The first thing I ever made completely by myself (meaning my mom wasn’t allowed to help beyond answering the occasional question) was a chocolate chip banana bread. My high school sweetheart was a fan of the chocolate and banana combo and my mom made a mean chocolate chip banana muffin. I took her recipe and put all the dough in a loaf pan instead of a muffin pan.
For some reason I felt a single loaf was more romantic than a pile of muffins? Or something? I had this image in my head of a fresh loaf of bread in a basket. Why that couldn’t be muffins in a basket, I’m not entirely sure. But loaf. HAD to be loaf.
This switch to loaf made everything more stressful. If I had muffins I could have tested one with my boyfriend being none the wiser. With a loaf, stealing a slice would have been somewhat obvious.
So I blindly handed over my first baking attempt for someone else to consume.
He told me he liked it, but I had convinced myself that he would say that no matter what since he was obligated to as my significant other. I determined I couldn’t take the stress and decided I should put the idea of me baking away forever.
Well, there’s a lot of things you’re wrong about yourself when you’re a teenager. A lot.
This banana bread is not that muffin turned banana bread. I think I might have a mental block against the other bread because I was never 100% sure that it came out well. I have a suspicion this newer one is in fact better, either due to my extra 8 years of baking experience, or the fact that it has six bananas in it.
SIX bananas. I can barely fit six bananas in a loaf pan, but they somehow fit into a loaf of bread.
Some banana breads taste like a banana flavoured quick bread. This one tastes more like bananas turned into a quick bread texture. So be prepared for some heavy bread.
If you need chocolate with your banana, feel free to add a cup of chocolate chips to the recipe. Or you could just do what I do…
Aww.. yeah. Nutella makes everything better.
Banana Banana Bread
Adapted from AllRecipes.com
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 cup butter
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 6 mashed medium overripe bananas
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9×5 inch loaf pan. (My 9×5 pan is currently scratched out of commission and so I used two 8×5 pans which you can also do, but I prefer the one big 9×5 loaf.)
- In a large bowl, combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, use an electric mixer to cream together butter and brown sugar. Stir in eggs and mashed bananas until well blended. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture; stir just to moisten, do not over-mix. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.
- Bake in preheated oven for 60 to 65 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean. Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack.
Bread tastes even better the next day. To store, simply wait for it to cool completely and then wrap in plastic wrap.
Amandeleine 
I love banana bread, especially chocolate chip. I also throw in raspberries, or blueberries. Mine only has 3 bananas per loaf though… I may have to try with six.
Also I never heard anyone tell anyone else about the terrible bread you made, so with our group of friends that meant it was fantastic. Funny how we see ourselves as teenagers… or even now, isn’t it?
Fair warning with the six, it is a SUPER dense bread! I like it that way though. :)
Brian was the only one who ever got to see the bread or try it, and he’s too nice to saying anything bad about it! So we don’t know for sure! :)
I found it to be gooey. And only used 4 bananas . Any suggestions?
Banana bread with 6 bananas! I’ll have to try that! My bananas still not ripe enough for baking though, time to go get me some overripe bananas?
Lenda, I had the same trouble, no ripe bananas but I found a site that said to place the bananas in a pre-heated 350 degrees on a baking sheet for 15 minutes. The skins get black but the flesh of the banana stays its normal color. it brings the bananas sweetness out. let them cool then mash them up after removing from the skin, the sweet juices and all. Turned out devine!
That sounds simple enough! Thanks for the tip, Kim. :)
thats what I do if bananas aren’t ripe enough
Just throw the bananas in the oven. They will brown up
would this work with wholemeal flour do you think?!
Oh Holy! That banana bread is stunning….as a 6-banana bread should be, of course!
I found this post though Pinterest. The photo was so beautiful that I just had to come here to read the recipe! Love it! And love your site :-).
I would like to invite you to share this post (and other posts :-) ) on a new photo based recipe sharing site that launched this month. The idea is simple: all recipe photographs are published within minutes of submission. And, of course, the images link back to the author’s site.
