Taste Of Home Banana Bread Recipe

How To Ripen A Banana Quickly

Our Best Banana Bread Recipe I Taste of Home

If you do not have dark speckled bananas sitting on your counter, no problem! Here’s how you can do it quickly!
Place unripe bananas on a sheet pan lined with foil
Bake at 300F for 10 minutes
Flip bananas and bake for another 10 mins
Bananas will be black all over and mushy inside
Scoop out the sweet sticky banana and proceed with the recipe as directed! It’s the most genius trick that allows you to enjoy banana bread anytime you like!

Banana Bread Video Tutorial

Ive tried many basic banana bread recipes and this one is my very favorite. Readers have fallen in love too! What makes this one so good? This banana bread has the most bananas out of any banana bread Ive ever made before. 2 whole cups of mashed banana, which is about 4 large bananas. More banana adds more moisture and flavor to the finished product.

Why This Is The Best Banana Bread:

Just 10 minutes to make. What I love about this recipe is that you can just whip it up in minutes. There is no mixer required. You just mix the wet and dry ingredients separately by hand, then combine, and bake. Its easy peasy and works every time.
There are only 8 ingredients in this recipe, yet the taste is phenomenal! This banana bread is perfectly soft, moist, and dense. The flavor profile is sweet and fruity with a hint of vanilla.
This recipe is very versatile, so you can easily adapt it to suit your own taste. For example, you can use melted butter instead of oil, you can substitute the white sugar for brown, and you can even replace some of the all-purpose flour for whole wheat. You can add cinnamon, chocolate chips, desiccated coconut, or chopped nuts. It all turns out delicious.
Here is what some of my readers have to say:

Thank you! Loved this recipe! Its a keeper. I tried many others and always felt I had to keep looking for a better one. Not anymore! Also, I only had 2 medium bananas and it was still very moist and with tons of banana flavor. Ellie

This indeed is the best banana bread Ive ever tasted. I add a cup of chopped walnuts to this recipe. I have made this recipe multiple times and everyone has absolutely loved it! Meghna

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How To Make Banana Bread

This is a classic banana bread recipe. Its very basic and produces a moist loaf but it does welcome add-ins.

Combine dry ingredients together per the recipe below and set aside.

Combine remaining ingredients together, stirring in bananas last.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir just until combined.

Bake as directed.

Serve fresh out of the oven or heated slightly with butter for an easy and delicious snack!

How To Mash Bananas

Did you know you can use your electric mixer to mash bananas? Break or slice the spotty bananas into large pieces and place in the bowl of your stand mixer or use a regular mixing bowl and your hand mixer. Begin beating on low, then gradually increase to medium-high speed as the bananas break down into mashed banana. Transfer the bananas to another bowl and use the mixing bowl for the banana bread ingredients.

I do this when I mash bananas for banana muffins, too.

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Bread Flour Vs All Purpose Flour

Bread flour has a higher protein content than all-purpose, which helps with gluten development. This is great for challah and other breads.

Some recipes call for it if an especially chewy texture is desired. It will also produce a heavier and denser loaf.

All purpose flour has a lower protein content, but can generally be substituted for bread flour.

I almost never use anything other than all purpose flour, including in bread recipes. For quick breads, I only recommend using all purpose flour.

What Our Readers Are Saying

If you dont believe that our recipe helps you achieve the perfect banana bread loaf at home, take a look at what our readers are saying about the recipe! More reviews are in the comments section below.

Best banana bread Ive ever had. Kalia

I made this today. Definitely the BEST banana bread Ive ever made and Ive made a lot of it. I do a lot of baking, this is delicious! Diane

Super-good! Moist, flavorful, baked in no time! This is my new favorite banana bread recipe Julie

The best banana bread recipe Ive used so far and Ive used at least 10 different recipes. Moist, not too sweet, soft. Perfection! Eva

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Store Ingredients In The Fridge

If flour and sugar are stored in the refrigerator or freezer rather than in a cupboard or pantry, they are better protected from humidity.

As an added benefit, keeping these ingredients cool also helps keep them fresher longer, in addition to helping them stay bug-free.

For the best results, let them warm to room temperature before using.

Key Ingredients For Moist Banana Bread

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Six medium-sized, overly ripe bananas the more brown spots, the better. And yes, it says 6 bananasnot a typo.
2 fresh large eggs let them sit out long enough to reach room temp.
Real butter, softened to moderate room temp. Dont let the butter get so soft that its close to melty, though.
Pure vanilla extract, as its a great assist to the bananas.
A mixture of white and brown sugar. The white sugar keeps texture light, while brown sugar complements the ripe bananas.

