I’ve seen a lot of fancy banana bread recipes littering my social feeds over the last couple of months. Ones with chocolate swirls, cream cheese stuffing or a chunky streusel topping. They look so good they make me want to lick my screen. But while these embellished quick-breads look (and probably taste) delicious, in my mind you can never ever beat a plain and simple banana bread.
With standard ingredients like banana, sugar, flour, eggs and butter, this banana bread is as plain and simple as they come. It’s a fail-proof, quick-and-easy recipe that is almost impossible to mess up, and welcomes small substitutions. Swap out the butter for oil, the brown sugar for white sugar, or even add a tablespoon or two of cocoa powder for a chocolatey taste.
While this basic banana bread is quick to whip up, it does require quite a long baking time. But the end result is so worth it: a soft and spongy bread, slightly sweet and with a rich banana flavour. With a smear of salted butter and a cup of tea or coffee, it’s the perfect tea-time treat or after-dinner snack.
Just Your Basic Banana Bread
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Servings 1 loaf
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ cup softened butter
- 1¾ cups brown sugar
- 2 whisked eggs
- 3 mashed bananas
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
- ½ cup milk
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 180°C and line a loaf tin with wax paper
In a small bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Set aside
In a separate bowl, beat together butter and sugar until just combined. Add the eggs, mashed banana and vanilla essence. Stir well
Add half the dry ingredients and half the milk to the butter mixture, and stir until it begins to thicken. Add the remaining flour and milk, and stir until the mixture becomes smooth and silky
Pour the mixture into the prepared tin. Turn the oven down to 160°C and bake for 45-55 minutes. To check, insert a toothpick into the centre and ensure it comes out clean