banana bread

recipe

If you’ve got bananas that are a little too ripe to eat on their own, they’re perfect for banana bread!

Print Recipe

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Prepare Ingredients

Vegetable oil spray

2 cups

all-purpose flour

¾ teaspoon

baking soda

½ teaspoon

salt

very ripe bananas (skins should be speckled black)

¾ cup

sugar

large eggs

6 tablespoons

unsalted butter, melted and cooled

¼ cup

plain yogurt

1 teaspoon

vanilla extract

Gather Baking Equipment

8½-by-4½-inch metal loaf pan

bowls (1 medium, 1 large)

Whisk

Large fork or potato masher

Rubber spatula

Toothpick

Oven mitts

Cooling rack

Cutting board

Chef’s knife

Start Baking!

Vegetable oil spray

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray bottom and sides of 8½-by-4½-inch metal loaf pan with vegetable oil spray.

2 cups

all-purpose flour

¾ teaspoon

baking soda

½ teaspoon

salt

In medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt.

very ripe bananas (skins should be speckled black)

Peel bananas and place in large bowl. Use large fork or potato masher to mash bananas until broken down but still chunky.

¾ cup

sugar

large eggs

6 tablespoons

unsalted butter, melted and cooled

¼ cup

plain yogurt

1 teaspoon

vanilla extract

Add sugar, eggs, melted butter, yogurt, and vanilla to bowl with bananas and whisk until combined.

Add flour mixture and use rubber spatula to gently stir until just combined and no dry flour is visible. Do not overmix—batter should look thick and chunky. Use rubber spatula to scrape batter into greased loaf pan and smooth top.

Place loaf pan in oven. Bake until banana bread is golden brown and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 55 minutes.

Use oven mitts to remove banana bread from oven (ask an adult for help). Place loaf pan on cooling rack and let banana bread cool in pan for 15 minutes.

Use oven mitts to carefully turn loaf pan on its side and remove banana bread from pan. Let banana bread cool on cooling rack for at least 1 hour. Transfer to cutting board, slice, and serve.

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Food for Thought

Make It Your Way

Dress up banana bread with nuts, spices, citrus zest, or chocolate.

Nutty Banana Bread

Stir ½ cup walnuts, toasted and chopped, into batter along with flour mixture in step 5.

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

Stir ½ cup mini chocolate chips into batter along with flour mixture in step 5.

Toasting Nuts

Toasting nuts in the oven makes them taste better. Spread the nuts out on a rimmed baking sheet and heat the nuts in a 350-degree oven until you can smell them, which takes about 5 minutes. Once the nuts cool, chop and stir them into the batter for any cake, cookie, muffin, or quick bread.