Sitting around the home and not sure what to bake or make? Last week I was doing the same. I’ve been growing lady finger bananas in my backyard and due to a high yield, I had to think of ways of using them. Bingo! Banana bread. There are many recipes out there, but do you find it difficult to make a loaf of perfect banana bread? Read on my friends for my tips and moist banana bread recipe. Simple right! Go and get the ingredients and make it right in your own kitchen.
Hero Ingredient: Banana
There are hundreds of different types of banana. The bananas I generally see at shops are either Cavendish or Ladyfinger bananas. So what is the actual best banana to use for this moist banana bread recipe? Simple. It doesn’t matter what type as long as they are well-ripened bananas. Because they are naturally sweet, easy to mash and cheap. You can easily tell which to use by the look of the bananas. They have brown spots all over. My bananas were free from my backyard.
Flour
Not all flours are the same. I used a mix of two different flours. The one on the right in the photograph below contain 8% protein which is similar to Cake flour. The one on the left contains 12% protein which is often used to make bread. Blend them together which makes flour (9.8% protein) similar to all-purpose flour (about 10%) which is commonly used in the USA.
It is important to choose the right flour to make your banana bread. This is because the amount of protein in the flour has an effect on the texture of baked goods. More protein in flour generates more gluten. This banana bread recipe raises the bread with the power of gluten and baking powder.
Butter and Eggs
Before you start to follow the banana bread recipe, it is important to leave the butter and eggs at room temperature. So leave them out of the fridge for 30-60 minutes before you start to make the bread. Also, the butter used in this easy banana bread recipe is unsalted. Because the salt contained in the butter will increase gluten activity thus it influences the texture. We want to avoid it.
How to Mash Banana?
Now you have chosen well to over ripened banana. Right? Good. So the mashing of the bananas manually is not hard work. You peel the banana and break them into small pieces and mash them with the back of a fork. If you don’t need to release any built-up stress, you can always just use a handheld stick blender or a food processor.
Tips to Make a Perfect Banana Bread
Tip 1: Use Ripe Bananas
They are cheap and you will find them in the quick sale section of the fruit shop. If you don’t have ripe bananas but still want to make it, use a stick blender to mash the bananas. The finished product probably won’t be as sweet and flavorful though.
Tip 2: Choose the Right Flour
All-purpose flour is good to use. But if you don’t have those, check the flour package’s back to see the protein percentage. Pick a flour with a protein percentage of around 10%.
Tip 3: Measure the Ingredients Precisely
This is what my high school baking club teacher said to us a thousand times! I usually use my kitchen scale but if you don’t have one, all the measurements in the recipe card are “level” cups. So spoon the flour and sugar into the cups and use the back of a knife to level the surface.
Variations
You can certainly add any nuts like walnuts in the batter or top with sliced almonds. Also, you can add cocoa in the flour or chocolate chips to make choc chip banana bread. Moreover, you can spread lemon cream cheese frosting on the top to make it a fancy dessert.
How to, and How Long does it Store?
Freshly baked moist banana bread is delicious, though one-day-old banana bread is better and more moist. In order to keep the moisture, when the freshly baked bread has briefly cooled down on a cooling wire rack, wrap it with cling wrap and leave it at room temperature overnight.
I usually have it for breakfast or for morning tea. If there are any leftovers, it lasts for a few days in the fridge. To make them last even longer, slice them and wrap them individually with cling wrap and place them in a ziplock bag. It will store for about a month in a freezer.
Other Bread Recipes
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Moist Banana Bread
Equipment
- stand mixer
- stick blender (optional)
- Bread form (4×7.5×3.5 inch /10×19.5x9cm)
Ingredients
- 1 1/8cup/120g Cake flour *1 *3
- 3/4 cup/100g Bread flour *2 *3
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
- 1 1/4stick/140g unsalted butter *4
- 3/4 cup/140g caster sugar
- 2 large eggs *5
- 1 cup mashed ripe bananas *6
- 1 small banana sliced (for decoration) *7
Instructions
- Take the butter and eggs out of the fridge to leave in room temperature. *8
- Start to preheat the oven 356°F(180°C).
