Best Banana Bread is the recipe that Maria has been making from memory for years because it is so completely simple and so completely reliable that it has never given her a single reason to seek out anything else. No electric mixer. No stand mixer. No creaming of cold butter. Just ripe bananas mashed in a bowl, melted butter stirred in, baking soda and salt and sugar and beaten egg and vanilla all stirred through one at a time, flour folded in last, and the whole simple and extraordinarily fragrant loaf poured into a buttered pan and baked until a toothpick comes out clean.
The secret that makes this version so deeply and famously satisfying is the melted butter. Melted butter coats the flour proteins differently than creamed butter does and produces a more densely moist and deeply buttery crumb that stays soft and fresh for the full four days.
Best Banana Bread is the most beloved and completely simple one-bowl no-mixer banana bread made with melted butter, mashed overripe bananas, sugar, egg, vanilla, and flour that has been the most popular quick bread recipe for over a decade for the most completely obvious reason: it works perfectly every single time. Come follow us on Pinterest where we share beautiful banana bread recipes and simple classic baking favorites from our kitchen every single week.
Table of Contents
Why You Will Love This Best Banana Bread Recipe
This Best Banana Bread recipe is the one-bowl no-mixer quick bread that has earned millions of loyal home bakers who return to it every time they have overripe bananas on the counter because it is the most completely reliable and easiest banana bread ever developed. Every single ingredient is a pantry staple. No special equipment is required beyond a mixing bowl and a fork. The entire active preparation takes no more than 10 minutes. And the result is consistently and deeply moist, perfectly buttery, and genuinely fragrant with banana flavor in every single bite.
The melted butter is the ingredient that makes this recipe so distinctively different in texture from a conventional creamed-butter banana bread. Melted butter does not create air pockets during mixing the way creamed butter does and produces a denser and more deeply moist and satisfying crumb. This density is exactly what makes a great banana bread so completely different from a banana cake. Our Carrot Bread makes a beautifully spiced and equally simple quick-bread companion for a complete and lovely everyday baking spread.
Ingredients Needed for This Best Banana Bread Recipe
- 2 to 3 medium very ripe Bananas (about 1¼ to 1½ cups mashed)
- ⅓ cup (76g) Unsalted or Salted Butter, melted
- ½ tsp Baking Soda
- 1 Pinch Salt
- ¾ cup (150g) Granulated Sugar (reduce to ½ cup for less sweet or increase to 1 cup for sweeter)
- 1 large Egg, beaten
- 1 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
- 1½ cups (205g) All-Purpose Flour
How to Make This Best Banana Bread Recipe
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter an 8 by 4-inch loaf pan.
In a large mixing bowl, mash the ripe bananas with a fork until completely smooth. Stir the melted butter directly into the mashed bananas and mix until combined.
Stir in the baking soda and salt. Add the granulated sugar, beaten egg, and vanilla extract and stir until everything is well combined. Finally, mix in the flour, stirring only until just incorporated with no visible flour streaks remaining, cara mia. Do not overmix the batter after the flour is added.
Pour the batter into the prepared buttered loaf pan and spread into an even layer.
Bake for 55 to 65 minutes at 350°F until a toothpick or wooden skewer inserted into the very center of the loaf comes out completely clean or with only a few dry crumbs. If the outside of the loaf is golden and fully baked-looking but the center is still wet when tested, tent the loaf loosely with aluminum foil and continue baking until the center is done.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the pan for a few minutes before removing the banana bread from the pan and cooling completely on a wire rack. Use a bread knife for the cleanest and most beautiful slices.
How to Serve This Best Banana Bread Recipe
Serve at room temperature or very slightly warm. This banana bread is at its absolute most completely delicious when spread with cold softened butter and eaten as a warm slice directly from the pan while the kitchen still smells of fresh baking. Equally wonderful as a breakfast on the go, an afternoon snack, or a packed-lunch treat.
For a more indulgent version, serve with a generous drizzle of honey or a thin spread of peanut butter alongside the butter for the most completely extraordinary sweet and nutty banana bread experience. Our Strawberry Cream Cheese Muffins make a beautifully individual and equally breakfast-appropriate companion for a complete and lovely everyday morning baking spread.
How to Store This Best Banana Bread Recipe
Store wrapped well at room temperature for up to 4 days. Refrigerate for up to 5 days. Freeze wrapped tightly for longer storage. The banana bread stays remarkably moist throughout its room-temperature storage period due to the melted butter and the high banana content.
Tips to Make This Best Banana Bread Recipe
The sugar quantity is deliberately flexible in this recipe. Three quarters cup is the starting point but the correct quantity for your particular batch depends on how sweet and ripe your bananas are. Very overripe almost-black bananas are significantly sweeter than just-ripe ones and a batch made with very sweet bananas can have the sugar reduced to half a cup without losing sweetness. A batch made with less ripe bananas can have the sugar increased to a full cup.
