American
Banana Bread
Ripe bananas, butter, sugar, egg, and baking soda bake into one loaf. It is done when a toothpick in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs, not wet batter.
- Prep
- 15 min
- Cook
- 1 hr
- Total
- 1 hr 15 min
- Servings
- 10
- Difficulty
- Easy
Why you’ll love it
- Very ripe bananas mash into the batter and supply moisture and sweetness.
- Baking soda reacts with the bananas, so the loaf rises without baking powder.
- A longer bake at 350°F sets the center without needing a high crust heat.
- A few moist crumbs on a toothpick mean the crumb is done. A wet smear means it needs more time.
Ingredients
Ingredient amounts scale. Oven temperature and cook time do not. Salt, spices, and leaveners are a starting point after you scale. Taste and adjust.
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Instructions
- 1
Heat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan.
- 2
Mash the bananas in a bowl until mostly smooth, with a few small lumps left. You want about 1 1/4 cups.
- 3
Whisk in the melted butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla.
- 4
Sprinkle the flour, baking soda, and salt over the bowl. Stir until no dry flour remains. Do not keep mixing after that.
- 5
Spread the batter in the pan. Bake 55 to 65 minutes.
- 6
The loaf is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs, not wet batter. If the top is very brown and the center is still wet, tent it with foil and keep baking.
- 7
Cool in the pan 15 minutes, then turn it out onto a rack. Slice once it is warm, not hot. This loaf makes 10 slices.
Pro tips
- Bananas with heavy brown spotting mash easily and taste sweeter than yellow ones with green tips.
- Moist crumbs on the toothpick are the cue. A completely clean pick often means the loaf is drier than it needs to be.
- Let it cool before you slice. Hot banana bread presses into a gummy slab under the knife.
Easy substitutions
- no nuts in the batter
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts, folded in with the flour
- unsalted butter
- 1/3 cup neutral oil
- all-purpose flour
- a 1:1 gluten-free baking blend
Storage and reheating
Storage
Keep wrapped at room temperature for up to 3 days, or refrigerate for up to 5 days.
Reheating
Toast a slice in a skillet or toaster, or warm it in a 300°F oven for 8 minutes. It does not need reheating if it is still within a day of baking.
Nutrition
Estimates per serving, using standard ingredient averages and rounded to the nearest gram. This is not a lab analysis, and it shifts if you change brands or add sides.
- Calories
- 220
- Protein
- 3 g
- Carbs
- 36 g
- Fat
- 8 g
- Fiber
- 2 g
Budget friendly · Oven
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