10 Minute Banana Bread

Almost every weekend I bake. Lately I've been trying different recipes using my sourdough starter. At other times I baked yeasted artisan breads and sandwich breads. But one thing has remained constant: almost every time I have the oven heated for baking I make a batch of banana bread. I can safely say that I've made more batches of banana bread than any other bread.

I've tried a number of different recipes, but the majority of the time I fall back on the recipe below. It tastes great, it keeps well, it takes less than 10 minutes to prepare. You can't ask for much more than that.

This recipe is from the 1997 revision of the Joy of Cooking. There is at least one step in the Joy recipe (mixing the butter and sugar with a hand mixer for 2-3 minutes) that I skip. Doing so may make a slightly lighter loaf, but I find it unnecessary.

As I said, I've tried close to a dozen different banana bread recipes but I like this one the best. It is a little drier than recipes made with Vegetable or Canola Oil, but I like the flavor of butter and consistency of this bread better.

I've also found that we enjoy this a lot more baking it in small loaf pans rather than a regular bread pan. In the large pan I tended to have a harder time getting it to bake evenly, often resulting in overbaked ends and a gooey center. It also would go stale before we could eat the entire thing. With the small loaves, I bake 2 or 3 a weekend and freeze all but one. Every couple of days we pull a new one out of the freezer and never have any trouble with it going stale.

The other breads in the photo, by the way, are two whole wheat sourdough loaves and a sourdough rye. I haven't had a chance to even try them all yet. If they turn out good I will definitely share the recipes.

Banana Bread
Makes 1 full-sized loaf or 2 small loaves

Preheat the oven to 350.

In one bowl, combine:

1/2 stick (4-5 tablespoons) butter, softened
2 eggs
2 or 3 very ripe bananas
2/3 cup sugar

Use a potato masher, fork, or spoon to squish the banana and mix the ingredients together. It is alright for there to be small (1 centimeter) chunks of banana in the batter, but you want most of the banana to be reduced to mush.

In another bowl, combine:

1 1/3 cup all-purpose unbleached flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)

Combine the wet and dry ingredients and mix until the ingredients are blended together.

If you like, stir in additional ingredients here, such as chopped walnuts or pecans, dried cherries or apricots, or chocolate chips. A handful (about a half a cup) is about right.

Pour the dough into greased baking pans and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Small loaves take around 30 minutes, a normal-sized loaf takes around 50 minutes.

Remove from the oven. This bread is great warm, but it is excellent cold too.

After they have cooled for 5 or 10 minutes the loaves can be removed from the pan to cool. Once they are cool they can be individually wrapped and frozen.

Enjoy!

Related Recipe: Better Banana Bread.

Have a banana bread recipe that you think is superior to this one? Or even simpler? Please, share it by posting a comment below.

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Re: 10 Minute Banana Bread

I really liked this recipe! It was easy, quick, and yummy, as advertised! Thanks for sharing it! :-D


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Re: 10 Minute Banana Bread

Thank you so much for the wonderful receipe. Quick, easy, delicious! I am on our 2nd batch this week! :-D


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I usually dont reply to

I usually dont reply to these things but after just making this recipie Im so happy with how little time it took and how yummy it is that I feel obliged to say thanks! What a great way to get rid of rotting bananas, too. This one is definetly going in my recipe binder...cheers!


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Re: 10 Minute Banana Bread

Great recipe. I made one small change while playing around one afternoon and it turned out quite tasty

I changed
1 1/3 cup all-purpose unbleached flour

to
1 cup all-purpose unbleached flour
1/3 cup Soy flour

Turned out quite moist and was still quite fresh for teh 5 days it took to eat it all


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That's funny -- the only

That's funny -- the only banana bread I make is from "The Joy of Cooking". The JC one is a bit different than yours (I know it calls for grated lemon peel, but if I don't have that I use pure lemon extract), though I am sure it comes out just as good. I agree that the taste is much better with butter than oil. My family also likes the fact it stays lighter than traditional banana bread (maybe because of the lemon). All I know is that I love it the next day, toasted with butter and honey.


