Banana bread is classic breakfast food. It’s warm, comforting, and delicious—the perfect way to start your Saturday mornings. It is the perfect way to use up those overripe bananas that you just can’t bear to throw away. If you’ve never tried this delicious treat, now is the time!
In fact, it’s so easy to make that even if you’re a beginner cook, you’ll be able to whip up a batch of this delicious treat in no time. Plus, when you eat banana bread made with natural ingredients, you can feel good about what you’re putting into your body.
The best part? Banana bread is versatile! You can add or remove ingredients depending on your tastes and dietary needs, so everyone will be able to find something they love.
What Is Banana Bread?
Banana bread is a quick and easy way to turn overripe bananas into a delicious treat. It’s versatile, too: you can add chocolate chips or nuts, or even try a different kind of flour. It’s also a great way to get kids involved in the kitchen!
There’s no complicated ingredients or difficult steps when making banana bread—just mix everything together and throw it in the oven. You can enjoy it warm with some honey on it, or cold with a cup of tea. Or slice some banana bread, add a scoop of ice cream, and top it with a drizzle of caramel sauce for a decadent dessert.
Ingredients for Banana Bread:
Banana bread is prepared with mashed bananas, unsalted softened butter, flour, sugar/honey, eggs, vanilla extract, and baking soda. This type of bread is moist, tender, and has a cake-like crumb. Banana bread can be made with raisins or nuts; some recipes also call for chocolate chips.
Overripe bananas (brown and mushy) are the perfect choice for making banana bread. We promise you’ll never throw your overripe bananas ever again once you have tried these best banana bread recipes.
Recipe 1:
Granola and nuts banana bread recipe
When you want a quick and easy banana bread recipe, you just can’t beat this one. This classic recipe is moist, easy to make, and packed with ripe banana flavor. With a short list of ingredients, this banana bread recipe is one of the easiest and most satisfying things to whip up.
The perfect blend of overripe bananas, all-purpose flour, granola, granulated sugar, brown sugar, unsalted butter, and nuts for a healthy banana bread recipe that is great for a weekend treat or a holiday gift for your fitness-conscious friend—just wrap it in foil or cellophane and tie on some ribbon!
Ingredients:
- 1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup melted unsalted butter
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 4 ripe bananas
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup granola
- Raisins (optional)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup nuts of your choice (walnuts/almonds)
Directions:
- Preheat electric oven to 375°F. Place parchment paper or baking paper on the bottom of the loaf pan. Apply non-stick cooking spray so that it sticks to the pan.
- Add overripe or fresh bananas to a mixing bowl and mash them with a fork.
- Add sugar and butter to the dry ingredients.
- Add eggs (one at a time) and mashed bananas into the mixture.
- Mix well until the batter is smooth and creamy.
- Pour the batter into the loaf pan that has been lined with parchment paper and smooth the top. Add granola and a mixture of nuts over the top to create an exquisite presentation and a nice texture.
- Bake for 35-45 minutes in the preheated oven until a wooden stick inserted into the middle comes out clean.
- Take it out of the oven and let it cool on a wire rack. After 20 minutes, carefully invert the coconut flour bread, remove it from the loaf pan, and cool it on a wire rack. Then cut it into slices. It’s time to serve your bread.
Recipe 2:
Coconut Flour Banana Bread
This banana bread is a healthy and delicious dessert or snack! It’s moist and decadent but has no refined sugars and is gluten-free.
Made with mashed bananas, coconut flour, eggs, and vanilla extract, this Coconut Flour Banana Bread is a healthy, gluten-free, and Low-carb alternative to your everyday banana bread. It comes out moist and flavorful every time.
The bread is not only rich in flavor; it is also very healthy. The banana bread recipe is made from coconut flour, which is low in carbohydrates and fats. Coconut flour is a gluten-free alternative to wheat flour and is rich in proteins and fibers.
Ingredients:
- 3 ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 ¼ cups mashed banana)
- 1/3 cup almond butter
- 1 ½ tsp. vanilla extract
- 2 eggs (room temperature)
- 1/2 cup coconut flour
- 3/4 tsp. baking soda
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips (I recommend dairy-free if desired)
Instructions
- Before you begin, preheat your oven to 350°F. Prepare a loaf pan by lining it with parchment paper. To ensure that it sticks perfectly, spray it with non-stick cooking spray.