Sprinkle a tablespoon of demerara or raw sugar over the top of the poured batter before baking for the most beautiful crunchy and golden sugar crust that contrasts perfectly with the moist interior.
Helpful Notes for This Best Banana Bread Recipe
The overripe banana rule exists for both flavor and texture reasons. Overripe bananas have a significantly higher natural sugar content than ripe ones and produce a more intensely banana-flavored bread. They also have a softer and more liquid texture that integrates more smoothly into the batter and produces a more evenly moist and cohesive finished loaf.
A cup of chopped nuts, raisins, or chocolate chips can be folded into the batter after the flour is incorporated for a customized version. Chocolate chips in particular produce a deeply indulgent result that has converted more than a few people who claimed they did not enjoy banana bread into devoted fans.
Variation of This Best Banana Bread Recipe
Maria made a version adding a tablespoon of molasses to the batter alongside the sugar for a darker and more deeply flavored loaf with a rich caramel-adjacent depth that was completely extraordinary. Teresa tried folding a cup of dried cranberries and half a cup of chopped pecans into the batter for a holiday banana nut bread that was deeply festive and completely unexpected and wonderful.
For a pineapple banana bread, add half a cup of well-drained crushed canned pineapple to the mashed banana mixture for a tropical and fragrant version that is deeply vibrant and completely irresistible. Our Rhubarb Bread makes a beautifully tangy and equally easy companion for a complete and lovely quick-bread collection.
FAQs About This Best Banana Bread Recipe
Why is melted butter used instead of softened butter in this recipe?
Melted butter is what gives this bread its characteristically dense and deeply moist crumb. When butter is melted before adding to the batter it coats the flour proteins without creating any air pockets in the way that creamed butter does. The resulting loaf has a denser and more substantially moist texture that is the most completely characteristic and beloved quality of a great banana bread.
Can I use this recipe to make banana muffins?
Yes. Pour the batter into a lined or greased muffin tin filling each cup approximately two thirds full and bake at 350°F for 20 to 25 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. This recipe produces approximately 12 standard-sized banana muffins from the same ingredient quantities.
Can I double this recipe?
Yes. Simply double all the ingredient quantities and bake in two loaf pans simultaneously. The baking time remains the same. Alternatively, pour the doubled batter into a single larger pan and extend the baking time slightly.
Conclusion
This Best Banana Bread is the one-bowl no-fuss classic loaf that makes every counter of overripe bananas feel like an opportunity rather than a problem and makes every person who receives a warm slice feel genuinely and completely cared for through the most simple and completely perfect banana bread experience imaginable. We hope it brings the same easy warmth and the same deeply satisfied kitchen to your home that it has always brought to ours. Make it, share it, and come back to tell us all about it. With all our love, Maria, Lucia, and Teresa.
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Best Banana Bread The Most Easy One Bowl Classic Loaf You Will Ever Bake
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Yield: 8 to 10 servings 1x
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
The most beloved and easy one-bowl Best Banana Bread made with mashed overripe bananas stirred with melted butter baking soda salt granulated sugar beaten egg vanilla and flour with no mixer required for the most deeply moist and buttery classic loaf baked at 350°F for 55 to 65 minutes. A completely perfect and completely simple one-bowl banana bread recipe.
Ingredients
2 to 3 medium very ripe Bananas about 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups mashed
1/3 cup 76g Unsalted or Salted Butter melted
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1 Pinch Salt
3/4 cup 150g Granulated Sugar reduce or increase to taste
1 large Egg beaten
1 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
1 1/2 cups 205g All-Purpose Flour
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter an 8×4-inch loaf pan.
2. Mash ripe bananas in a large bowl until completely smooth.
3. Stir melted butter into mashed bananas.
4. Stir in baking soda and salt.
5. Add sugar, beaten egg, and vanilla. Stir until combined.
6. Mix in flour until just incorporated. No visible flour streaks. Do not overmix.
7. Pour into prepared pan.
8. Bake 55 to 65 minutes until toothpick comes out clean. Tent with foil if browning too fast.
9. Cool in pan a few minutes. Remove and cool on wire rack.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Category: Breakfast, Snack, Bread
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice
- Calories: 220
- Sugar: 19g
- Sodium: 115mg
- Fat: 7g
- Saturated Fat: 4g
- Unsaturated Fat: 2g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 37g
- Fiber: 1g
- Protein: 3g
- Cholesterol: 35mg
Keywords: best banana bread, easy one bowl banana bread recipe, best banana bread melted butter no mixer, simple classic banana bread recipe
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