My Favorite Easy Banana Bread
My Favorite Easy Banana Bread is a classic banana bread recipe with a cinnamon twist. Get mashing for a tasty breakfast!
Banana bread has got to be one of the best reasons to “forget” to eat those bananas that you bought at the grocery store last week.
Bread or Cake?
We call this bread, with “we” being most of the banana bread eaters and bakers in the USA. And it’s bread in the sense that it’s made in a loaf pan and it rises using baking powder and baking soda instead of yeast, but let’s not kid ourselves here. It’s cake. It’s cake without icing. Turn these into a cupcake with some cream cheese icing and you’ve got yourself a breakfast cupcake. (Now that’s a recipe idea that I need to work on!)
Ripe, Ripe, Ripe
You want to wait to create this recipe until the bananas are quite brown to ensure that they are ripe or overripe. This will guarantee that you are making the bread with the best banana flavor.
If you cannot wait for the bananas to ripen naturally, there are ways to speed up the process:
- Place all bananas in a paper bag. The ethylene gas that bananas (and some other fruits) give off will be trapped and cause the bananas to ripen faster.
- Place bananas in the oven, peel still on, for about 18-20 minutes at 300 °F. The peels will turn black. Allow the bananas to cool, then scoop out the softened banana.
Extra Bananas and a Cinnamon Twist
Most banana bread recipes call for two bananas, maybe three. Not this one. If you’re making banana bread, you should use as many bananas as you can, right? You need four large bananas (or 5-6 medium sized bananas) for this loaf. Those bananas will yield about 2 cups of mashed banana, which really helps ensure that you get the full banana flavor. One time I had WAY too many ripe bananas, so I put an extra 1-2 bananas in there. Still delicious (but I had to add extra baking time).
The second key ingredient for this recipe is cinnamon. You can taste the cinnamon in the raw batter quite easily, but it is understated in the finished loaf. However, the cinnamon really helps to complete the bread in a way that’s subtle yet flavorful.
Recipe Overview
This recipe is simple. Mix together the butter and sugar, then add in the eggs. Next, add the vanilla, milk, and cinnamon. After mashing the bananas, add them to the mixture. Finally, add in the baking powder, baking soda, salt, and flour. Mix just until the flour disappears, then bake. In about an hour, you’re house will be filled with a tantalizing aroma, and you’re breakfast will be complete.
Personally, I prefer to leave the mashed banana somewhat chunky. If you prefer totally smooth, keep on mashing or break out the blender. This recipe is also heavy on the sugar. Reduce the sugar to 3/4 cup (instead of the normal 1 cup) to reduce the sweetness, if desired.
How to Freeze and Reheat
To freeze, we wrap each slice individually in plastic wrap so that we can pull one slice out at a time when we want it. We’ll let the slice thaw in the refrigerator overnight if we plan ahead of time. If not, we’ll let it thaw on the counter for a few hours. If you want to serve warm, microwave for five to ten seconds before you dig in.
Recipe Quick Stats
Cost:
Total Recipe Cost = $3.98 · $0.40 per serving
Nutrition:
Servings: 10
Calories: 312 kcal · Total Fat: 9.8 g · Sodium: 495.6 mg · Total Carb: 50.2 g · Dietary Fiber: 1.5 g · Protein: 4.3 g
Listed nutritional information and costs are estimates only. View our full nutritional disclaimer here.
My Favorite Easy Banana Bread
Ingredients
- 8 tbsp Butter (room temperature)
- 1 cup Granulated Sugar
- 2 Eggs (room temperature)
- 1 tsp Cinnamon
- 1 tbsp Milk
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 4 large Bananas (2 cups mashed)
- 1 tsp Baking Powder
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- 1 tsp Salt
- 2 cup All Purpose Flour
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 °F. Grease a 9" x 5" x 3" loaf pan.
- Cream butter and sugar together. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in cinnamon, milk, and vanilla extract.
- Mash bananas in a small bowl. Add mashed bananas to the egg mixture.
- Add baking powder, baking soda, salt, and flour. Mix just until flour disappears. (The batter may still be lumpy.)
- Bake for roughly 70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. Allow to cool for 10-15 minutes before removing from the loaf pan.