How To Store Banana Bread

You can store banana bread at room temperature for several days. Its a great bake to keep on hand for snacks and breakfast. If you dont think that you can eat the bread within a week, pop it in an airtight container or wrap in plastic and stash in the freezer. It will keep for several months.

Taste of Home

Best Ever Banana Bread

Whenever I pass a display of bananas in the grocery store, I can almost smell the wonderful aroma of my best banana bread recipe. It really is that good! Gert Kaiser, Kenosha, Wisconsin

Type of MealBreads and muffins

1cupCalifornia walnutschopped

1cupCalifornia walnutschopped

Portions:

Type of MealBreads and muffins

In a large bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. In another bowl, combine the eggs, bananas, oil, buttermilk and vanilla add to flour mixture, stirring just until combined. Fold in nuts.

Pour into a greased or parchment-lined 9×5-in. loaf pan. If desired, sprinkle with additional walnuts. Bake at 325° for 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 hours or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool on wire rack.

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Tips From The Betty Crocker Kitchens

tip 1 For this classic Banana Bread recipe, store overly-ripe bananas in the freezer until you have enough to make bread.
tip 2 Cut up thick slices of the Banana Bread and freeze them for a lunch box treat or for an on-the-go breakfast, toasted and spread with peanut or almond butter.
tip 3 No buttermilk on hand for this Banana Bread recipe? Make your own clabbered or sour milk: stir in 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice or cider vinegar into 1/2 cup milk.
tip 4 Don’t want to make an entire loaf of Banana Bread? Go mini! To make, grease bottoms only of 10 miniature loaf pans, 4 1/2×2 3/4×1 1/4 inches. Divide batter among pans . Bake 30 to 35 minutes.
tip 5 Mix up the nuts you use in this classic Banana Bread recipe or substitute other types of baking ingredients, like mini chocolate chips or dried fruit like cranberries, cherries or chopped dates.

Tips For The Best Banana Bread

This recipe calls for yellow cake mix because it has a custard-like flavor that complements with bananas really well. Dont feel like youre required to use the same mix, though. Try white cake, banana cake, or other flavors, too!
Dont want a lumpy banana bread? For perfectly smooth mashed bananas, use an electric mixer.
Do not over-mix the batter. Otherwise, your banana bread will turn out tough, dry, and flat. Just whisk manually you dont even need an electric mixer for this until the ingredients are well-combined. Stop once you no longer see streaks of cake mix in the batter.
Grease the pans well, especially if youre using a bundt pan. Be sure that all the nooks and crannies are coated generously with butter. Coat it with flour for good measure.
If using loaf pans, line them with parchment paper and leave some overhang around the sides for easy lifting.
Want to make banana muffins instead? Just use the same batter and pour it into greased or lined muffin tins.
Did your banana bread sink in the center? That means you havent cooked it long enough. While 30 to 35 minutes seems like such a long time for a mere loaf pan, its crucial to achieving perfectly tall and fluffy bread.

If you notice the top of the bread browning way too much too soon, cover it loosely with aluminum foil.

Dont leave the loaves in the pans for longer than 10 minutes. Theyll get soggy at the bottom if you do.

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Bananas & Buttermilk Yum

Buttermilk and bananas are meant to be friends. They team up in this recipe to create a very moist loaf of bread. This banana bread is light in flavor and color. Itreminds me of a very moist banana pound cake because of the rich, buttery crumb. It is SO good warm with a little butter. Some say it is the BEST banana bread recipe they have ever made. It is definitely a favorite at our house!

You can make muffins or mini loaves with this banana bread recipe, just reduce the baking time. The bread also freezes well. I always like having a loaf in the freezer for a rainy dayor any day!

If you are pondering what to do with the overripe bananas on your counter and the buttermilk in your refrigerator, make this easy quick bread. Your house will fill with a wonderful aroma and you will have a tasty snack or delicious breakfast. Banana bread is ALWAYS a good idea.

How To Make 3 Banana Bread

Preheat your oven to 375ºF and butter your loaf pan on the bottom and all the way up the sides. *For the best ever banana bread, I like to coat the inside of the buttered loaf pan with sugar. It makes an oh-so-yummy, slightly crunchy crust – but this is completely optional.

In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar together. Add 3 large or 4 small bananas and mash until you have small chunks of bananas.

Add the eggs and combine with the banana mixture, then add the milk and vanilla and combine the liquid mixture.

Next add the dry ingredients including baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Mix all of the ingredients thoroughly before adding the flour.

Once combined, add the flour to the wet mixture and mix the batter just enough that the all-purpose flour is fully incorporated. The batter will be lumpy and fairly thick.

Transfer the banana bread batter to your buttered loaf pan.

