Our Banana Bread recipe is made with ripe bananas to create a delicious quick bread. Eat as is or warm with a bit of butter or jelly.
Banana bread is a go-to when someone has ripe bananas, but you can enjoy banana bread anytime. And our banana bread recipe is so good you’ll want to make it again and again!
While banana bread is typically made in a loaf pan you can easily make banana bread muffins, a banana bread sheet cake, or even chocolate chip banana bread. Some also like to add nuts to make banana nut bread.
Don’t have bananas and want a delicious quick bread now? Try our Apple Bread, Chocolate Zucchini Bread or Gingerbread Loaf.
How to ripen bananas quickly
You can put underripe or unripe bananas in a paper bag. This will take 1-3 days. Bananas give off ethylene gas and quickly ripen in the enclosed environment.
Ripen bananas in a 350 degrees F oven by placing them onto a parchment-lined baking sheet and baking for 12-15 minutes. They should be mushy once you remove the peel. Allow to cool before handling.
Banana Bread Ingredients:
- Bananas – Using ripe bananas is the key to a sweet and moist banana bread.
- Butter or oil – We use butter as we prefer the flavor it gives the bread, but you could also swap it out for a neutral oil like safflower or vegetable. You can use vegan butter for this recipe. If you use oil add 1/4 teaspoon salt.
- Granulated Sugar – We prefer all granulated sugar for banana bread. You can also swap for some light brown or dark brown sugar.
- Eggs – Take your eggs out 30 minutes before baking. Also, you can use 1/4 cup applesauce.
- Vanilla Extract – Use a quality vanilla extract.
- All-Purpose Flour – Although this is banana bread, do not use bread flour.
- Baking Soda – Do not use baking powder. This recipe calls for baking soda.
- Cinnamon – We love the hint of cinnamon. During the fall, we’ll also add some ginger, nutmeg, and ground cloves with the cinnamon.
- Optional add-ins like chocolate chips or nuts.
How to make Banana Bread
Preheat the oven, grease an 8×4 inch loaf pan, and set aside.
Combine the dry ingredients in a medium mixing bowl: flour, baking soda, and cinnamon.
Next, combine the butter and sugar until light and creamy. Add the bananas and mix until the bananas are incorporated.
Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture and then fold in any add-ins at this time. Do not overmix the batter.
Pour the banana bread batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake for 55-60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out with minimal crumbs.
Allow the bread to cool for 10-15 minutes before removing from the pan to slice.
Recipe Tips and Alterations:
- While mashed bananas are the star of the bread, you can add optional add-ins like chocolate chips, nuts, or even dried fruit like raisins.
- Want more of a rich molasses flavor? Swap some of the granulated sugar out for a bit of light brown sugar or dark brown sugar.
- We use an 8×4 inch loaf pan, but you can also use a 9×5 if that’s all you have.
- This bread is excellent at room temperature, but try it toasted with butter or try our banana bread french toast recipe!
- We use a stand mixer but you can use a hand mixer or a danish whisk.
- Using a stand mixer? No need to mash the bananas. Break them in half; when you mix them, they’ll mash right up since they’re ripe. This also works well with hand mixers.
- Like a crunchy top on your banana bread? We recommend using a bread bag. If you like a softer top you can use an airtight container or even a ziploc bag to soften the bread’s exterior.
Storage and reheating tips:
- How to store banana bread – We like to store banana bread in an airtight container on the counter for up to 4 days.
- How to freeze banana bread – Wrap the whole loaf of banana bread or individual slices in plastic wrap and then place into a freezer-safe container. Freeze for up to 3 months.
How to serve:
We love it warm with butter or a drizzle of honey. It’s also delicious on its own. We often make a double or triple batch of banana bread to have toasted banana bread with butter or make our banana bread french toast.
Frequently Asked Questions
Let the bananas thaw in the refrigerator overnight or about 1 1/2 to 2 hours at room temperature.
There are a few ways to prevent dark crust on banana bread.
1. The darker the pan, the more heat it will absorb and cause a darker bread.
2. Don’t use too much brown sugar; when it caramelizes it causes the bread to brown more.
3. Use bananas that aren’t too ripe. As you know, the riper the banana, the darker the color and the richer the flavor. The more ripe the bananas are, the darker the bread will be.
A study was done on the stages of bananas and the finding was that bananas contain more fructose, glucose, and total sugar when going from unripe to ripe, but there was no difference between ripe and overripe. The starches do break down into sugar. [Source]
A quick bread is a bread that uses baking soda or baking powder instead of yeast. The most common quick breads are banana bread, cornbread, biscuits, and zucchini bread.
When bananas get significantly overripe, they have a stronger taste, carrying over to banana bread. If you’re okay with that flavor, yes. We prefer speckled.
Find more banana recipes
Banana Bread
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Print Pin SaveIngredients
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 cup butter softened, or vegetable oil
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3-4 ripe bananas mashed
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- optional additions 1/2 cup chocolate chips or nuts
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and grease an 8×4 loaf pan.
- In a bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. (only use 1/4 teaspoon salt if not using salted butter) Set aside.
- In a mixer, combine the butter, sugar, and mix until fluffy and creamy. Add in the mashed bananas and eggs. Mix until combined.
- Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture and then fold in any add-ins at this time. Do not overmix the batter.
- Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan.
- Bake the banana bread for 55-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out with minimal crumbs.
- Let the bread cool for 10-15 minutes before removing it from the pan to cool on a wire rack.
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Notes
Nutrition
The nutritional information is automatically calculated and can vary based ingredients and products used. If the nutrition numbers are important for you we recommend calculating them yourself.
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