Easy Banana Bread Recipe

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Don’t let those bruised and battered bananas go to waste – use them to make delicious banana bread with this easy recipe!

All you need are some overripe bananas and a few basic ingredients you probably already have on hand. And the great news is… you do not need a bread maker! Just make up the batter, pour it into a loaf pan, and into the oven it goes.

A slice of banana bread on a white plate with the loaf sitting in the background

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What Is Banana Bread?

Banana bread is a type of sweet or quick bread that is made with old or overripe bananas. Some people add nuts to the bread; some leave them out. People eat it for breakfast, snacks, or desserts.

A “quick bread” doesn’t require any yeast to rise (leavening). The baking soda will do the job, along with the bananas and the salt, of making the bread rise. Note that using very ripe bananas will increase the moisture in the mix, and baking times will be longer.

Why Use Overripe Bananas?

The thing that makes banana bread so good is that by the time the bananas have become a few days old, or “overripe,” the starch level lowers from about 40% to around 10%, while the sugar level rises to almost 90%. This is among the highest levels found in any fruit.

What You Need

Here’s what you’ll need from the store. The exact amounts are in the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post.

Kitchen Tools

Ingredients

Mixing together oil, sugar and egg in a large glass bowl

How To Make Banana Bread

Banana bread is such an easy thing to bake that you can make it in the morning and enjoy fresh sweet bread all day! Here are some tips that will help you.

Mashing overripe bananas with the wet ingredients to start an easy homemade banana bread

Use Butter Instead of Oil

We opted for vegetable or canola oil as our fat of choice. However, you can also use 1/4 cup of softened butter. We went for oil because it allowed us to skip the step of softening our butter.

Adding dry ingredients to wet ingredients for easy banana bread

Add Chocolate

Another family favorite is to fold in chocolate chips to the batter to give the banana bread a chocolate-y kick.

How To Know When Banana Bread is Done Cooking

The best way to tell if banana bread is done is to use the toothpick test. Stick a toothpick into the middle of the bread. If it comes out clean, it’s done! If it comes out with batter on it, let it bake for another 10 minutes.

Homemade banana bread in a loaf pan

What To Eat With It

For a really rich an indulgent chocolate treat, try our Hershey bar banana bread recipe or this pumpkin banana bread!

Nuts Are Optional

This recipe uses walnuts which are excellent in banana bread. But feel free to leave them out if you prefer.

Serving It

I love to serve it warm with some whipped butter and a nice cup of coffee. It’s perfect for a quick breakfast or a wonderful after-dinner dessert.

If you really want to get crazy, try a nice slice of cheddar cheese on a slice . This isn’t a taste for everyone, but my family loves it!

Storing It

Wrap the bread in parchment paper and keep it at room temperature for up to three days.

You can also freeze banana bread. Wrap it tightly in aluminum foil and store it in a freezer bag. It will stay fresh in the freezer for up to six months.

A slice of banana bread on a white plate with the loaf sitting in the background
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Easy Banana Bread Recipe

Print Recipe
This banana bread recipe is so easy that anyone can make it!
Prep Time:10 minutes
Cook Time:1 hour
Total Time:1 hour 10 minutes

SERVINGS

8

Equipment

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup Sugar
  • 1/4 cup canola or vegetable oil softened
  • 1 Egg
  • 1 tsp Vanilla
  • 4 Bananas over ripe
  • 1/5 cups All-Purpose Flour
  • 1 tsp Baking Soda
  • 1/4 tsp Salt
  • 1/2 cup Walnuts chopped, optional

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  • Spray a loaf pan generously with cooking oil spray
  • In a large bowl, use a large wooden spoon and mix canola oil and sugar until it’s a nice creamy texture.
  • Beat in the egg, then add vanilla.
  • Add bananas to the mixture and mush and mix them using the wooden spoon. If you have a potato masher, that works well too. If using chopped walnuts, stir them in as well.
  • In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking soda and salt
  • Slowly add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients
  • Spoon mixture into a loaf pan (standard size is 8 1/2″ x 4 1/2″). Fill loaf pan about 2/3 full to the top. This is important as bread will rise during baking and needs some room. If you have extra batter, make an additional loaf or muffins.
  • Bake in preheated oven for about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Use a toothpick placed into the center of the loaf to check for doneness. If the toothpick comes out clean, the banana bread is ready. If it comes out with batter still on it, bake another 10-15 minutes.

Nutrition

Serving: 1slice | Calories: 256kcal | Carbohydrates: 36g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 39mg | Sodium: 281mg | Potassium: 258mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 26g | Vitamin A: 288IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 16mg | Iron: 1mg
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: banana bread
Servings: 8 people
Calories: 256kcal
Homemade banana bread in a loaf pan

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6 Comments

    1. Hi Ingrid,
      The flour should be folded in after the baking soda. We’ll fix up the recipe so it’s more clearly stated.
      Thanks for the comment!
      Carrie

  1. I guess put flour in with the bananas….? I also greased the pan (doesn’t say to do or not)…..it’s in the oven so fingers crossed. Its rising…looking forward to it. 🙂

    1. Hi Daryl,
      I hope it turned out well for you. The flour should be folded in after the baking soda. I’ll revise the recipe to state this more clearly.
      Thanks for using Easy Recipe Depot!
      Carrie

  2. My wife tried to make the easy banana bread recipe and was a complete failure because she followed the directions to the letter! And low and behold the directions say not a thing about when to put in the flour! SO she ended up with yucky looking banana soup! Doubt we will ever try a recipe from easyrecipedepot.com again! Maybe they should go to writecompleteinstructions101.com and figure out where it went wrong

    1. Hi Paul,
      We just took over Easy Recipe Depot and we appreciate your feedback on this recipe. We’re in the process of more clearly defining the instructions, but for your two concerns:
      1. The flour should be folded in after the baking soda.
      2. Often times a soupy banana bread indicates an undercook situation. I’m not sure if that was part of your issue, but I’ve had trouble with that myself in the past 😉
      Thanks for using Easy Recipe Depot!
      Carrie