- Sift cake and bread flour, baking powder and cinnamon powder all together and set aside.
- Line the bread form with a baking sheet.
- Crack the eggs into a small mixing bowl and beat them.
- Peel and mash the bananas. Measure one cup and set aside. *9
- Place the softened butter in the stand mixer bowl and beat with high speed till the color of the butter becomes a pale whitish yellow.
- Add the sugar and beat again with high speed till the butter become fluffy.
- Reduce the stand mixer speed to low and add beaten egg a little bit amount at a time. Once the egg is mixed in, add more eggs and repeat the process until all eggs are combined.
- Add the mashed banana and combine with low speed.
- Removed the mixing bowl from the stand mixer and sift the flours into the bowl.
- Fold the flour into the batter using a wooden spatula. Be careful not to overmix. *10
- Transfer the bread mixture into the baking sheet lined bread form.
- Flatten the surface of the bread mixture and decorate with sliced banana. *7
- Bake in 1/3 bottom of the oven for 60 minutes.
- Take them out and insert a skewer to test. If the skewer came out clean, the banana bread is baked.
- Turn the oven heat off, remove the bread from the bread form and cool on a wire cooling rack.
- You can slice and serve freshly with butter or whipped cream. *11
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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Thank you!
Very easy to make. Best banana bread I have tasted!! Thanks for sharing!
Very easy to make! Lovely and moist. Will definately make again! Thank you for sharing 🙂
Thank you for making Banana bread with my recipe 😀
Hi Shihoko. Would it be alright to reduce the sugar to just 1/4 cup?
Hi Cass, No the result will be very different.
Love this recipe! Tried several other versions but by far your recipe was the most moist and rich banana bread. My toddler who wasn’t a big fan of banana breads kept coming for more! Now I have successfully baked the original version, I wonder if you have advice on the cocoa powder and flour ratio if I wanted to make a chocolate banana version?
Hi Jane, thank you for making this banana bread recipe. I would replace 1 tbs cocoa powder and remove 1 tbs of flour.
Looks amazing! I was just wondering where you got your loaf pan, I’ve been looking for smaller one with straight edges?
Hi Emily, I bought that in Japan. It is a one loaf bread tin.
What if I don’t have a stand mixer, can I use a hand mixer instead?
Thanks.
Yes of course Christine.
Thank you for your reply. May I ask if I can replace caster sugar with brown sugar? Very excited to try out your recipe! Sending love from Hong Kong!
Hi Christine, yes if you use brown sugar, the banana bread will be more moist 😀
Hi,
Do you know where I can order the cake and bread flour that you used?
Hi David where do you live? US? or Australia? or other countries? which online order can you make? then I can find out for you.
Tried it today, delicious!! Thank you
Fantastic Jen 😀
Banana bread can be the perfect afternoon snack with a cup of tea, so i tried baking this and it turned out very well.
Thanks for the recipe. It was very easy to follow and i have just eaten my first two slices.
You are welcome Frank 😀 Thank you for making this banana bread 😀
Wow I just baked this moist banana recipe. It is really moist, delicious and easy to make. Thank you for sharing your recipe with step by step photo instructions and a video. It was really easy to follow. Thank you!
You are welcome 😀 Kanae!
I bake quite often and I am no stranger to banana bread. It’s my favorite!! I’ve been looking for a banana bread with the right texture. I really wanted one that was fluffy and moist, but still full of banana flavor. This is it!!! If anyone is hesitating on making this…please give it a try. You won’t regret it! Thank you so much for creating this recipe.
Thank you Leah san, for lovely comment and 5 star rating. I am glad that this recipe worked for you.
Thank you finally😘🌹❤️
You are welcome Sidney 😀