Ask someone if they like bananas and the results are mixed. Ask someone if they like banana bread, and chances are good they’ll say they do. Chocolate chips and various other mix-ins definitely help banana bread appeal to a wide audience. However, the simplicity of banana bread is what makes it so great in my opinion. It can be prepared without mix-ins or toppings, served plain, and its delicious. Or it can have chocolate chips, walnuts, and served with melted butter and its also delicious. Also, the recipe is hard to mess up so its great for bakers of all skill levels. With that, let’s get started!
Recipe Notes
Apart from needing a loaf pan, this recipe doesn’t require any special kitchen tools. A whisk, spatula, and bowl are all you need to make a delicious loaf of banana bread. If you want to get fancy, you can break out your stand mixer but it’s by no means required. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and set a rack in the middle of the oven. Line your loaf pan with parchment paper, leaving some excess on the sides and spray with cooking oil. Set aside until ready to use.
Melt the butter in a large bowl and whisking it together with the sugar until the mixture is well combined. If you want to use a stand mixer to whip the butter and sugar for a more cake-like texture, this works too.
To the butter and sugar mixture, add the two eggs and whisk until smooth. As more ingredients are added, the mixture will become more and more smooth.
Next, add the milk and vanilla extract to the mixture and whisk until smooth. The mixture should be fairly runny at this point.
Next, in a separate bowl, add the bananas and mash with a fork or whisk. The bananas should be mashed to your preferred level. Whether you prefer your banana bread chunky, or completely smooth, its entirely up to you and whatever you choose is just right. Once the bananas are mashed to your liking, add them to the batter and whisk until smooth.
Banana Bread Variations
Next, add the flour, baking soda, and salt to batter. Using a spatula, stir the mixture until the dry ingredients are just combined and no flour is visible. From here, its time to make this banana bread recipe your own. The different combination of mix-ins that can be done for banana bread are only limited by your imagination. My favorite combination is the classic walnut and chocolate chip combination. Sprinkle the ingredients over the top of the batter and gently fold in.
Pour the batter into your prepared pan and smooth the top of the batter with the spatula. Bake for 50-65 minutes. The bake time will depend on the moisture level of your batter and the sugar content of the bananas. The loaf should be a deep golden brown with a bit of a crack on top. The loaf is done when a toothpick is inserted into the loaf and comes out clean. If the bread isn’t done after 50 minutes, check every minutes until ready.
Leave the bread to cool in the pan on a wire rack for ten minutes. After ten minutes, remove the bread from the pan using the parchment paper and let cool on a cooling rack for another ten minutes before slicing and serving. Banana bread is delicious on its own or with different spreads. I still have a bit of pear jam left over and it was delicious on top of the banana bread
Classic Banana Bread
Equipment
- 1 8×5 inch loaf pan
- Parchment Paper
- Stand Mixer not needed if you're not whipping the butter
Ingredients
- 112 grams Unsalted Butter 1 stick
- 200 grams Sugar (1 cup)
- 2 Large Eggs
- 59 ml Milk (1/4 cup)
- 5 ml Vanilla Extract (1 tsp)
- 3 ripe bananas (roughly 348 grams)
- 240 grams AP flour (2 cups)
- 5 grams Baking soda (1.5 tsp)
- 2 grams Salt (1/2 tsp)
- 87 grams chocolate chips (can also use walnuts or a mixture of the two)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and set the rack to the middle of the oven.
- Line the bottom of your loaf pan with parchment. Leave some excess on the sides of your parchment to help with removing it from the pan. Spray with cooking spray. Set aside until ready to use.
- If making by hand, melt the butter and whisk together with the sugar. If using a stand mixer, soften the butter and add to the bowl of the stand mixer along with the sugar and whip until light and fluffy using the paddle attachment.
- Add the eggs and whisk until well combined
- Add the milk and vanilla extract and whisk until smooth
- In a separate bowl, add the bananas and mash until they reach the desired level of smoothness. Add to the butter and sugar mixture and whisk until smooth.
- Using a spatula, add the flour, baking soda, and salt to the mixture and stir until just combined and flour is just incorporated.
- Sprinkle the chocolate or nuts over the top of the batter and fold into the batter gently using a spatula.
- Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and smooth the top of the batter with the spatula
- Bake for 50-65 minutes or until the top of the bread is a deep golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the loaf comes out clean. Baking time will depend on the moisture level/size of your bananas. After 50 minutes, check every 5 minutes until done.
- Remove from the oven and set to cool in the pan on a wire rack for ten minutes.
- After ten minutes, lift the loaf out of the pan and let cool on the rack for another ten minutes before slicing and serving.
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