf. It was gone the same night. I knew there had to be a copycat recipe and sure enough, I found yours! I just went ahead and made it tonight, was wondering if I should adjust it for elevation, but I decided to wing it and follow the recipe, make adjustments for the next loaf if needed. And then I checked your profile and you are in Utah!!! Hah! The bread turned out great! Thank you for making the recipe! Greetings from Midvale ☺️