Banana Bread Recipe

I like my banana bread moist and chilled, and that is how this one turns out. My banana bread recipe only needs two large bananas and a fork. There is no mixer to bring out, no butter to soften, and no creaming step. It is one of the older recipes on this site, and you will find it with the rest of my banana recipes.

I switched this version to light brown sugar and three very ripe bananas instead of two, and that is what makes it bake up this moist. The brown sugar holds more moisture than white, and the extra banana means about a cup and a half of mashed fruit going into one loaf. I use cooking oil rather than butter for the same reason: oil keeps the crumb tender even after the bread has cooled all the way down. If you want yours a little sweeter, my banana bread with raisins follows the same method.

Pay attention to the bananas. Overripe is best, as far as I am concerned. Two large ones covered in brown spots, almost black in places, mash down to about a cup, and that cup carries the sweetness, the aroma, and most of the moisture in the finished loaf. Firm yellow bananas will still bake, but they give you a pale slice with very little banana flavor.

What is Banana Bread?

Banana bread is a quick bread, which means baking soda does the lifting instead of yeast. You mix it and it goes straight into the oven, with no kneading and no waiting for dough to rise. The texture lands closer to cake than to a sandwich loaf, which is why plenty of home bakers call it banana cake.

It became an American kitchen staple in the 1930s. Refrigerated shipping had made bananas cheap and plentiful by then, and the Great Depression made throwing away softening fruit unthinkable. The first printed recipe appeared in Pillsbury’s 1933 Balanced Recipes cookbook. Bakers kept tinkering afterward, stretching the batter with bran through the thirties, then working in vanilla, nutmeg, and coffee by the sixties.

In the Philippines it found a home in neighborhood bakeries and on merienda tables, sold by the slice beside ensaymada and pandesal, and it is usually one of the first things a home baker here learns to bake. The ingredients are affordable and the recipe is forgiving. I usually smell it before the timer goes off. I slice mine cold and have it with black coffee in the middle of the afternoon.

Why This Banana Bread Recipe Works

Two choices in this banana bread recipe matter more than the rest, and both decide how the loaf turns out once it has cooled.

• Oil rather than butter – Butter goes firm in the refrigerator while oil stays soft, so this loaf still slices tender after a night in the fridge instead of turning stiff and waxy.
• Half a teaspoon of baking soda – A restrained amount of lift for a cup and a half of flour. The crumb stays tight, which gives each slice enough body to hold a spread without tearing.

Ingredients

• Ripe bananas – Three large ones, heavily speckled. Mashed, they come to about a cup and a half, and that is the banana flavor this loaf runs on.
• Brown sugar – Three quarters of a cup, packed. The molasses in brown sugar holds moisture, which is what keeps this version soft after it cools.
• All-purpose flour – Spoon it into the measuring cup and level the top with a knife. Scooping straight from the bag packs in an extra ounce or two, the most common reason a homemade loaf comes out dry. For a gluten free version, see the substitutions below.
• Eggs – Two large ones, straight from the refrigerator. Nothing needs to warm up first because there is no creaming step.
• Cooking oil – Six tablespoons of any neutral oil. Canola, vegetable, sunflower, and corn all behave the same way here, and using oil is why a fork is enough to mix the batter.
• Salt – Half a teaspoon, which balances the sweetness and keeps it from tasting flat.
• Vanilla extract – A teaspoon, stirred in with the wet ingredients.
• Baking soda – Three quarters of a teaspoon. It gives the loaf its rise, and measuring it level keeps any metallic taste away.
• Walnuts or chocolate chips – Optional, three quarters of a cup. Fold them in at the very end. Walnuts give the classic banana nut loaf, chocolate chips make it more of a treat.

A little more on the bananas, since they give you most of the flavor and moisture. Press one with your thumb. If it gives easily, the starch has turned to sugar and the fruit is ready. Fully black skins are still fine as long as there is no mold and no sour, fermented smell. Two large Cavendish bananas give you the cup of mash this recipe expects, and three medium ones get you to the same place. Frozen bananas work too. Thaw them all the way, pour off the liquid that pools in the bowl, then mash what is left, because that liquid is water you do not want in your batter.

1. Whisk 1½ cups of all-purpose flour, ¾ teaspoon of baking soda, and ½ teaspoon of salt together in a bowl.
2. Set the bowl aside.