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Banana bread with white chocolate and walnuts

Hmmm not a fan of banana bread myself but bowed to requests to bake "different" cakes on my birthday (yes the wrong way round I know but a work tradition - bring in cake on your birthday).

So, one lemon and lime drizzle cake and box of chcoclate brownies later and worried about there being enough choice I found myself looking at the two bananas going brown in the heat (NICE WARM ENGLISH WEATHER!!!). A quick scan of the available options came up with Green and Black's white chocolate, banana and walnut loaf. Dead easy. Topped with white chocolate fondant icing. The picture is rubbish because it doesn't show how dark and moist the cake looks - it certainly smells of bananas.


  

I'll post my colleagues response tomorrow - as long as they say nice things :}


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This is next on my list, But

This is next on my list, But I warn you I put yogurt in 'bout everything I bake/cook. Place I work has a commercial kitchen, they throw out bananas that are too old. I'm there to catch um. Peel um, mash um, throw alittle lemon juice in, then vacuum seal them in pint jars for the freezer. I've never heard of such a thing as a bad banana. I usually acquire 5 to 6 bunches every couple weeks. That's way more bananas than I and wifey can eat so everybodies gonna get banana bread w/yogurt for gifts. Actually, I prefer WW Banana Blueberry Muffins myself. . .wifey says they're too heavy still, so not ready to share receipe yet. . .but, I'm eating my way to it soon.

Cheers,

OTRPU


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10 min Banana Bread

Great recipe ! Easy, quick and delicious .

Good idea to bake it in small loaf pans !!

Thanks for that recipe


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ww 10 minute banana bread

Thanks Floyd, great recipe! I used ww pastry flour, sucanat and sea salt. Delicious! I liked the idea for small loaf pans, too. Jen


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What a simple recipe, Floyd

What a simple recipe, Floyd - and it tastes very good.  Took me longer to do the dishes than to put it together.  Now I have a reason to buy the smaller pans.  I bet one could use muffin tins too.

I toasted the walnuts to about 80% a normal toasting.  Great Flavor.

SD Baker


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moist bread

Hi, thanks for sharing this recipe. I love how simple it is. I do have a question though. . I live in a tropical country (Indonesia to be exact) so the temperature is rather humid. I don't know if this is a factor but my bread came out rather moist. I looked at the picture you posted and it has a really nice dark brown crust with yellowish inside and mine is rather light all over.
I did it rather differently though, instead of putting it into smaller pans I put it into muffin pans. Again I'm not sure if that would make any difference.
I guess my question is, why does my banana bread came out looking a little unappetizing (in my opinion). How do I make it so it can come out with the darker shade of brown on the outside and yellowish on the inside.
Thank you.
ps. the taste is great though ;-)


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Hi, my guess is that a

Hi, my guess is that a slightly higher temperature will give you more color.  How does your oven do with other recipes?  Many home ovens tend to run a bit hotter or colder than the stated temperature. 

A high humidity environment definitely affects bread, as I'm sure you know. Since you can't cut back on the liquids very easily, you might try increasing the flour by a tablespoon or two.

 


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Re: My own twist

I tend to use lemon juice in my recipe and I also use sour cream which seems to keep the bread very moist for a number of days afterward.  I'll have to work on the measure ments as I tend to make it so often that I now just do it by feel.  I haven't gotten any reduced bananas lately which is when I tend to make the bread.  But keep watching...

Mysticbunny 

http://www.bakerlady.com & http://mysticbunny.blogspot.com/


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yum

i have made many, many loaves of banana bread. i am quite pleased with how it turned out. i baked it in mini bundt cake pans and the baby shower was a hit.
gracias gracias
anyone have tips on posting pics? i have one for this recipe but can't figure it out.... much better with bread than html..
much love


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Posting photos

Momaste, you might find this thread helpful along with the FAQs. It's a lot to wade through but it's good information. I use picsizer (thank you, Paddyscake!) and photobucket.


