Is there anything better than a piece of warm banana bread? This easy to follow recipe delivers a moist and irresistibly delicious loaf every time! Whether you’re looking for a morning snack, or late night treat, this banana bread delivers!

Banana bread is one of those in-between foods – it’s not really a dessert, but doesn’t really fit into the breakfast food category. It depends on how it’s made, really. Banana bread for that reason is easy to play with and modify. Whether you’re looking to make it a little sweeter by adding chocolate chips, or bring it back to a wholesome breakfast snack by adding nuts, whole wheat flour, or even oats. I personally find myself drawn towards the more classic banana bread, that way I can have it for breakfast and dessert – why do I have to choose?

How to Make Banana Bread

This recipe is very easy to make. It’s a great one to bake with kids, or for a beginner in the kitchen who’s looking for something tasty to try.

All Purpose Flour: 1 and 3/4 cups of all purpose flour or 210 grams. Sometimes flour can be to densely packed which could unknowingly throw off your measurements, so I recommend weighing when possible with a simple kitchen scale for precision.

Baking Soda: 1 teaspoon. Baking soda will act as our leavening agent, giving our bread a light and fluffy texture.

Salt: 1 teaspoon. Salt will help our banana flavour pop and balance out the flavours.

Ground Cinnamon: 1/2 teaspoon. I love adding cinnamon to recipes. It brings some warmth and coziness.

Ground Nutmeg: 1/4 teaspoon. Much like adding cinnamon, nutmeg will make our banana bread more inviting and aromatic.

Brown Sugar: 3/4 cup. Brown sugar contains molasses, which helps to keep our banana bread moist. It also helps build some depth with the cinnamon and nutmeg flavours.

Butter: 1/2 cup (or 1 stick). The butter should preferably be unsalted however if you find that your salted butter isn’t super salty I wouldn’t over think it. I’ve used salted butter in a pinch when needed.

Eggs: 2 large. Eggs are the glue keeping everything together.

Vanilla Extract: 1 teaspoon. Vanilla extract is another flavour booster, adding complexity and sweetness without adding more sugar.

Bananas: 3 large. The star of the show. Use over ripe bananas to increase the moisture and sweetness of the loaf.

Can I Make Banana Bread If I Don’t Have Over Ripe Bananas?

What happens if we want to make our favourite banana bread recipe but our bananas are not quite ripe enough? The truth is, using over ripe bananas is preferred, but not necessary. As bananas ripen, the starches begin to break down into sugar, which adds to the flavour of banana bread. The riper bananas are the stronger the banana flavour tends to be. However, there is a trick that I’ve used to get around this.

Place your bananas on a baking tray lined with parchment paper and bake in the oven at 350F for 10-12 minutes. The bananas will turn a deep brown colour and will become perfectly mushy. Let these cool for 20 minutes or until they are cool enough to handle, and work them into your recipe like you would any other bananas. Problem solved!

Tips and Tricks

• Weigh your flour. I’ve gotten into the habit of doing this recently and it was a game changer. Measuring by weight is always going to be more accurate than using measuring cups because of the different ways you can scoop, pour, or sift flour. Weighing also takes away any guesswork, and will up your baking game with consistency.

• Use room temperature ingredients when making banana bread. Having softened butter and room temperature eggs will make the process easier. Your ingredients mix together faster which makes for a smoother batter and the overall finished product more enjoyable.
  

• Don’t over mix. When combining the wet and dry ingredients together it is important not to over mix. Anytime you are mixing a liquid with flour you create gluten. This is great when making a crusty bread loaf, however we want our banana bread to be soft and moist, not tough. I suggest mixing by hand until the dry ingredients are just incorporated. I try to stop when I see only the very last bit of dry ingredients left on a peak. This extra little bit of unmixed flour will hydrate while baking and ensure your batter won’t be lumpy.
  

• Leave some chunks! Don’t over mash your bananas. There’s nothing better than getting a big mouthful of sweet banana – I get compliments because of this all the time! Give it a try, you’ll be happy you did!

Equipment Used:

9×5 Loaf Pan: Sprayed with baking spray and lined with parchment paper.

Mixing Bowls: Large, medium, and small mixing bowls are all used throughout this recipe.

Electric Hand Mixer: You can also use a stand mixer.

Whisk: Used to combine dry ingredients.

Spatula: Used to combine wet ingredients and scrape down the bowls.

Cooling Rack: Handy tool to have in your kitchen to help speed up the cooling process.