1. Mash 3 large very ripe bananas in a large mixing bowl with a fork until only a few small pieces remain, about 1½ cups mashed.
2. Add ¾ cup of packed light brown sugar, 2 eggs, 6 tablespoons of cooking oil, and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract.
3. Whisk until everything is well blended.

1. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and fold gently until the dry flour disappears. Keep the folding light, since this step decides your texture.
2. Fold in ¾ cup of walnuts or chocolate chips, if using.

1. Grease a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan and line it with parchment paper.
2. Pour in the batter and spread it evenly.
3. Bake at 350°F for 55 to 65 minutes. Check at 50 minutes and lay foil loosely over the top if it is already brown.
4. Insert a toothpick into the center. It is done when the toothpick comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs. Keep baking if there is still wet batter on it.

1. Let the loaf cool in the pan for 15 minutes.
2. Turn it out onto a wire rack and cool at least 45 minutes before slicing. One loaf gives you 10 slices.

A fully baked loaf reads 200°F to 205°F in the center on an instant-read thermometer, and the tester comes out with moist crumbs rather than wet batter. The 15 minutes in the pan let the structure firm up enough to lift the loaf out whole, and the wire rack keeps steam from softening the bottom crust. Let it cool at least 45 minutes more before slicing. One loaf gives you 10 slices.

What to Serve with Banana Bread

• Black coffee – How I eat it most often. Unsweetened coffee cuts straight through the sweetness of a cold slice.
• Cold fresh milk – A simple drink to serve with a slice, especially for kids.
• Salted butter – A thin scrape across a slice still warm from the oven. The salt sharpens the banana and the butter melts down into the crumb.
• Kesong puti – Mild, salty white cheese against sweet bread is a familiar Filipino combination, and it turns a slice into something closer to a meal.
• Vanilla ice cream – Warm the slice slightly first so the ice cream softens against it.
• Leche Flan – Another sweet you can make ahead when you have plenty of people coming over.

Storage

Banana bread keeps well as long as you let it cool completely before storing it. A warm loaf sweats, and that trapped moisture softens the crust you just baked.

• Refrigerator: Sealed in an airtight container or wrapped tightly, the loaf holds for about a week in the refrigerator. On the counter it is good for around 4 days if you line the container with a paper towel to absorb moisture.
• Freezer: Wrap the cooled loaf in two or three layers of plastic wrap, then a layer of foil or a freezer bag, and freeze for 2 to 4 months. I prefer freezing it in slices so I can pull out one at a time.
• Reheating: Thaw a whole loaf at room temperature for 1 to 2 hours, or single slices for 30 minutes to an hour. Warm a slice for about 20 seconds in the microwave, or wrap it in foil and give it 10 minutes in a 300°F oven.

• All-purpose flour – Whole wheat flour works, with a slightly denser slice. For a gluten free loaf, use a one to one baking blend, or bake my gluten free banana bread with almonds instead.
• Brown sugar – Light brown sugar or white sugar, measured the same way works too.
• Cooking oil – Half a cup of melted butter in place of the oil. Expect more flavor and a firmer slice once the loaf has been chilled.
• Vanilla extract – Banana essence works if that is what you have on hand, in the same amount.

More Banana Recipes

• Banana Fritter (Maruya) – Mashed ripe bananas fried into fritters and rolled in sugar, for when you do not want to turn the oven on.
• Turon – Saba banana and ripe jackfruit wrapped in lumpia wrapper and fried with caramelized sugar on the outside.
• Mini Banana Cake with Walnuts – Small individual cakes, easier to pack into a lunch box than slices of a loaf.
• Saging con Hielo – Sweetened saba banana over shaved ice with milk, a cold merienda for hot afternoons.
• Banana Yogurt Smoothie – A use for ripe bananas that involves no baking at all.
• Banana Chips – Thin fried saba slices coated in sugar syrup, good for keeping in a jar.

Let the loaf cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then turn it out onto a wire rack and give it at least 45 minutes more before you slice. Cutting too early is the fastest way to a gummy center, and the wait is what lets the crumb set. One loaf gives you 10 slices. I chill my banana bread for two hours before slicing because I like it cold.

Update: This is a reworked version of my original loaf. I moved from white to brown sugar, raised the banana from two to three, and pulled the oil back to 6 tablespoons. The result is moister than the older recipe while staying just as easy to put together.