Banana Bread Recipe - A Moist, Delicious Banana Bread Recipe

Are you craving a cosy and easy treat? Banana bread to the rescue! This recipe is perfect for beginner bakers or busy weeknights. With just a few steps, you’ll enjoy homemade banana bread bursting with the irresistible flavour of ripe bananas. The exact origins of this beloved treat are a mystery, but its deliciousness is undeniable! This recipe is a fantastic base, and you can easily customise it with nuts, chocolate chips, or spices. Let us know what you think of our banana bread recipe by leaving some comments below.

Banana Bread Recipe Tips

Ripeness is Key: Use very ripe bananas with brown spots on the peel for the best flavour and texture. The riper the bananas, the sweeter and more flavorful your bread will be.
Don’t Overmix: Overmixing the batter can lead to tough and dense banana bread. Mix the dry and wet ingredients just until combined, then stop!
Moisture Magic: To create an extra moist crumb, substitute half of the butter with vegetable oil. Add a tablespoon of sour cream or plain yoghurt to the batter.
Mix-in Mania: Spruce up your banana bread with your favourite add-ins! Chopped nuts, chocolate chips, dried fruit, or even a swirl of Nutella are all delicious options. Try adding a little mixed spice or cinnamon to your mix, it not only adds another dimension, but it smells wonderful when cooking!
Loaf Perfection: Line your loaf pan with parchment paper for easy removal. This also helps prevent the bread from sticking to the pan.
Freezing brown-skinned bananas, or spotty skinned is a great way of being able to use up your bananas. You can use them not just in banana bread, but muffins and also smoothies.
Have a few paper cake cases to hand ” just in case you don’t use all the mixture you can have a couple of little banana muffin style cakes for lunch boxes!

Ingredients

4 ripe/overripe bananas (approx 550 grams)
2 large eggs
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp almond extract
1 tsp vanilla extract
115 grams unsalted, softened butter (plus a little extra for greasing)
300 grams strong white bread flour (self-raising if you can’t get it)
Small sprinkling of fine salt
100 grams caster sugar
75 grams chopped walnuts (optional, good for texture though)
(if you want a denser, sweeter bread add 50 grams sultanas or a handful of chocolate chips!)

Directions

Heat the oven to 170C/325F.
Lightly butter the base and sides of a 500 gram/1lb loaf tin and line with baking paper (non-stick preferably).
Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy (you can do this either by hand or with a mixer).
In a separate bowl, beat the eggs, vanilla and almond essence. In another bowl, sift the flour, baking powder and salt.
Unless you are a really speedy cook, now is the time to transfer to the mixer! Put the sugar and butter mix into the mixer bowl, and gradually add the egg mixture, a little at a time on a slow mix. If you see the mix beginning to curdle, add a little of the flour mix, and continue to add the egg mix a little at a time. Continue to beat until everything is thoroughly mixed together.
With the machine OFF, slowly fold in the dry, sifted ingredients. Add the walnuts a few at a time, continue to mix until everything blends together.
Put the mix into the lined loaf tin and bake in the centre of the oven for about 45 to 50 mins, until the loaf is firm to the touch, but with a little ‘give’ in the centre. If you feel that it is still not cooked enough, just leave it in the oven for another 5 minutes. You can test with a metal or bamboo skewer in the centre. The skewer should come out almost clean, but not with the wet mixture on it.
Cool in the tin for about 20 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and peel off the baking paper. Leave to completely cool before attempting to slice.