It’s called RecipeNewZ (with Z) – http://recipenewz.com
I hope you get a chance to visit and to share some of your delicious posts with our viewers. It would be a pleasure to have you on board :-)
p.s. I agree that Nutella makes everything better :-)
Just made it……its in the oven smells delicious :-) can’t wait!! Thank you for the awesome recipe.
i just put in a pan …… when life gives you bananas, bake a banana bread or cake
You can use almost any pan but ckooing times will vary depending on the thickness of the bread. Lower the oven temperature for thinner layers.There are other things you can use as well. Try an empty coffee can or a clay flower pot. Both work well.
Lenda – Just buy bananas in huge quanities, let them get super ripe then throw them in the feezer! Then you’ll always have ripe bananas at the ready!
Natalie – Yup! Wholemeal should work fine.I’ve never tried it, but the density of the bread with all those bananas should hold up to the wholemeal flour well.
Amrita – Thanks! :)
RecipeNewz – I’ll check you guys out, thanks for stopping by!
Angela – How did it turn out??
mrs. chan – Haha, words to live by!
Would it work with only using 4 bannanas?
As long as they’re not too small, the bread will turn out. Just keep in mind that using less bananas will lighten the texture, and make it less banana-y!
Hello.. i dont have brown sugar can i use white sugar.. thnx
Curious how it turned out? I have four ripe bananas just waiting for a good recipe!
Pingback: This Heat Is Bananas « Look Live
Butter or Margarine??
Just made this recipe and it turned out fabulous! I will never use another recipe again! Thank you;))
made this today and it was super yummy and easy! i wasnt sure how full to fill the pans so ended up using 2 only about half full of batter to be safe and only cooked for about 45 mins, ended up with 2 smaller loaves lol but very good will keep this recipe!
Either way works, 2 small or one big! The big one is kinda unruly anyway, it balloons out of my pan! Trevor loves it that way though because the slices are bigger. :P
Pingback: Banana banana bread | oneeightoneone
Oh boy I made these last night and they are goooooood! I so missed banana bread when I moved back from the US to India- most bakeries here do dry cakey sort of banana bread. I was a banana short but it’s still turned out super banana-y, dense, crumbly and moist. It’s very hard to get cakes this moist without drowning them in butter, but the bananas do the trick! I also threw in large chocolate chunks, because, chocolate.
Most importantly, I can totally eat large quantities at one go without feeling guilty- it’s mostly banana right??? :p
One of my favourite recipes ever! Thank youuu!
I been keep bananas in the freezer. Today is a good day to bake, cold and rain outside. Your banana bread recipes is out standing. I am also put 1 tsp vanilla extract. Thanks for sharing
Just made this!! I am a pampered chef consultant, used our brownie pan so I can have individual servings. It is amazing!!!
Just made this, it’s in the oven now. I can’t wait to try it. Thank you for sharing your recipe.
Just made this today, and it is THE BEST!!! I used 4 large bananas…perfect. I may add a touch of vanilla next time, just ‘because’ but I love the brown sugar taste that comes through – otherwise, I wouldn’t change a thing. No more searching for a good recipe for banana bread. . . this is it.
Revti – Haha, you’re totally right, when the banana to everything else ratios are this crazy, you’re basically just eating a flour-y banana at this point. Healthy! ;)
Anon – So glad it worked out for you! I’ve tried adding vanilla before and didn’t find it changed the flavour much, might be because of the crazy number of bananas!
Jaime – Ooh, good idea! I have a mini-bundt pan, I bet that would be a cute application of the banana bread!
Maria – Did it turn out?? Thanks for stopping by!
Judy – Yeah, I’m obsessed with how this bread just kind of tastes like eating bananas and brown sugar in bread form. NOTHING wrong with that! :)
I don’t have any stick butter other than “salted sweet cream” butter from target that says great for baking, think that’ll be okay? Or I have good ole’ country crock in a tub!!
That butter should work fine! I would just skip the 1/4 teaspoon of salt, or at least reduce it down to a pinch, depending on how salty that brand of butter tends to be!
That banana bread was fantastic! I am so glad I found you on pinterest. I made the bread yesterday and my husband just came home with 6 bananas. He wants me to make another loaf!
Oh, I wonder what I did wrong, it was almost like 2c of flour was way too much. It was floury tasting and dry! UPsets me bc of all the amazing reviews!!!! :-(
MollyL – So glad you and your husband ended up such fans!
Anon – Oh no! The last thing I ever expected to hear with this recipe was that it was dry with this many bananas! Did you have to make any substitutions? How big were your bananas? Even if it was dry, it being “floury tasting” is unusual, maybe the flour didn’t get incorporated in fully? You don’t want to over-mix this banana bread, but you definitely still want to make sure all the flour is moistened!
