Easy Banana Bread
This easy banana bread recipe uses four ripe bananas for a moist, tender loaf with deep banana flavor — one bowl, no mixer, and ready to bake in about 10 minutes.
Equipment
- 9x5 inch loaf pan - 23x13 cm
- Fork - for mashing bananas
- Digital kitchen scale - (optional) for weighing flour accurately
Ingredients
- 4 ripe bananas - about 1½ cups or 340g, mashed; heavily freckled or mostly brown
- ½ cup unsalted butter - 113g, melted and slightly cooled
- ¾ cup granulated sugar - 150g
- 2 large eggs - at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract - 5ml
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour - 188g; spooned and leveled, not scooped
- 1 teaspoon baking soda - 5g
- ½ teaspoon salt - 3g
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon - 1.5g, optional
- ½ cup chocolate chips or chopped walnuts - 85g, optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C) and position a rack in the center. Grease a 9x5-inch loaf pan and line it with a parchment strip that overhangs the two long sides.
- Peel the 4 ripe bananas into a large mixing bowl and mash thoroughly with a fork until mostly smooth with only small lumps, about 1½ cups.
- Whisk in the melted and slightly cooled butter, then add the sugar, room-temperature eggs, and vanilla. Whisk until glossy and uniform.
- Sprinkle the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon over the wet mixture. Measure the flour by spooning it into the cup and leveling it off rather than scooping.
- Fold with a silicone spatula just until no streaks of flour remain; a few small lumps are fine. Fold in chocolate chips or walnuts now, if using, with two or three gentle strokes.
- Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake 55 to 65 minutes, until deeply golden and a toothpick in the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs; tent with foil if browning too fast.
- Cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then lift onto a wire rack using the parchment handles. Cool at least 30 more minutes before slicing.
Notes
- Use the spottiest bananas you can find — mostly brown or black peels mean maximum sweetness and the easiest mashing.
- Weigh your flour to 188g if possible; scooping straight from the bag can add 20 to 30 percent extra flour and dry out the loaf.
- Do not overmix. Stir only until the flour disappears; a batter with a few lumps bakes up more tender.
- Cap the bananas at four. More than that floods the batter and leaves the center wet and heavy.
- Check doneness with a toothpick and an internal temperature of 200 to 205°F (93 to 96°C).
- Cool fully before cutting — the crumb keeps setting as it cools, giving you clean slices.
- Storage: wrap tightly and keep at room temperature up to 4 days, or refrigerate wrapped up to 1 week.
- Freezing: wrap the whole loaf in plastic then foil and freeze up to 3 months, or freeze individual slices on a tray and transfer to a zip-top bag.
- Reheat slices in the microwave for 15 to 20 seconds, or toast lightly for crisp edges and a soft center.
- Make-ahead tip: a day-old loaf often tastes better than fresh, as the banana flavor deepens overnight.
- Variations: swap granulated sugar for packed brown sugar, replace up to half the flour with whole wheat, swirl in ¼ cup peanut butter, or add a cinnamon-sugar swirl or streusel topping.
Nutrition
Serving: 1SliceCalories: 245kcalCarbohydrates: 36gProtein: 4gFat: 10gSaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 62mgSodium: 280mgSugar: 18g
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!