Best Banana Bread Recipe
This is my favourite classic banana bread recipe! It’s super moist with a tender crumb, rich caramelization and all the delicious banana and dark brown sugar flavours. A family favourite that I’ve been making forever, I hope you give it a try!
Ingredients
- 3-4 very ripe bananas mashed
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- ½ cup butter melted and cooled (sub vegan)
- ¼ cup buttermilk see note to make your own
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ½ cup dark brown sugar
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon kosher or fine sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177ºC) and prepare parchment-lined 8½ x 4½-inch (1.5 litre) glass loaf pan or grease the pan generously.
- In a large bowl, mash bananas completely then whisk in eggs, butter, buttermilk, vanilla, sugar and brown sugar. Add flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon and continue mixing until well combined and the batter is smooth.
- Pour the batter into prepared loaf pan, pressing it into the corners and smoothing out the top with a spatula or the back of a wooden spoon if needed. The batter will almost fill the pan and that’s okay!
- Bake on the middle rack until a tester comes out clean, about 60-65 minutes depending on your oven, so begin checking every 5 minutes around the 60-minute mark. Remove pan from oven and let cool for 20 minutes. Using parchment edges, remove loaf from pan and transfer to a wire cooling rack. Let cool for 20 minutes more before slicing and enjoy!
Notes
Make it gluten free: Use an equal amount of your favourite, good quality 1:1 gluten free flour blend.
Ripened bananas: Did you know you can ripen bananas more quickly by placing them on a baking sheet and heating them in a 350ºF (177ºC) oven for 15 minutes? Once they’ve darkened, remove from oven and let cool completely then peel and mash. To use frozen bananas, thaw to room temperature then drain off any excess liquid and continue as instructed above.
Don’t have buttermilk? To make your own, stir 2 teaspoons vinegar or lemon juice into each ½ cup 2% or whole milk and let stand for 5 minutes while you mix together the remaining ingredients.
Loaf pan: I highly recommend baking this banana bread in a glass loaf pan. Dark metal pans heat faster contributing to a better rise and crispy, browned edges for things like cakes, pies and bread. Dense, moist bakes made with lots of fruit, however, take a little longer to cook to the centre and benefit from the slower heat conductivity of a glass baking pan. If you don’t have one, you can always tent your loaf with foil. This will help prevent the top and outer edges from over-baking.
Storage: This loaf will keep well in an airtight container on the counter for 2-3 days, in the fridge for up to a week or tightly wrapped and frozen for up to 3 months. Let thaw on the counter overnight.