Ready to make a perfectly MOIST banana bread? This recipe is simple! You will need about 3 bananas or 1 ½ cups of ripe bananas. No butter is needed to make this incredible loaf, we use oil instead!
I love creating recipes with bananas because we usually have them in the house and they make such an incredible flavor! After this you have to try these incredible banana oat protein bars!
Why You Will Love This Recipe:
- Texture & Taste: This healthy quick bread is soft, fluffy, and moist just like this pumpkin snack cake! With a rich sweet banana flavor!
- Effort: The hardest part might be mashing the 3 bananas and waiting for the loaf to cool! Only have 2 bananas? Make these healthy banana muffins!
- Time: It's gonna take around 15 minutes to prep this loaf and then place it in the oven and wait for it to bake - about 45 minutes.
I love banana bread as the perfect filling afternoon snack, this is something I make monthly for the family! Fun fact: When I was fourteen I sold my banana bread at the farmers market - one time I was so tired from baking I forgot to add the banana to the recipe! Ha.
Jump to:
- Why You Will Love This Recipe:
- Ingredients Needed
- How to ripen bananas for banana bread?
- Nutrition Of Banana
- Step-by-Step How to Make Moist Banana Bread
- Variations you can make to your loaf!
- Storage and Freezing
- How to serve banana bread?
- FAQ
- Other Banana Baked Snacks
- Moist Banana Bread (Easy Recipe, Made With Oil)
Ingredients Needed
This photo shows the 9 wholesome ingredients needed to make this healthy banana bread recipe. Below I will give more insight on each ingredient.
- Ripe Bananas: It's important to have bananas with lots of brown spots (yes, overripe bananas are perfect, I wrote a whole post on how to quickly ripen them) as these bananas are sweeter and give a robust flavour. You will need 3 medium bananas for this recipe.
- Dark Brown Sugar or Coconut Sugar: I love the caramel-like flavor these sugars give when mixed with bananas.
- Yogurt: Using yogurt in this loaf increases the moisture and makes a good crumb texture (alternatively you can use sour cream).
- Oil: You can use canola oil, vegetable oil, or grapeseed oil for this butter-free banana bread. Melted coconut oil, or olive oil will also work, however they can leave a stronger taste. I had to test this loaf a couple of times to get the right amount of oil to make this loaf the perfect texture.
- Eggs: 2 eggs are needed for this loaf.
- Vanilla: Adding vanilla extract increases the flavor!
- Flour: I like to use 50% organic brown flour and 50% organic white flour. But you can use white all-purpose flour or brown flour for whole wheat banana bread.
- Baking Soda: Using baking soda makes the banana bread rise and become a more fluffy texture.
- Sea salt: I like to use celtic sea salt as it is one of the least processed salts keeping the minerals in tact (which is great for our bodies!).
See recipe card below for detailed quantities.
How to ripen bananas for banana bread?
If you don't quite have over-ripe bananas here's how to quickly ripen them for the best flavor! Bananas lacking brown or that are underripe will make the loaf less sweet as well.
Place them on a baking sheet, and then into the oven to 350 and bake for 10-15 minutes until you get brown bananas (you can easily do this while you preheat the oven for baking). Then remove them from the oven, cut them open with a knife to release hot air and let them cool.
Nutrition Of Banana
In each blog post I like to share a little tip from my knowledge of holistic nutrition, so let's chat about bananas!
Did you know bananas contain tryptophan? An amino acid which converts into serotonin making us feel more relaxed and happy.
Bananas are high in potassium, vitamin B6, and vitamin C.
Step-by-Step How to Make Moist Banana Bread
Follow along with these photos taken in my kitchen and let's make this easy banana bread together!
Start by mixing the dry ingredients (whole wheat flour, baking soda, brown sugar and sea salt) together in a medium bowl, and whisk together.
In a glass large measuring cup or bowl, mash the bananas until they become smooth. You want 1 ½ cups of banana, if you don't have more banana but you almost have enough add oil until you get 1 ½ cups.
Add all the other wet ingredients (the oil, eggs, yogurt, and vanilla) to the mashed bananas. Mix together well.
Using a spatula make large folds only until everything is combined and no flour pockets remain. There may be a few streaks of flour left (this is okay as you do not want to over-mix the batter the loaf will not rise as much or be as fluffy).
Fill the greased loaf pan with the banana batter, and spread to make it even. Bake at 350 F for 40-50 minutes. The baking time will vary depending on your oven and pan size.
The best way to tell if the loaf is done is with a toothpick. Insert it in the middle, when it comes out clean (not with wet batter on the toothpick) it's fully cooked. You can also check by pressing lightly on the loaf, it's ready when the loaf springs back to a light touch.
Variations you can make to your loaf!
Here are a few ways you can change this delicious banana bread recipe to make it suit your personal preferences!
- Chocolate chips: We all love chocolate chip banana bread!! Add ½ cup right after adding the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients! And sprinkle more on top for extra chocolate!