Bake at 375ºF for about an hour, or until the topping is golden brown and an inserted knife or toothpick comes out clean from the center of the loaf. *If the top of your bread is browning before the rest of the bread is baked, loosely ‘tent’ a square of aluminum foil over the top of the loaf while it finishes baking.

Allow to cool in the pan for about 5 minutes before removing from the loaf pan, then transfer your banana bread loaf to a wire cooling rack to cool completely. Serve warm, if desired. Enjoy!

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How Do You Make Banana Bread:

First, you toss together your flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl.

Then you mash your bananas with a fork.

Mix the mashed bananas with your eggs, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract in a separate bowl.

Mix the wet and dry ingredients together. Pour the batter into a 9×5 pan and bake at 325F for about an hour.

How To Store Quick Bread

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Let the bread cool fully.

Transfer the bread to an airtight container lined with a paper towel. Place another paper towel on top of the bread before sealing.

If using a zip-top plastic bag, line both sides of the bag with paper towels and remove as much air as possible before sealing the top of the bag.

Store at room temperature for up to 4 days.

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How To Measure Flour And Other Dry Ingredients

Using a dry measuring cup, scoop ingredients from the bag or spoon them into the cup.

Next, level off the ingredient by removing the excess with an upside-down butter knife.

The one exception to this is brown sugar. Brown sugar should be packed down, and then any excess should be scraped off as well.

Baking At High Altitudes

The higher the altitude, the lower the air pressure, and the more difficult it is to bake recipes.

Increase 15 to 25°F. Since leavening and evaporation happen more quickly, the higher temperature helps set the structure of baked goods before they over-expand and dry out.

However, the baking at higher temperatures means products are done sooner, so decrease by 5-8 minutes per 30 minutes of baking time.

Where Did It Come From

This recipe also has quite a rich history that originated from a desire to make use of every possible ingredient. Bananas became easier to bring to the United States as the 20th century arrived. This came from how people could now refrigerate their food. This means that despite how quick the banana ripens, you could still carry it over to other countries all the way from Southeast Asia without it rotting easily.

And in the 1930s, this fruit started becoming popular in baking. During the Great Depression, it was crucial that the people made the most of the food they had. They did not want to immediately throw away quickly ripening bananas. Instead, they found ways to integrate this into their food. And so in 1933, the first recipe for banana bread came out in Pillsburys 1933 Balanced Recipes cookbook.

They even found ways to alter the recipe as needed. In fact, it became popular to add bran to the mix during the 1930s. This made for a more affordable ingredient to add, but it also made the loaf rougher. And in the 1960s, it then followed that other components would be placed to add different degrees of flavor. These would range from vanilla to nutmeg to coffee.

What Is Banana Bread

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Considering its signature sugary taste, just as well as its tender interior, some people call banana bread banana cake. But as the name indicates, it is considered a type of bread because it doesnt possess the lightness of cake. Instead, it is a lot more dense in texture. This makes all the more filling and satisfying as a dish.

But we also know this dessert to be a very sweet kind of bread, which is why it passes off as a great dessert too. The rich flavor of mashed bananas definitely do well in heightening the taste of this bread. And it does so while giving it a lot of nutrients as a healthy fruit ingredient.

Another special thing about banana bread is its usage of baking soda for its leavening agent. While many kinds of bread use yeast for this, we use baking soda instead. For this recipe, we have baking soda to help the dish rise in the oven. And this gives it that nice, dessert-like feel as we do with muffins and cakes.

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Why Sift Flour And Other Powder Ingredients

There are a number of benefits to sifting flour and other ingredients like cocoa:

It removes any unwanted debris and you can get a more accurate measurement than when packed tightly in a bag.

It also removes any lumps that can get into the batter and be hard to break up later, or be missed altogether before baking.

If you sift the powdered ingredients together, it helps combine them and mix more evenly with other dry ingredients like sugar.

Why You’ll Love This:

It’s extra moist and fluffy and just melts in your mouth!
Speckled with pecans and dark chocolate the texture and flavors are just divine!
It mixes up in 2 bowls, no electric mixer is necessary! And it also uses pantry staples so you probably have most of the ingredients on hand.
My favorite way to serve it is to slice it into large thick slabs and leave it on a cutting board allowing guests to serve themselves.
It freezes beautifully and you can reheat it a slice at a time, enjoying a “freshly baked” slice anytime you get the craving!

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Tips For Moist Quick Breads

Use the pan size called for in the recipe.
Ensure your baking soda is fresh.
Measure flour properly
Mix just until moistened.
Do not overbake. Ovens can vary, be sure to check your bread at least 10 minutes early.
Remove from the pan to cool completely.

* Find more information on measuring flour here.