Banana Bread

Classic Banana Bread

I know it’s cliche to recommend making a banana bread when you have a glut of ripe bananas, but, honestly it is one of the best ways to use up over-ripe bananas. That or Bill Granger’s Banana Butterscotch Pudding (I’ll share the recipe soon!).

On a recent trip back home to Australia, I saw many bakeries sell thick slices of banana bread alongside their croissants and other breakfast pastries, and I was suddenly nostalgic for an old-fashioned banana bread. It is a cake which I grew up eating at afternoon tea and birthday parties, and as my son adores a slice of banana bread at breakfast, I’m happy to be loading up on bananas again.

Banana Bread Recipe

The banana bread recipe below is one which I have been using for decades, with a few tweaks here and there, depending on the season, as well as my mood.

It is the same base recipe which I use for my decadent Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips and Peanut Butter but, here, I have also halved the sugar content to make it a bit more “healthy”. You could reduce the sugar a bit more without it affecting the taste too much, but your kids might disagree 😉

This banana bread recipe is essentially your classic banana bread with no frills, except for a sliced banana to decorate the loaf.

For something a bit more special or suited to celebrations, you might prefer instead my Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting.

What Type of Bananas to Use

You need very ripe bananas to use in baking recipes. This is because the bananas are used for their sugar and water content, and ripe bananas contain more sugar and moisture.

If you use bananas which are good for eating, but which have not reached the stage where no one in the family wants to touch the brown peel, your cake might come out a bit dry and bland.

Ideally, your bananas should have brown peel or lots of brown spots on the peel, and you should also be able to smell the banana.

Freezing Bananas

This recipe works great with frozen bananas. Upon defrosting, frozen bananas tend to be quite mushy, so they are perfect for using in baking recipes which call for mashed bananas.

Whenever we have bananas which are too ripe for eating, I do the following:

• Peel the ripe banana
• Break the banana in half or into large chunks (for quicker defrosting)
• Place the banana into a ziplock freezer bag (which has been labelled and dated)
• Freeze until needed
• Defrost on the kitchen counter or overnight in the fridge
• Frozen bananas can be used directly in smoothies

How to Make Banana Bread

Step 1

Measure the flour, baking soda, salt and ground cinnamon into a bowl.

Step 2

Cream the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl for about 5 minutes on medium speed, or until the mixture is pale yellow and fluffy. This step is important to create air in the batter because there is no baking powder used.

Step 3

Add the vanilla extract and 1 egg, followed by a tablespoon of the dry ingredients. Mix until well incorporated. Repeat with the remaining egg. Mix through the remaining dry ingredients.

Step 4

Mash the bananas in a medium sized bowl. If you like chunks of banana in your banana bread, you can keep the mixture chunky. 

Step 5

Stir the mashed bananas through the batter.

Step 6

Preheat the oven to 180°C/355°F (without fan).

Line a loaf pan measuring 1 litre/4 cups with baking paper. Alternatively, if you plan to serve from a ceramic loaf pan like pictured, grease the pan well with butter.

Fill the pan with the batter and spread it out evenly.

Slice a ripe but firm banana in half lengthwise, and arrange it on top of the batter. There is no need to push the banana halves into the batter.

Bake for 35-45 minutes or until a cake skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. The baking time will vary depending on the size and shape of your loaf pan – some are wider or taller than others.

Remove the cake pan to a wire rack to cool for about 10 minutes, before carefully unmoulding the cake and letting it cool completely on the wire rack. If you are serving directly from a ceramic loaf pan, you can start serving after 10 minutes.

Variations for Banana Bread

For some ideas on tweaking this banana bread recipe:

• Add 100 g (1/2 cup) chocolate chips to the batter.
• Substitute the sliced banana on top of the loaf cake with chocolate chips.
• Add 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground cardamom to the batter.
• Add 1/2 to 1 cup of chopped walnuts to the batter.
• Decorate the cake with rolled oats.