Mine was dry also
This bread is fantastic!! seriously the best bread i have found.
*add vinalla
* makes a HUGE batch, could easily be split into 2 bread pans
Just stuck this in the oven! I’m definitely not a baker but more of the cook. Out of all the recipes I viewed, this looked like the best to try. I’ll let ya know how it turns out… But my question is… (as long as I did okay) for my next batch I want to add nutella!!! I love the stuff. How much?
Oooh! So I’ve never added nutella directly to the bread before (I always slather it on afterwards :D) but I imagine that after you poured the batter into the pan, you could take a couple tablespoons to (potentially) a quarter cup of nutella, dollop it on top of the batter and then swirl it around a little with a butter knife! It’s not a ton of nutella, but the pans already are so full I’d be worried about adding more than that! You might be able to add more if you split it across two pans. :)
Let me know if you try it with nutella!
Amanda, this is my fav recipe for banana bread, and i have tried so many (i do NOT excel at b bread) I did not have 6 bananas so I used less and will follow the recipe exactly next time….even tho it is yummy with 3 too! Thankyou!
I’m so glad!! And yeah, this recipe goes overkill on the banana… which I love, but it’s nice how you can downsize the banana when you’re in a pinch. ;)
Mines wasn’t sweet
Hmm… maybe your bananas were less sweet, fruit can be finicky that way! Feel free to up the sugar to a cup or so if your bananas aren’t as sweet!
Best banana bread recipe!!! Found your recipe on Pinterest and made two batches (4 mini loaves) today. My husband always asked me to make my banana bread more “banana-ey”. Your recipe is just that, very Banana-ey!
Awesome! It is definitely Banana-ey if nothing else. :)
YUM!! Found this on Pinterest, and had to try it. I have been saving bananas in my freezer for a while, and finally found a good recipe to try it in! I had everything on hand, made it in a 9×5 pan. I had to leave it in the oven for about 15 minutes longer than the recipe says, but it was worth the wait! I did add walnuts that I had leftover from a Christmas cookie recipe, but it would have been great without them too! So glad I found this!!
Hooray! Glad it worked out well for you! It does make a great base recipe for anything you want to throw into it, nuts, chocolate, etc! I’ve even heard of throwing butterscotch chips in for something a touch more indulgent. :o
Was looking for a sweeter flavor. Kind of dry and tasteless :/
Oh no, I’m sorry! Maybe it was your bananas? This recipe really puts the bananas on display, every other ingredient is really just there to help turn the bananas into a bread, that’s why there’s 6 bananas in it! Sorry it didn’t work out for you, but thanks for trying it out anyways! :)
Kerani and Anonymous are pretty negative on everything anyone says ..I made it and thought it was perfect!!
I just made a batch & stuck it in the oven. :) crossing my fingers hoping I didn’t over mix…. :)
It turned out great!!!! Love it. :)
Awesome! So glad it worked out for you :)
Thanks for posting this recipe. I <3 it! Didn't last past noon… But that's ok, just means it was that good. :) friend & fam helped. I'm already getting some bananas ready for my next batch. Thanks again! :)
This is my go to banana bread recipe. I can make it with less bananas, if I don’t have all 6, and add pecans or walnuts at will. My 3 teenagers love it. I’m making it into mini muffins this morning. I love your blog!
do you know how many servings this recipe is!? thank you!
It all depends on how thick you like to cut your banana bread! It makes one large domed 9×5 inch loaf or two short 8×5 inch loaves. I’d say for either, about 10 servings is close (going with 8×5 inch loaves makes pretty small bread, so I think two slices would be in order for a serving!) but I also like generous slices of banana bread. :)
I am making this delicious banana bread for the second time today! My family and I love it! Thank you for sharing your recipe!
Amazing banana bread! Just finished baking it. Thanks for sharing this wonderful and easy to make recipe.
I have made this many times. My oh so fave banana bread. Moist and banana-y!!
This is the best banana bread I have ever had. It is so moist. I do add some mini chocolate chips though. The kids eat it for breakfast and it is usually all gone after only 2 days. Thanks for the recipe.
