One of my favourite things to do when I have overripe bananas is to bake up a loaf of this delicious, easy banana bread! It is so easy to whip up with ingredients I already have on hand in my pantry and fridge.
There is truly no better aroma than freshly baked bread and banana bread is no exception! It fills the house with a sweet, delicious scent that beats any scented candle in my books!
This moist, flavourful loaf is one of my favourite treats and easily my favourite way to use up overripe bananas.
Did I mention its super easy to? And made in one bowl? Cause it is!
Why you should make this banana bread:
- It is quick and easy: Just 10 minutes of hands on time is needed to whip up this batter! No fancy equipment needed either.
- You only need 1 bowl: Yup, just one bowl to clean up after mixing up this batter. That means you have fewer dishes to do!
- It uses ingredients you probably already have: if you have overripe bananas on hand, you likely already have everything else you need in your pantry or fridge!
- It isn’t overly sweet: I’ve reduced the sugar in this recipe so it is just sweet enough without being overly sweetened.
- It’s moist and delicious: Pretty much the most important things when it comes to banana bread and it is both of those things!
Ingredients in Easy Banana Bread
- overripe bananas, mashed
- butter melted
- egg
- vanilla extract
- sugar
- brown sugar
- flour
- baking soda
- salt
How to make Banana Bread
- Mash the bananas: In a large bowl, mash the bananas with a fork.
- Mix the wet ingredients with sugars: Then add the butter, egg, vanilla extract and sugars, mixing them together until well combined.
- Add the dry ingredients: Add the flour, baking soda, and salt to the bowl and mix until combined.
- Bake: Transfer to the loaf pan and top with a sliced banana, if desired. Bake in the oven for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool on a cooling rack.
Healthier (and optional substitutions) for Easy Banana Bread
While some banana breads can be high fat and overly sweet, I have made some small changes to my banana bread recipe over the years to ensure that it is as healthy as I can get it without compromising the delicious texture and flavour of my favourite recipe! I am not claiming that this is super healthy though. It is still a dessert recipe and while I have tried to replace or reduce butter and sugar as best as I can, I have left them at a level that still produces a super moist and flavourful loaf.
Flour
This recipe can be made with whole wheat or all purpose flour. I often make it with whole wheat pastry flour which is nice and soft (compared to regular whole wheat flour) and produces a light loaf.
Butter
This recipe uses 1/2 cup of butter. I have tried to reduce the butter in the past, going as low as 1/3 cup of butter. There is a difference in flavour and I personally prefer leaving the butter at 1/2 cup. If you are willing to sacrifice a bit of flavour for health benefits, you can:
- substitute the butter for 1/2 cup coconut oil
- reduce the butter to 1/3 cup and add an extra egg to replace the moisture.
These substitutions produce a yummy loaf, but it is a bit less flavourful than the full butter option. Do what you feel comfortable with!
Vegan substitutions for banana bread
To make this loaf vegan, you can replace the butter in this recipe with coconut oil. Replace the egg with a flax egg. In order to make a flax egg, mix 1 tablespoon flaxseed meal with 2 1/2 tablespoons of water. Let it rest and thicken for 5 minutes before adding to the batter.
How to store banana bread
Once cooled, banana bread can be wrapped in plastic food wrap and placed in an airtight container to help retain its moisture. It can be stored this way at room temperature for a few days.
Can you freeze banana bread? Yes, you can! Again, once it is cooled, you can wrap the entire loaf in plastic food wrap and place it in a freezer bag or freezer safe container. You can also freeze individual slices this way. I recommend wrapping each pre-sliced banana bread in plastic food wrap to protect it from freezer burn.
For other great uses for overripe bananas check out:
Chocolate Banana Baked Oatmeal
Healthy Cranberry Banana Breakfast Cookies
Banana Nut Waffles
Healthy Banana Blueberry Muffins
Banana Bread
Ingredients
- 3 bananas overripe, mashed
- 1/2 cup butter melted (can substitute coconut oil for a vegan recipe)
- 1 large egg (can substitute a flax egg for a vegan recipe. See notes below.)*
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1 1/2 cups flour (all purpose, whole wheat pastry flour or a combination of both)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Optional Toppings
- 1 banana sliced lengthwise
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F and line a loaf pan with parchment paper or grease it generously.
- In a large bowl, mash the bananas with a fork.
- Then add the butter, egg, vanilla extract and sugars, mixing them together until well combined.
- Add the flour, baking soda, and salt to the bowl and mix until combined.
- Transfer to the loaf pan and top with a sliced banana, if desired. Bake in the oven for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool on a cooling rack.
Notes
Note: Metric ingredient measurements are provided as a courtesy using a third-party calculator and are rounded to the nearest unit. The recipes provided on this site have not been tested with metric measurements and their accuracy cannot be verified.
Nutrition
The nutritional information provided is based on third-party calculations and is an estimate only. Accurate nutritional facts will vary based on the particular brands used, portion sizes, measurement accuracy and more.
Well, I was too lazy to Google coconut flour equivalency to AP flour, so I made the recipe with 11/2 cups coconut flour. I also add mini chocolate chips, 1/2 cup sliced dates. My kitchen smells delicious, but the batter was like cookie batter. Wish me luck 🤞
I’ve been craving banana bread all Winter I have found your recipe and I am so happy the recipe I had call for buttermilk and never could find buttermilk thank you
Us there a metric measurements instead of cup? I am not convinced with cup measurement.
Although its far more precise and the best way to go, I don’t measure out my ingredients in grams often. I find it much easier to use cups and have always had great results by using the spoon and level method (spoon the flour into the cup measure and then use the back of knife to level it.) Spooning prevents the flour from becoming too compact and usually results in the right amount in my recipes.