Desserts · American

Easy Banana Bread

Name: Easy Banana Bread
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 55 min
Total time: 65 min
Yield: 10 servings
Cuisine: american
Ingredients: 3 large very ripe bananas, about 1.5 cups (340 g) mashed; 0.5 cup (113 g) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled; 0.75 cup (150 g) brown sugar, packed; 2 large eggs; 1 tsp vanilla extract; 1 tsp baking soda; 0.5 tsp salt; 1 tsp ground cinnamon; 1.75 cups (220 g) all purpose flour; 0.75 cup (90 g) chopped walnuts or chocolate chips, optional

Banana bread is the most forgiving thing in the baking world and the reason spotty bananas get rescued instead of thrown away. The browner the banana, the better the bread, and this recipe is written for the kind of bananas that are one day from the compost bin: deeply spotted, soft, and sweeter than any sugar could fake.

The crumb stays moist for days because of three things working together: very ripe bananas, brown sugar, and just enough flour. Overmixing is the one mistake that matters, since banana bread turns tough and rubbery when the gluten wakes up. Mix until the flour disappears, then stop, even if the batter looks a little lumpy. Lumpy batter bakes into tender bread.

That dramatic crack down the middle is not luck. It happens when the loaf bakes long enough at a steady temperature, so do not open the oven before the 45 minute mark and trust the smell to tell you it is close.

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By the TasteBoard team. Timed in a home kitchen, with total time added up and safe temperatures checked.

Banana bread slices with chocolate chips

Photo: @Janna Mordan Osborne / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0

Prep: 10 min
Cook: 55 min
Total: 1 hr 5 min
Servings: 10
Course: Desserts
Calories, about: 290 per serving

Instructions

1Heat the oven to 350 F (175 C). Line a 9 by 5 inch loaf pan with parchment, leaving an overhang on the long sides to lift the loaf out later.
2Mash the bananas in a large bowl with a fork until mostly smooth with a few small lumps left. Those lumps turn into banana pockets in the baked bread.
3Stir in the melted butter, then the brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla, mixing until smooth.
4Sprinkle the baking soda, salt, and cinnamon over the batter and stir them in fully. Add the flour and fold with a spatula just until no dry streaks remain. Fold in the nuts or chips if using.
5Scrape into the pan, level the top, and bake 50 to 58 minutes, until deep golden and a toothpick in the center comes out with a crumb or two but no wet batter.
6Cool in the pan 10 minutes, then lift out by the parchment and cool at least 30 minutes more before slicing. Warm banana bread smears; settled banana bread slices clean.

Tap a step to mark it done, saved on this device only. Timer buttons count down right here and beep when time is up.

Why you will love it

One bowl, a fork for mashing, and no mixer anywhere.
10 minutes of actual work for a week of snacks and breakfasts.
Uses the bananas everyone else would throw away.
Stays moist for 4 days on the counter, which is longer than it lasts.
Freezes beautifully as a whole loaf or in slices.

Tips

Weigh or measure the mashed banana. Under ripe or too few bananas are the top reason banana bread tastes flat and bakes gummy.
No melted butter baths. Let the butter cool a few minutes, or it will cook the edges of the batter on contact.
If the top is browning fast at 40 minutes but the middle is wet, tent it with foil and keep baking.
Freeze whole ripe bananas, peeled, in a bag. Thaw, drain the watery liquid, and mash; the flavor is even more concentrated.

Swaps and variations

Oil instead of butter: what changes: a moister, more neutral loaf. Use 0.5 cup neutral oil and keep everything else the same.
Whole wheat flour for half the flour: what changes: nuttier and more filling, and it needs 2 tbsp extra banana or milk.
Chocolate chip version: what changes: 0.75 cup chips folded in, and the kids suddenly volunteer for the dishes.
Muffins: what changes: same batter in 12 muffin cups, baked 20 to 24 minutes at the same temperature.

What to serve

Salted butter on a warm slice, the oldest trick in the book and still the best one.
A scoop of vanilla ice cream if dessert is the mission, and tonight it is.
Coffee, always. Banana bread and coffee were invented for each other.

Storage and reheating

Counter: 4 days, wrapped tightly, and the flavor deepens on day two. Fridge: not recommended, it dries the crumb; if you must, toast slices to revive them. Freezer: wrap the whole loaf or individual slices and freeze up to 3 months; thaw a slice at room temperature in 30 minutes or toast from frozen. A 20 second microwave makes a day old slice taste freshly baked.

Calories shown are an estimate from standard ingredients, not medical advice. Brands and amounts change the number.

Questions cooks actually ask

Can I use bananas that are just yellow with a few spots?

You can, but the bread will be less sweet and less banana flavored. Ripen them faster in a paper bag on the counter, or bake yellow bananas in their peels at 300 F (150 C) for 20 minutes until black and soft, which sweetens them artificially fast.

Why did my banana bread sink in the middle?

Usually underbaking or too much leavening for the pan size. Test with a toothpick at 50 minutes, and if it comes out wet, keep baking in 5 minute stretches. A sunken middle with wet batter means it needed more time, not less.

Can I make it without eggs?

Yes. Replace both eggs with 0.5 cup plain yogurt or sour cream. The crumb turns slightly denser but stays moist, and honestly most people cannot tell the difference.

How ripe is too ripe?

If the banana smells fermented or boozy, or the peel has gone moldy rather than just black, it is past useful. Black peel with firm, sweet flesh inside is perfect; slimy flesh with an alcohol smell goes to the compost.

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Easy Banana Bread

Instructions

Why you will love it

Tips

Swaps and variations

What to serve

Storage and reheating

Questions cooks actually ask

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Keep exploring

All desserts recipes

American recipes

Vegetarian recipes

Weeknight recipes

Picnic and BBQ recipes