Use ripe brown bananas to make this super moist banana bread. Its easy to make, full of flavour and your home will smell delicious!
This recipe makes a soft fluffy banana bread with a crispy exterior, rich flavour and a tender crumb.
It is difficult to know what teenagers will eat - sometimes bananas last barely a few hours in the fruit bowl and other times they are barely noticed and ignored till they turn brown and on their way to turning mushy.
That's when I rescue them and bring back something that looks more appealing like this delicious banana bread, guaranteed to make your kitchen smell delicious!
Banana bread is great on its own, toasted with butter for breakfast, with coffee, in lunch-boxes... anytime!
If you are keen on the fresh flavour bananas bring to a dessert, try our other recipes using ripe bananas such as our popular banana bread with zucchini, and this tangy banana cake made with yogurt.
You may also like to try banana muffins for an easy portable breakfast, our healthy no sugar banana oatmeal cookies or our just-like-cookies banana blondie bars.
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Helpful tips
- Use soft over-ripe bananas as they are sweeter, have a stronger flavour, and impart more moisture. Yellow bananas will result in a less sweet and drier cake! To quickly ripen bananas, place in the freezer for a couple of hours. Note: bananas turn black when chilled or frozen. Leave them out on the kitchen counter to thaw before using.
- Brown sugar adds richness, a lovely caramel colour and great flavour, but if you have run out use white sugar.
- To check to see if the banana bread is done insert a clean skewer into the bread and if it comes out clean it is ready.
Recipe Variations
At some stage you may want to create different versions of this banana bread so here are a few tried and tested ideas:
chocolate - mix in a cup (170g) of milk, dark or white chocolate chips to the batter before baking.
nuts - add a handful of crushed roasted glazed nuts to the batter before baking.
glaze - drizzle with a generous amount of lemon icing and leave for a few minutes to dry before slicing.
frosting - covering with generous amounts of cream cheese frosting and your guests will love you for it!
Instruction notes
- Select 4 to 5 of your brownest bananas and mash them well. Very ripe bananas have more flavour and are sweeter.
- In a mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. (Sifting loosens up the flour and helps mix up the ingredients).
- In another mixing bowl cream the butter and sugars till creamy and smooth. Then stir in the beaten eggs, vanilla and mashed banana.
- Fold the flour into the egg mixture till just incorporated (gentle folding). Over-mixing releases too much gluten and it will make the loaf tough and very dense.
- Pour the mixture into a greased loaf pan and bake for 55-65 minutes, or till a toothpick inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean. You may need to cover the cake with parchment paper to prevent the top browning too much.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack. Slice and serve as is, or cover with a layer of this delicious cream cheese frosting or a lemon Icing.
Your questions answered
Banana bread is heavier with a denser crumb than banana cake.
For vegan or dairy free banana bread, substitute the butter with extra virgin olive oil or any high quality vegetable oil. Replace the eggs with ½ cup unsweetened applesauce, (If using sweetened applesauce adjust the amount of sugar in the recipe accordingly).
How to store banana bread
Banana bread can be stored in an airtight box the fridge for up to 3 days. It also freezes well, wrap in parchment paper or plastic film to freeze.
Freeze your bananas
If you love banana desserts, a great way to make sure you always have some on hand is to freeze them!
Or if your bananas aren't ripe enough for cooking, freeze them!
Note: banana skin darkens when frozen however this does not affect their flavour.
You can freeze them with their peels on but then you will need to let them thaw before peeling. A quicker way is to peel them first and freeze them whole or sliced.
Tip: Bananas will last longer in the freezer if they are peeled first.
How to freeze bananas
- Chop bananas into large chunks and partially freeze them on a tray before transferring them to a freezer bag to keep in the freezer.
- Defrost the bananas in the fridge overnight or leave them out on the counter for a few hours before you are ready to use them.
Are you looking for more banana recipes? Check out these mini banana cupcakes and banana crumb muffins.
I'd love to know how this banana bread turns out for you, let me know in the comments below and do leave a star rating.
Instagram - I love seeing your creations, so post a picture tagging @endofthefork and hashtag #endofthefork
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Recipe
Easy Banana Bread
Ingredients
- flour - 1½ cups 180 g
- baking soda 1 teaspoon
- cinnamon powder 1 teaspoon
- salt ¼ teaspoon
- butter - ½ cup, softened 110 g
- white sugar - ½ cup 100 g
- brown sugar - ½ cup 110 g
- ripe brown bananas - 1½ cups, mashed till smooth 390 g
- vanilla ½ teaspoon
- eggs - beaten 2
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350℉/180℃, and grease a 9x5 inch/23x13 cm loaf pan.
- In a large mixing bowl sift together 180 g flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon cinnamon powder and ¼ teaspoon salt.
- Separately in a medium bowl, cream together 110 g butter, 100 g white sugar and 110 g brown sugar. To this add 390 g ripe brown bananas (mashed), 2 eggs, ½ teaspoon vanilla and mix till fully combined.
- Fold the flour into the egg mixture till just incorporated, taking care not to over-mix (see notes).
- Spoon the mixture into the tin and bake for 55-65 minutes or till a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. You may need to cover with parchment paper in the last 10 minutes to prevent the top browning too much.
- Allow the bread to cool for 10 minutes before turning it out onto a cooling rack.
Notes
Recipe Variations
- add a cup (70g) of chocolate chips to the mixture
- mix in a handful of crushed nuts to the mixture
- drizzle with lemon icing glaze
- add cream cheese frosting
Vegan option
- Substitute eggs with ½ cup applesauce (adjust the amount of sugar in the recipe accordingly).
- Replace butter with ⅓ cup vegetable oil.
Storing
- Keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- To freeze, wrap in parchment paper or plastic wrap.
Only you will see your notes and you can edit them anytime.
Nutrition
Nutritional information calculated automatically per serving, accuracy cannot be guaranteed.
Update notes: This post was originally published on Sept 15th, 2017, but was republished with tips, and FAQ's and new images in May, 2021.
firsttimercook says
Very useful way to finish ripe bananas
Dhwani Mehta says
What a beautiful looking banana bread!! Super moist and perfect. <3
Soniya says
Me and my family are big banana bread lovers and I bake them often!! This banana bread looks so scumpticous!! Saving it for later!
Lathiya says
This looks awesome..I too store over ripen banana in freezer..
Ruchisvegkitchen says
Very delicious , moist cake .. very nice way to use over ripen banana
Shibani says
Nothing can beat the classic banana bread. The taste and the aroma is simply unbeatable
Vanitha says
Awesome banana bread! One of the most delicious ways to eat bananas 🙂
Srivalli Jetti says
I guess one can never have enough banana breads!..I have so many yet this makes me want to try it soon..
aanchalgupta3 says
Great way to use up over ripe bananas. The bread looks moist and delicious!
Gloria says
What a delicious looking banana bread..so moist and so yumm
▵ ↟ Francesca_Sevenroses ↟ ▵ says
Banana bread is an absolute must in our household, my husband goes crazy for it! With a few substitutions to make it Vegan, I'll try yours next 🙂 thank you for sharing this!