Banana Bread

From the kitchen of Carly

Dense, buttery banana bread with deeply caramelized edges. Very ripe bananas deliver natural sweetness while melted butter keeps every crumb tender. Walnuts and coconut are optional but worthwhile additions that add textural contrast and subtle richness.

Banana Bread

Ripe bananas are the whole story here, so wait until they're spotted and soft before you bake. This loaf is tender and moist, never dense, because you fold the wet into the dry instead of the reverse. Walnuts and coconut are optional but welcome, though honestly the bread speaks loudest when it's just banana, butter, and the bare backbone of flour and leavening.

Prep
n/a
Cook
n/a
Total
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Servings
4
Difficulty
medium

Ingredients

4 servings

  • 1 stickbutter, melted, plus softened butter for greasing
  • 2 cupflour
  • 1/2 tspsalt
  • 1 1/2 tspbaking powder
  • 1 cupsugar
  • 3very ripe bananas, mashed with a fork until smooth
  • 2eggs
  • 1 tspvanilla extract
  • 1/2 cupchopped walnuts
  • 1/2 cupshredded unsweetened coconut

Instructions

  1. Set the oven to 350°F and rub a 9x5-inch loaf pan generously with softened butter.

  2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, and sugar until evenly combined.

  3. In a separate bowl, stir the melted butter into the mashed bananas. Beat in the eggs and vanilla until the mixture is uniform, then pour it over the dry ingredients and fold until just combined, no dry streaks remaining. If using the walnuts or coconut, fold them in gently at the end.

  4. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and slide it into the oven. Bake 50 to 60 minutes, until the top is deep golden brown and a toothpick poked into the center comes out almost clean. Rest the pan on a rack for 15 minutes, then invert carefully to release the loaf. Serve warm or at room temperature, or wrap tightly in plastic and keep at room temperature for a couple of days.

  5. Honey Whole Grain Banana Bread: For a nuttier, delicately sweet loaf, swap the all-purpose flour for 1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour and 3/4 cup oat bran. Pull the sugar back to 3/4 cup, whisk in 1 teaspoon cinnamon with the dry ingredients, and stir 1/4 cup honey into the melted butter.

  6. Chocolate Banana Bread: Cut the flour down to 1 1/2 cups and whisk in 1/2 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder with the dry ingredients. Once the batter comes together, fold in up to 1 cup chopped dark chocolate.

  7. Tropical Banana Bread: Replace half the sugar with 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar. Once the batter is mixed, fold in 1/3 cup chopped dried pineapple, 1/3 cup shredded unsweetened coconut, and 1/3 cup chopped macadamia nuts.

  8. Orange Banana Bread: Whisk 2 tablespoons of grated orange zest into the dry ingredients, then stir 1/4 cup fresh orange juice into the melted butter and bananas before combining everything.

  9. Pumpkin Bread: Swap the bananas for 1 cup pumpkin puree. Into the dry ingredients, whisk 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, 1/4 teaspoon ginger, and 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves.

  10. Peanut Butter Banana Bread: Stir 1/3 cup peanut butter directly into the mashed bananas, and reduce the melted butter to 5 tablespoons.

  11. Apricot Cream Cheese Bread: Replace the bananas with 1/2 cup apricot puree, made by soaking 1/2 cup dried apricots in boiling water for 10 minutes, draining and reserving 2 tablespoons of the soaking liquid, then pureeing. Cut the butter down to 3 tablespoons. In a separate bowl, beat 1/4 cup (2 ounces) cream cheese with the eggs, vanilla, and sugar until smooth and well combined. Stir the apricot puree and butter into the cream cheese mixture, then fold in the dry ingredients.

Tips from the kitchen

  • Mash the bananas thoroughly with a fork until almost completely smooth, no lumps. Lumps won't hydrate properly and you'll end up with a spotty crumb.
  • Don't overmix once you combine wet and dry. Stir just until you see no streaks of flour, then stop. Overmixing develops gluten and toughens the crumb.
  • The toothpick should come out almost clean, not completely clean. A few moist crumbs are fine and mean the bread stays tender after cooling.
  • Cool the loaf in the pan for a full 15 minutes before turning it out. This sets the structure just enough to prevent crumbling.

Variations

  • Honey Whole Grain: Swap 1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour and 3/4 cup oat bran for the all-purpose, cut sugar to 3/4 cup, add 1 teaspoon cinnamon and 1/4 cup honey to the melted butter for a deeper, nuttier crumb.
  • Chocolate Banana: Reduce flour to 1 1/2 cups and whisk in 1/2 cup Dutch-process cocoa. Fold up to 1 cup chopped dark chocolate into the batter for chocolate-forward richness.
  • Tropical: Replace half the sugar with 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar, then fold in 1/3 cup each of chopped dried pineapple, shredded unsweetened coconut, and chopped macadamia nuts for brightness and crunch.
  • Brown Butter Sage: Brown the butter before mixing it with the bananas, letting it cool slightly first. Whisk a small pinch of dried sage into the dry ingredients for an earthy, unexpected note.

Make ahead and storage

Wrapped in plastic at room temperature, the bread keeps for two to three days. It freezes beautifully for up to three months and tastes best when thawed at room temperature before eating.