Grandma’s Banana Bread

This Moist Banana Bread recipe is easy to make, wonderfully moist and soft. It’s the perfect way to use up those overripe bananas. A great Banana Bread recipe that you can make ahead for easy breakfasts or for when company comes over.

This delicious banana bread recipe has been on my blog for over 10 years. It’s a recipe that my Grandma made growing up and is a keeper of a recipe. You know it’s a wonderful recipe when it’s passed down from your Grandma! This will always be my favorite banana bread recipe to make!

One of the things I love most about this recipe is that it makes a moist banana bread. There is nothing worse than having a slice of dry banana banana bread that catches in your throat.

This banana bread has the perfect amount of moisture to it and is wonderful to make for an easy breakfast or for when company comes over.

I come from a Dutch heritage and have fond memories of my great-grandmas serving up slices of banana bread with cheese and butter for coffee time after church. If you’ve never tried a slice of cheddar cheese and some butter on your banana bread, give it a go! It’s my favorite way to eat banana bread! The perfect combination of sweet and salty.

Ingredients for Banana Bread

• Sugar: I use white sugar for this recipe.
• Flour: an all purpose flour works excellent. You could easily use another type of flour (like almond flour or whole wheat flour), but just know it will change the texture of your banana bread.
• Salt: don’t skip the salt! It helps to balance out the sweetness of this bread
• Baking Soda: the biggest tip for this recipe would be to make sure your baking soda is fresh. Using expired baking soda will result in a flat and dense loaf of banana bread.
• Ripe Bananas: the riper the better! I typically like to make banana bread with bananas that are more brown on the peel than yellow.
• Eggs: room temperature eggs are best for this recipe. Eggs that are at room temperature are more easily dispersed and blended with the other ingredients. You’ll also get better volume on your baked goods when you use room temperature eggs.
• Vanilla: I love using a good vanilla extract for my banana bread. It adds great flavor!
• Oil: My personal preference is to use avocado oil in all of my baking. You’re welcome to swap out for your oil of preference. I would steer clear of using olive oil because it will give different taste to your banana bread.

How to make Banana Bread

• In a large mixing bowl stir together your dry ingredients (sugar, flour, salt and baking soda).
• Stir your eggs and oil into the dry ingredient mixture.
• Set this mixture aside.
• Mash your bananas on a plate with a fork or a potato masher.
• Add the mashed banana mixture to the mixture into your large bowl.
• Slowly stir together until the wet ingredients and the dry ingredients are incorporated.
• Grease a loaf pan (a metal loaf pan or a glass loaf pan work great).
• Pour the banana bread batter into the bread pan and place into the oven.
• Bake for 45-50 minutes or until a knife comes out clean.
• Take the banana bread loaf out of it’s baking dish and place on a wire rack to cool.
• Slather a hot slice with butter and enjoy!

Check the Freshness of your Baking Soda

When it comes to making banana bread, you’ll want a good rise on your loaf. If you are finding that your banana bread looks flat, make sure to check the freshness of your baking soda.

Baking soda loses its leavening potency over time. To keep your baking soda fresh, store it in a sealed container in a dry and cool place.

You can test your vinegar by sprinkling a teaspoon of it into a few tablespoons of vinegar. If the baking soda bubbles, it will still be good to use.

Variations

• Add in half a cup of chocolate chips for a delicious chocolate chip banana bread.
• Mix in your favorite nuts such as pecans or walnuts to create a banana nut bread.
• Use this banana bread batter to create banana muffins. Simply pour the batter into muffin tins. Add in some nuts and you’ve got tasty banana nut muffins.

Tips for Success

Below are a few of my top tips for making the best banana bread of your life!

Use Overripe Bananas: the key to a delicious and moist banana bread is making sure you are using overripe bananas. You want them to be nice and brown (spotted is fine too). Make sure they haven’t turned black (at this point they’re just rotten). When you are mashing your bananas, make sure you don’t leave any large pieces. There is nothing worse than a smushy banana chunk in your bite of banana bread.

Don’t over mix the batter: when it comes time to adding the mashed bananas into the mixture, make sure you only stir long enough to incorporate them. Over mixing your banana bread result in a dense loaf.

Don’t over bake the loaf: I would suggest starting to check your loaf of banana bread around the 45 minute baking mark. Everyone’s ovens bake a little differently and this is a safe way to make sure you’re not over baking. After the 45 minute mark, you can check it every 5 minutes. Over baking your banana bread will result in a dry loaf. You’ll want your knife to come out the center of the loaf clean. The bake time will vary for each other and altitude.

Use a splash of milk: If your bananas aren’t quite ripe enough, you can always add a splash of milk to the batter.

How to Serve Banana Bread

Banana bread can be served many ways. It can be served as a breakfast food, for coffee time or for an after school snack.

If you’re serving it for breakfast, serve it alongside some fresh fruit and bacon.

Can you Freeze Banana Bread

Banana bread is a great food to make ahead and freeze for later. To freeze banana bread you’ll want to make sure the loaf of banana bread is cooled completely.

Wrap the banana bread in plastic wrap multiple times. Once you have wrapped it in plastic wrap, you’ll want to add a layer of aluminum foil around the loaf of banana bread.

Place the loaf into a sealable plastic bag (making sure to push out as much air as possible).

Mark the date on the outside of the bag and pop it into the freezer.

When it comes time to eat the banana bread, pull it out of the freezer 4-5 hours before serving.

How to Ripen Bananas

If you are wanting to make banana bread but your bananas are still not quite ripe enough, below are two ways to ripen them

24 Hour Counter Method: You can place your bananas into a paper bag. Close the end of the paper bag and leave the bananas on the counter. The bananas will emit ethylene which causes them to ripen faster. You can also add a banana to the brown paper bag to speed up the process.

Quick Oven Method: If you don’t want to wait 24 hours to ripen your bananas, you can ripen your bananas in just 20 minutes. Place your bananas on a baking sheet and bake at 250 degrees for 20 minutes.

Can I Freeze Overripe Bananas?

Yes, you can freeze overripe bananas. Simply peel the banana, place it into a freezer bag and pop them into the freezer for later. The bananas will keep for 6-8 months in the freezer.

How to Keep Banana Bread Moist

Banana bread is best kept moist by wrapping it up tightly with layers of plastic wrap. Make sure that your banana is completely cooled before you wrap it in plastic wrap (otherwise you’ll end up with soggy banana bread).

You can store the wrapped banana bread on your counter for up to 3 days. Or you can store it wrapped in your refrigerator for around 6 days.

What Kind of Mixer Can You Use?

You can either use an electric mixer (like a hand mixer) or a kitchen-aid mixer.

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