- Put overripe or fresh bananas in a bowl and mash them with a fork. Then add the vanilla extract and almond butter.
- Add one egg at a time to the mixture, and mix well. Add the coconut flour, baking soda, and salt to the mixer at medium-low speed. Mix everything together until it forms a smooth and creamy batter. By using a spatula, fold in the chocolate chips.
- Add the batter to the prepared loaf pan. Top it off with a few more chocolate chips. Let it bake for about 30-35 minutes or until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Take it out of the oven and let it cool on a wire rack. After 20 minutes, carefully invert the coconut flour bread, remove it from the loaf pan, and cool it completely on a wire rack. Then cut it into slices. It’s time to serve your bread.
How to make banana bread healthy?
Whole Wheat Flour – The first step is to replace the all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour. You can also use millet flour or some other alternative flour (coconut flour), but whole wheat flour is the best choice. Applesauce can be substituted for butter in banana bread to make it more healthy.
Natural Sweeteners – Banana bread is traditionally made with granulated sugar, making it an unwise choice for diabetics. But it doesn’t mean people with health concerns cannot enjoy such a wonderful snack. An excellent way to make your banana bread healthy is to use some natural sweetener like honey. You can also add brown sugar as it turned out so good with brown sugar.
Nuts – Add chopped nuts, raisins, dried fruits, and walnuts to your banana bread. These ingredients will add a crunchy twist to your banana bread and give it a nice texture. You can add a nutritional punch by adding chopped almonds, chopped walnuts, or any other nuts of your choice to level up your simple banana bread.
Is banana bread meant to be moist?
The ideal banana bread should be moist but not soggy and has a texture similar to a cake. Choosing the right flour to banana ratio is crucial to make a loaf of perfectly moist banana bread.
When baking, the banana bread batter should stick to the spoon. If the batter is too wet, the bread will become too moist. If the batter is too dry, the bread will become too dense. So measure the ingredients carefully and use the right ingredients to enjoy delicious banana bread.
Is baking soda necessary in banana bread?
Baking soda is a leavening agent and key to light, fluffy, and moist banana bread. Without it, your bread will turn out dense and dry.
There are a few easy ways to substitute baking soda in your recipe. Replace baking soda with baking powder if you need to make a last-minute substitution. However, this will result in a slightly denser loaf than one that includes baking soda.
How to store banana bread?
There are two different approaches to this question.
Room Temperature – Banana bread is best when it is fresh, but if you want to keep your banana bread for more than a day or two, however, you need to store it properly. If you’re wondering how to store banana bread at room temperature, don’t worry! You can keep banana bread for about four days on your countertop. To keep the banana bread fresh, make sure you have cooled it completely before putting it in an airtight container on your countertop.
Freezing – The second approach is freezing. If you are going to freeze banana bread, cool it completely, then wrap it in aluminum foil or plastic wrap. You can store it for up to 4 months.
Why is it called banana bread and not banana cake?
There is a simple explanation for this. Food companies and manufacturers have been using the word ‘bread’ to describe quick bread (loaves) for decades. Banana bread is often referred to as “banana cake” because of the way it’s baked. Banana bread is typically baked in a loaf pan, which is quite different from the way a cake is baked. That’s why it’s called “banana bread.”
What to serve with Banana Bread?
Delicious, classic banana bread is a great snack, dessert, or breakfast item. It’s also a versatile addition to any meal.
Here are some of our favorite ways to serve banana bread:
Fruit salad: A fruit salad pairs well with banana bread because it balances out the sweetness of both while adding its flavor profile. Try mixing strawberries, bananas, pineapple, and blueberries with a light vinaigrette dressing to match the sweetness of the banana bread.
Peanut butter: This classic combination will satisfy anyone who craves something creamy and salty at the same time as sweet! Spread some peanut butter on top of a slice of warm banana bread, and enjoy!
Blueberries: Blueberries and yogurt are excellent when paired with banana bread. The tartness of the berries will bring out the sweetness of the banana in your loaf, making it more delicious.
Vanilla Ice Cream: Cut the banana bread into slices and dip it in vanilla ice cream. You can also use brown bread to dip in ice cream.
Iced Tea: Banana bread is very rich in carbohydrates, so it is best served with a low-carb tea, such as Iced tea. It is usually served for breakfast or for weekend breakfasts with tea, but you can also serve it for dinner or lunch with a cup of coffee.