- Banana Nut Bread: Add ½ cup nuts like chopped walnuts or pecans to the loaf before mixing it all together!
- Add Berries: Banana blueberry loaf? Yum! Add ½ cup of blueberries to the batter before baking!!
- Banana Muffins: I haven't tried this recipe in a muffin pan however let me know if you do! They will only take 18-22 minutes to bake. Or check out this awesome healthy banana muffin recipe one of my go-to recipes!
- Flax!: Make this loaf more nutrient-dense with 2 tablespoons of ground flax seeds! Add with to the flour mixture.
Storage and Freezing
The banana loaf will last 2-3 days on your counter at room temperature in an airtight container, or place in the fridge if you want it to last 5-7 days.
You can freeze the whole loaf by placing it in plastic wrap and then aluminum foil. It will stay good in the freezer for up to 6 months. Optional: Slice the loaf before freezing it to take it out one piece at a time when a snack is needed!
How to serve banana bread?
Banana bread is best served at room temperature for the best rich flavor. Cut the banana loaf into slice sizes of your preference and serve with soft butter.
My family enjoys eating banana bread with greek yogurt and a drizzle of honey to make it extra tasty. You can sprinkle on nuts like chopped pecans or chopped walnuts or sliced fruit like strawberries.
FAQ
Banana bread batter is often as thick as Greek yogurt. When pouring batter into a loaf pan it will come up between ½ - ¾ of the way up the rectangular baking dish.
When slicing banana bread into pieces it's personal preference. ½ inch to 1 inch thick is often the perfect thickness for banana bread.
You can tell if banana bread is done by pressing it with one finger in the middle of the loaf, if it slightly springs back it is done. If it doesn't spring back or it seems gooey it needs to be cooked longer.
Another way to test if your banana loaf is done is by poking the middle of the bread with a fork (or toothpick), does the fork have wet dough on it? If so cook it longer. If there are dry crumbs it is fully cooked.
Banana bread can take from 45 minutes to 1 hour 20 minutes depending on the recipe. If your oven is inconsistent or if you bake a lot get a thermometer to leave in the oven.
If you don't have a loaf pan, bake the banana bread in a greased muffin pan for 18-22 minutes. Or make it in an 8x8 square baking pan for 30-40 minutes until it is fully cooked.
Banana bread should cool at least 20 minutes before slicing and eating.
First cool the banana bread in the pan for about 10 minutes, then use a knife to run around the sides of the pan, flip the loaf upside down onto a cooling rack, and when it comes loose flip the banana bread right side up and let it cool fully.
If banana bread is too warm when you cut it it is super crumbly and it can fall apart.
Covered Banana bread can sit at room temperature for about 3-4 days. After 4 days it's best to place the banana bread into the fridge and eat within 5 days.
If you live in a humid climate, the loaf may not last 4 days unrefrigerated (as bacteria can grow faster in a humid place) and it's best to store your banana loaf in the fridge.
You can freeze banana bread into the freezer and it will last up to 6 months. I like to slice it and take it out piece by piece as I need it.
If banana bread has been unrefrigerated for more than 4 days and it smells sour or has a change in texture or taste, or you can see mold don't eat it.
Other Banana Baked Snacks
If you have more bananas, try this creamy banana smoothie (made with LOTS of bananas), banana rhubarb muffins sweetened with honey, or my favourite chocolate cookies that are moist from ½ cup of banana!
I love hearing that you made this easy moist banana bread recipe! Let me know down below in the comment section! Leave a star rating so others can find this easy recipe too!
Moist Banana Bread (Easy Recipe, Made With Oil)
Equipment
- 1 loaf pan
Ingredients
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a loaf pan and set aside.
- In medium large bowl whisk together the whole wheat flour, baking soda, brown sugar, and sea salt.
- In a large glass measuring cup mash the bananas, you should have close to 1 ½ cups of mashed banana, add more banana or oil until you get exactly 1 ½ cups. Then add ½ cup oil, eggs, yogurt, and vanilla until everything is a smooth liquid.
- Pour the banana mixture into the flour mix. Using a spatula stir everything together in big gentle folds only until everything is combined and no flour pockets remain. There may be a few flour streaks left (this is okay as you do not want to over-mix the batter the loaf will not rise as much or be as fluffy).
- Fill the loaf pan with the banana batter, spread to make it even. Bake at 350 F for 40-50 minutes. The loaf is done when a toothpick is inserted and comes out clean (not with wet batter on the toothpick) and when the loaf springs back to a light touch.
- Let the loaf cool in the tray for 5 minutes before removing it from the pan and placing it on a cooling rack to cool fully. Eat the banana bread within the next few days if kept at room temperature, or within a week if kept in the fridge. If frozen, eat within 6 months.
Ama ATHIGE SILVA says
Can you share the recepie by gramms ?
Danika Vanderpyl says
I do have a few recipes in grams and maybe will try to convert more one day. I am sorry this one is not in grams yet.