I just made this bread, except I substituted almond flour for the all purpose, and while it smells amazing and tastes good, it is WAY to moist and almost goopy. It is fully cooked but it is still too soft and also kind of greasy. Did anyone else have that problem? I would definitely reduce the butter to 1/4 cup instead of 1/2.
Almond flour doesn’t absorb liquid to the same degree that normal flour does. If you think about it, almond flour is just ground up almonds and almonds have their own oils and whatnot and are not nearly as dry as normal flour, so I think that’s why it came out really wet and greasy. I’m no expert in GF baking, so I’m not sure what the right flour combination would be in place here, but perhaps other readers could help you out? I think normally almond flour would have been fine, but this recipe goes so overboard with the bananas, that it really need a drier flour to soak up all of that liquid!
When I bake with almond flour I add coconut flour to it to compensate for the lack of “dryness”. But, coconut flour is extremely dry, so only a little is needed. I would recommend 2 cups almond flour with 1/4 cup coconut flour for this recipe. The quantity of butter is probably fine, but you might need to wait a full hour (or more) before you slice into the bread or turn it out, so that the liquid can solidify as much as possible.
Just pinned this! I have over 20 different recipes for banana bread on my site and never have I thought to try SIX bananas in one loaf. Can only imagine how good it is! And dense. My fave kind of bread. Will try this if my family ever allows me to accumulate 6 bananas!
This banana bread came out amazing (I made it this morning)! I think for the people complaining it was dry they should try checking on it about 45 minutes in. I did that and ended up removing the bread at the 50 minute mark. Anything over that and I could see how it might be dry. This probably varies with different ovens which is why I always start checking it early.
Just tried this recipe after seeing it on Pinterest. I had alot of bananas going bad and this was the only recipe i saw that used so many. I’d have to say this was the best recipe I’ve had and I love the more banana taste than bread taste. It wasn’t bland or dry to me at all and was very sweet. My children(16,3,2) loved it.
Can u make these into Banana Muffins instead? If so, how long should I bake it for? Have you ever added Honey to this recipe?
Sorry forgot to type in my name
I imagine they would work as muffins, but you’d probably have to take them out much earlier since they would be smaller. I would start watching them pretty closely once they hit around 20 minutes, although please note that I’ve never tried making these into muffins before! The extreme number of bananas make it a really wet and gooey batter, so that might make the bake time a little unusual.
I haven’t tried honey in the recipe before, but honey is delicious with bananas! My only concern would be again with the level wetness that is already in the bread, but I think it would be worth experimenting!
Sorry Forgot to type in name….
Elaine
July, 25,2013
This is the second time I made this delicious bread. I am a Gamma have baked for years but there is nothing in my bag of tricks quite like this. Well now there is . Thanks for sharing I printed the recipe and gave it my family as well. Grand kids told me to tell you (you rock) Thanks again.
Fantastic! I also had 6 freckled bananas that were starting to turn brown and just for fun searched “recipe using 6 ripe bananas” – well to my surprise, recipes did come up. I chose to make your recipe because it was easy and used staple ingredients. It was a hit! I did add a cup of walnuts to the batter. My husband loved it because it’s not super sweet and he likes it with cream cheese. As you suggested, I spread Nutella. Yum! It’s a keeper! Thanks for sharing!
I love love love this recipe! I have a soon to be 2 year old. I have made this recipe several times and everyone loves it. I made it today but only had 5 bananas so I added choc chips. I have always used Splenda and no one knows the difference. Today I also made muffin tops! It amazes me how good this recipe is!
Wish me luck, I have just put the tin in the oven! I am a novice baker but the recipe looked so easy and I had over ripe bananas I thought I’d give it a go…
The kitchen smells amazing :-)
Trying this tonight with Costco Gluten free flour mix! i used 4 large ripe bananas and mixed butter and coconut oil… can not wait to try it!!
Like many of the previous reviews, I have never seen a recipe with 6 bananas. I must say, I am pretty darn excited about it. I made a few alterations, so lets hope it turns out well. I used whole wheat flour and 2 teaspoons of baking powder (I have an OCD thing going on where I need to use 1 tsp. of baking powder for every cup of flour). I also omitted the cinnamon (never been a fan of cinnamon with bananas) and used vanilla. Another addition that I almost always use when baking – just in case it was banana-ey enough ;) – 1 TBS Banana cream pudding mix. Like you, I love the Banana-eyness. I have 14 minutes left, and I cannot wait! Thank you for sharing! Never thought of spreading nutella on top either, great tip!
