I had banana bread for the first time from a local road-side shop on our way to Hana in Maui, Hawaii. They were freshly baked and were sold in small zipper lock bags for 5$ / half lb or so. It was so delicious that we had lots of it that day. I had no idea that it was so easy to make until my friend Reshmi shared this easy banana bread recipe. Nowadays I make it whenever I have some ripe banana left. It calls for the most common ingredients that are available anytime in our kitchen pantry. You just need to mix them and bake for an hour. You do not even need a hand mixer, you can use a spoon or fork. You can have them for breakfast, as a tea-time snack or even as dessert. This is the basic recipe for a banana bread. There are n number of variations that you can make to this basic recipe. You can make it even more delicious by adding chopped walnuts, almonds, chocolate chips, raisins or other dry fruits and nuts of your choice. I will post the healthier version soon with whole wheat flour, honey, nuts and absolutely no oil!
Ingredients
- All purpose flour – 2 cup
- Banana – 3 overripe
- Sugar – 3/4 cup
- Eggs – 2
- Baking powder – 1tsp
- Baking soda – 1 tsp
- Cinnamon powder – 1/2 tsp (optional)
- Apple sauce – 1/2 cup (optional, added to make it moist)
- Vanilla essence – 1/2 tsp (optional)
- Canola oil – 1/2 cup
Method
1. Mash the banana with a fork.
2. In a bowl add 2 cups of flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon powder. Give it a mix and stir in the eggs, apple sauce, vanilla essence and canola oil. Now add the mashed banana mixture and mix well.
3. Grease a baking tray or loaf pan and pour the mixture. Preheat the oven at 350 F and bake for 1 hour until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Take it out and let it cool in the pan for around 10 mts or so. Cut into slices and enjoy!!
Tips:
1. You can substitute all purpose flour with whole wheat flour for the healthier version.
3. You can reduce the quantity of oil and add some honey instead.
when do you bananas to the mixture?
Sorry I forgot to mention it..I have updated it..Thanks for pointing it out..
excellent.. but it is more or less like fruit cake, no?
looks super delicious!!!
Aruna,
Thanks a lot..
Arunan,
It is a cake-like bread but not a fruit cake. Fruit cake is made with dried fruits and nuts which are soaked in alcohol. I guess you can call it a banana cake 🙂
yo …thats baked and it looks delicious too…! woohh…!!
way to Go.. !!
came out good..i was out of apple sause and cinnamon powder…also i added a few raisins and pinch of nutmeg powder..thanks for this easy recipe.
@BRM,
Thanks a lot..Keep visiting..
@Lekshmy,
Great to hear that it came out well..Thanks for trying it out..
Good one,way to go Yummy team!
I tried the healthy version with whole wheat flour,more honey and some organic sugar,cashews,almonds and raisins and also some blueberries on top.
I love the fact,this recipe doesn’t need butter at all,you only need 2-3 tsps of oil.
Made it in a round cake pan,so I would say it’s a Banana Blueberry Cake :-))
Preets,
Thanks a lot for trying it. Great to hear that it came out well for you. I had tried a cake with crushed nuts, sugar and blue berries as toppings. I had been planning to add all of them as toppings in my healthier version of banana bread. Also I figured out that the banana cake will come out moist and delicious even without oil or butter! I will post it once I standardize the recipe.
Great Recipe! It looks yummy..Looking forward to the healthy version..
Tried the healthy version of this recipe today with no oil, minimal sugar, blueberries, dry berry fruits and little bit of cracked nuts .. Came out very well .. Thanks for this easy recipe.
I rate it 5 stars!!!
I tried this recipe, and came out really well. Pic looks really yummy..!!!
could you please let me know what variety of banana can be used for this recipe?
Renjini,
We used the banana that is available in US which is the same as robust variety in India..
Hi Maya,
I made this banana bread using 2 robust + 2 small cheru pazhams 🙂 .Rest ass according to the recepe. Also I used 1/2 cup very finely powdered sugar and sunflower oil. It turned out very good.Thanks .
best regards,
Priya
correction of typos 🙂
Hi Maya,
I made this banana bread using 2 robust + 2 small cheru pazhams 🙂 .Rest according to the recipe. Also I used 1/2 cup very finely powdered sugar and sunflower oil. It turned out very good.Thanks .
best regards,
Priya
Thanks for your feedback, Priya 🙂 Great to know that it turned out well..
I did it and turned it out very nicely. I shared with few of my friends and all of them enjoyed it..!! I love Banana Bread 🙂 Thanks for your recipe!!!
Can we use 1/2 cup butter instead of Canola oil?
I havent tried it with butter, but I guess it should be okay..
This is such a great cake! Now I have no worries if I have over-ripe bananas… I had even recommended this recipe to a friend and it was a huge hit at her home too. Way to go!!
looks yummy!! can u suggest an alternative for canola oil ?
You can use butter instead
How Can I make it eggless?
Sorry I havent tried an eggless version..
Hi Maya..tried your cardomom cake..so many times..it’s a big hit ! Thanks for sharing the recipe.Regarding the banana bread recipe..how to make Apple sauce?is it like steaming the Apple and grind it?can we add walnuts to this while mixing?thanks for your efforts.. God bless you
So good I didn’t have apple sauce so blitzed a apple in the processes also second time round did it with a pear and added chocolate chips and walnuts this will be my go to banana bread recipe from now on also tried the biryani recipe all good
Looks yummy😋….Can you please post the healthy version that you have mentioned in the post.