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Picsizer is a great tool..

glad you like it and found it easy to use and heck it's free, what's not to like!


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mamaste, I'd love to see

mamaste, I'd love to see pics of your bread.  Do you see the FAQ at the top of the page?  There's something in there that explains how to upload your pictures.  I hear you on the HTML!


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Floyd, I am making another

Floyd, I am making another batch of this bread now.  I love it.  It so happens that I had knee surgery yesterday and this recipe is about at the limits of my ability for the moment.  

I have a method for storing old bananas I'd like to share, and many of you probably already do this - as the bannana gets the point where I have to make bread or throw them out, I place  them in the freezer as-is, not peeled in a bag.  When you need 2 or 3 for this recipe (I use 3), simply place them in the refrigerator the evening before you will need it.  The next day it will be soft.  Simply cut off the tip like a cigar, and it will easily squeeze out, dicard the skin.

 SD Baker


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Speedy recovery SDBaker..

I also store nanas that way..


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I like the frozen banana

I like the frozen banana idea, and will give it a try.  May you have a speedy recovery - I know it's a lot of work, but well worth it.


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The one drawback to this

The one drawback to this method of storing is that since the cell walls are pierced by the frozen water crystals it is difficult to achieve a chunky banana consistency once unfrozen, which is nice.  However, if you like it puree'd, there is no easier way.

 Thanks for the good wishes, I should say I "kneed" to get better  : )

 SD Baker


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Peanut butter banana bread. Mmmm good!

Hi All,

 

I use 1 3/4 cup flour, 1/2 cup butter (1 stick softened), 1/4 tsp salt, 1/2 cup drk brown sugar and 1/4 cup white sugar and lastley...

 

1/4 cup natural peanut butter.

 

Otherwise, same recipe. GREAT FLAVOR! Reminds me of banana peanut-butter sandwiches I toast on a cold morning for breakfast. Moist, too.

 

pincupot


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nice variation - with chocolate and pecans

On a hunch, I added as extra about between 1/4 of a cup and 1/3 cup of good quality dutch cocoa to this and a half a cup of chopped pecans.

I didn't add any extra sugar, as I felt the recipe had enough, and let me tell you this was a devine combination.  

I was a little surprised at how smooth the cocoa was; it really didn't require any extra sugar at all. It makes me wonder now if, sans cocoa, the sugar could be reduced a little... 


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I substituted oil for

I substituted oil for butter, increased egg and baking powder amounts and blitzed everything in a food processor.

20 second Banana Bread! 

Turned out with a finer texture than the banana bread I normally make but can't beat it for quick and easy!

 


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Regarding "naners"

I am looking forward to making this banana bread, but I had some comments on storing overripe 'naners.  I have also frozen bananas just as SKbaker does, and this work fine.  Since it's just my hubby and me now, bananas tend to go dark before we can get to them.  So we hardly buy them anymore.  Because of that, I now always have on hand 3-4 jars of "baby food bananas" which are, afterall, 100% bananas without preservatives. Doing this, I can always make banana bread whenever the urge strikes!


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Cream cheese topping

I subsituted the 2/3 cup of sugar with 1/4 cup brown sugar and 1/4 cup honey. I baked them in mini fluted silicon moulds for 15 min on 200 deg C, reduce to 180 deg C and bake for another 5-10 min . When cooled I iced them with cream cheese topping & toasted almond bits. Mixture of Philadelphia cream cheese, icing sugar, lemon juice & zest. This is great!

I tried the topping with melted dark chocolate mixed with sour cream. Not as good as the cream cheese topping.

Mini Banana Bread

Mini Banana Bread


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It is so easy and convenient

My family loves this one. It is simple and we can have it after dinner at the last minute!

I am saving this one although I think my husband knows it by heart now! So I can just ask him for the recipe. 

Thank you,

Connie C 

Hmmm... Bananas ffrom baby food jars?  Never knew! Will have to try it! 


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