Just made this. Only had 4 large banana’s and added chopped pecans, just because I had them on hand and it came out great! Next time I will try with 6 banana’s.
Pingback: 32 Ways To Show Banana Haters The Light | Sing Viral
Just made this and it came out perfect!! The best banana bread I’ve ever tasted. Will be keeping this recipe for sure
I’m making this recipe right now! I recently found out my daughter has low iron levels so my husband and I are thinking of any way possible to get dark leafy greens in her because she refuses to eat meat. So to this awesome recipe I added 1 cup of minced spinich. I hope that it comes out awesome the house smells great and this recipe seems very trustworthy!
I only had 4 bananas so I added an extra egg, also I am making this for the freezer for school lunches so used sunflower oil instead of butter. And added 2 tbsp of cocoa. A great result.
can i add walnuts to this recipe? if so, how much can be added?
I have already mashed bananas in the freezer, how much would 6 bananas equal out to?
I made this and we don’t like it. It’s too wet. I threw it away.
You made it wrong. This is the best banana bread ever!!! I even add vanilla bean paste to it and it is not over wet!
LOL..what did you do wrong?? It’s the best ever and so easy!!
Wonderful recipe! I only used 5 bananas and added vanilla and it turned out beautifully. Not too sweet for those who prefer that. I would probably add another 1/4 cup brown sugar though as I have a serious sweet tooth, haha! It’s a very moist, dense cake as stated and I love that about it cause who really wants a mouthful of dry banana bread anyway? Will definitely be making this one again.
I found your recipe on Pinterest when it said 6 bananas and had to check it out. I made the recipe exactly as you have written and the only thing I did was topped one loaf with Coconut and the other I added carob chips to. I always bake less time and check as my oven seems hotter than most. So I baked 48 minutes and checked to find one loaf was baked.
Thanks for a great recipe, I have already shared the recipe with a friend that lives in Mexico and it was a ht with company.
I will be making this often!!
Delicious! I used oat flour rather than all purpose and it came out wonderfully. Soo nice!
Thank you for this recipe :)
Delicious! I added walnuts, used 5 large bananas, baked 30 minutes longer. Perfect!!! Thank you so much for sharing!
Delicious! I added walnuts, used 5 large bananas, baked 30 minutes longer. Perfect!!! Thank you so much for sharing!
Pingback: 32 Ways To Show Banana Haters The Light | ViralTrail.com
Every time I make this recipe it burns. I’m never using it again.
Could I make them into muffins? Has anyone tried it?
I just made this banana bread today and it was amazing the best yet thank you for sharing.
Wet, goopy, and flat even when cooked through.
Will adding walnuts or pecan change how it comes out
Ally, depending how much walnuts I have at the time, I’d add 1/2 cup to a cup of chopped, roasted walnuts to the mix. They add some crunch to the banana bread, which we like.
I keep losing this recipe and have to google it ever few months when banana bread craving hits lol. The kids go devour several loaves in a few days and then it’s no more banana bread ever please mum till one day it seems like the best idea ever again haha
Does the banana bread taste sweet at all with only adding 3/4 C. Of brown sugar?
I made this banana bread it’s WONDERFUL moist I added walnuts simply the best
Just made this banana bread…we always buy bananas but don’t always eat them before they go over-ripe. This is an awesome way to use those bananas. I made the recipe “as is” and it turned out great! Kids and hubby ate it right up! 😊 Definitely a keeper!!! Will try with nuts next time…maybe walnuts. But this is definitely a great base recipe for banana lovers…
I made the bread with nuts and it was very moist I usually wait till the next day but I had to test it out mmm good I will make this bread again 5 stars
used an extra tsp of cinnamon . also added chocolate chips. tasted really good .flavors a little bland but really really good when piping hot .are you supposed to mash bananas before creaming w/ butter ,sugar and eggs?i put ’em in whole and they mashed fine
We loved this recipe! I didn’t have 6 bananas but used 4–very moist! I also added allspice. Will definitely be making again!
Reblogged this on Digital Education Practices and commented:
Before this wonderful banana bread gets lost to the Internet archives, I’d thought I’d share it by reposting it.
Thank you! I was like where did that recipe go for banana bread go?