How to make banana bread? I firmly believe that banana bread should be something you can make anytime and anywhere, with a mixer or a fork, in a loaf pan or a muffin tin — whenever you have a few soft and freckly bananas. I’m pretty sure banana bread is at least half the reason bananas exist.
Here’s a simple and forgiving recipe that takes less than 10 minutes to prepare. After an hour of waiting for your house to fill with enticing aromas, you’ll be snacking on your very own slice of warm, freshly baked banana bread.
Only Use the Ripest Bananas
The only requirement for making banana bread is that the bananas be ripe. When the skins begin to freckle and the fruits become a little too soft for enjoyable snacking, it’s banana bread time. Allowing your bananas to ripen for a longer period of time — until the skins are brown and the fruit falls apart when peeled — will make your bread even more banana-flavored and rich.
Let’s also take a moment to discuss mashing. Personally, I like to leave some banana chunks in my bread, and I like the one-bowl convenience of mashing the bananas directly into the batter. If you don’t like chunks and prefer your bananas completely smooth, mash them into a pulp in a separate bowl before mixing them into the batter.
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I firmly believe that banana bread should be something you can make anytime and anywhere, with a mixer or a fork, in a loaf pan or a muffin tin — whenever you have a few soft and freckly bananas. I’m pretty sure banana bread is at least half the reason bananas exist.
Here’s a simple and forgiving recipe that takes less than 10 minutes to prepare. After an hour of waiting for your house to fill with enticing aromas, you’ll be snacking on your very own slice of warm, freshly baked banana bread.
Using a Mixer vs. a Fork
If it isn’t obvious by now, the implied subtitle of this recipe is “don’t fuss; make it easy.” If you find it easier to make a recipe like this in a stand mixer or with a hand mixer, go ahead and do so. Personally, I prefer to make it by hand in a bowl, as my mother taught me, because it feels easier, even though the same number of bowls are dirty.
If you’re using a mixer, you have two choices: melt the butter as directed and follow the recipe exactly, or leave the butter softened and cream it with the sugar. If you cream the softened butter and sugar together, your banana bread will be lighter and more cake-like, with a finer texture; melted butter will make the bread denser and less crumbly.
Ingredients
- 2 to 3 medium (7″ to 7-7/8″ long) peeled very ripe bananas (approximately 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups mashed)
- 1/3 cup (76g) melted unsalted or salted butter
- 1 teaspoon baking soda (not baking powder)
- 1 pinch salt
- 3/4 cup (150g) sugar (1/2 cup if you want it less sweet, 1 cup if you want it more sweet)
- 1 large beaten egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour (205g)
Other Banana Bread Ingredients
- Softened butter: For a soft texture and irresistible butter flavor, use softened butter.
- Brown Sugar: In this recipe, use only brown sugar. In the recipe notes for these chocolate chip cookies, I explain that brown sugar produces soft and moist cookies. Brown sugar, on the other hand, has the same effect in banana bread. It also adds a lot of flavor.
- Eggs: Eggs provide stability and structure to cakes, cupcakes, breads, doughs, and cookies, as well as a tender texture. This banana bread recipe calls for two large eggs.
- Yogurt: Adding yogurt to this banana bread adds even more moisture. When I bake, I try to use as much yogurt as possible. Sour cream is an excellent substitute for plain yogurt. In most baking recipes, the two can be used interchangeably.
Add 3/4 cup chopped nuts to the banana bread batter to make banana nut bread; I like to use pecans or walnuts. I adore their sweet, toasty, and slightly crunchy crunch nestled within the soft banana bread crumbs. If you’re not a fan of banana nut bread, feel free to omit them entirely!
How to make banana bread
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F and prepare the pan as follows:
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and grease an 8-by-4-inch loaf pan.
2. Mash the bananas with a fork and stir in the butter
Mash the ripe bananas with a fork in a mixing bowl until completely smooth. Melted butter should be mixed into the mashed bananas.
3. Combine the remaining ingredients in the following order
Combine the baking soda and salt in a mixing bowl. Combine the sugar, beaten egg, and vanilla extract in a mixing bowl. Incorporate the flour.
4. Prepare the bread
Pour the batter into the loaf pan that has been prepared.
Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 55 to 65 minutes, or until a toothpick or wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. A few dry crumbs are acceptable; wet batter streaks are not. If the outside of the loaf has browned but the center is still wet, tent it loosely with foil and bake until the loaf is fully baked.
EASY GUIDE!
An 8 x 4 loaf pan is required for this recipe. Bake for 47 to 57 minutes if using an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 pan. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes if using a 9 x 5 pan. It should be noted that the larger pan size will result in a flatter loaf.
5. Allow to cool before serving
Remove from the oven and set aside for a few minutes to cool in the pan. Remove the banana bread from the pan and set aside to cool completely before serving. Cut into slices and serve. (A bread knife is useful for cutting slices that aren’t crumbly.)
The banana bread will keep at room temperature for 4 days if tightly wrapped. Refrigerate or freeze the loaf for up to 5 days for longer storage.
What If I Don’t Have A Loaf Pan?
If you don’t have a loaf pan, you can use this same recipe to make eight to 10 banana muffins. Line a muffin tin with paper liners and fill each cup to roughly 3/4 full, and check for doneness after 20 minutes.
Now tell me: How do you make your banana bread? Is your recipe similar to this one? Do you follow a different technique? And the most important question: chocolate chips, nuts, or plain?
Overall, this is a simple recipe for traditional banana bread. The batter comes together in about 10 minutes, the bread stays moist for days, and nothing beats the smell of fresh banana bread baking in the oven. (With the possible exception of apple cinnamon bread… Next, try that one!) See more useful article at my website y2kcenter.org
