The simplest Banana Bread recipe on Earth

I’ve never been that great of a cook or baker. I didn’t grow up in a home where I had warm home-cooked meals every night or breakfast made for me in the morning. Everything was frozen, canned or boxed.

The kitchen has always intimidated me. I spent years of my early-twenties making countless errors, burning, over or under seasoning, over-cooking, forgetting an ingredient, dropping an entire bowl of baked mac-n-cheese onto the kitchen floor because I used a towel instead of oven mitts. Yeah… that happened.

I would get defeated and give up. Now, at nearly 30 years old, I’ve found a new and exciting love for the kitchen and home-made food. Watching and hearing other people enjoy your food is an indescribable feeling.

I feel accomplished, confident – to put it simply it makes me warm and fuzzy when people love my food.

I don’t bake often but when I do I keep it simple. I love banana bread and I had never made my own until recently. It’s the best breakfast or dessert. We eat ours with coffee or with vanilla bean ice cream.

Now, you can probably find similar recipes to this one around the internet, but this is the recipe my family and I enjoy the most.

Here’s what you will need:

– Cooking spray
– Parchment Paper
– Bread Pan or another other oven safe pan
– 1 stick (8 tablespoons) melted unsalted butter
– 1 cup granulated sugar
– 2 large eggs
– 1/4 cup milk
– 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
– 3 medium bananas, very ripe
– 2 cups all-purpose flour
– 1 teaspoon baking soda
– 1/4 teaspoon salt (add if you used unsalted butter)
– 1/2 cup of chocolate chips (any brand)
– 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts

Before you get started:

Here are a couple of things to know… when it comes to bananas I’ve found that you need at least 3 and you want them ripe. I’ve tried with 2 and I’ve tried with 5. Depending on how moist you want your bread and how much of the banana flavor you want, chose between 3-5 bananas. I’ve found 4 is the perfect amount. Be warned, 5 bananas will give you a verrrry moist bread.

If you’re like me, you panic when you start making something and the recipe calls for an ingredient you don’t have, so allow me a moment to calm your nerves…

If you don’t have chocolate chips, you can still make this recipe.
If you don’t have walnuts, you can still make this recipe.
If you don’t have unsalted butter, you can use salted butter and vice versa.
If you don’t have regular milk, you can use any other milk in your fridge. I always use almond.

This recipe is incredibly forgiving. If you use a tad too much or too little of something you will be ok. I promise.

I’ve made this bread so many times and have played around with a few other ingredients. I would not recommend using them all in the same batch, but these were some of my favorite substitutes to add in when I was out of chocolate chips or walnuts.
– A spoonful of creamy peanut butter
– A spoonful of Nutella
– 1/4 cup of maple syrup
– 1/4 cup of cocoa

Did I mention how forgiving this recipe is? If you want to add them all in, don’t let me stop you! Just remember that the extra sugar and moisture may leave you with a bread that is really moist and dense. If that’s your jam, then have at it!

Lastly, if you don’t have a bread pan, that’s ok! Use another other oven safe pan that is at least 1.5-2 inches deep. I’ve used cake pans, glass baking pans, square pans, round pans, a Jiminy the Cricket pan…and it all turned out fine.

Now, let’s get started:
Step 1: Preheat that oven
Preheat your oven to 400*

Step 2: Prep your pan
Line your pan with parchment paper and spray it with cooking spray.

Step 3: Mix it up
Mix 1 stick (8 tablespoons) melted unsalted butter and 1 cup granulated sugar until blended. Add in 2 large eggs, 1/4 cup of milk and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract.

You can use a hand mixer, but I’ve found the best texture comes from whisking by hand.

Step 4: Add the bananas
Add your bananas to the bowl. Grab a fork and mash the bananas to your desired texture. I like to leave small chunks.

Step 5: Add the rest
Take 2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda. 1/4 teaspoon salt (add if you used unsalted butter), 1/2 cup of chocolate chips (any brand), 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts and mix.

Some people advise adding the chocolate chips and walnuts at the end, but who has time for that? I mix it up all up together at the same time. Folding until everything is saturated and mixed well.

Step 6: Set it and forget it…
Pour the mix into your pan and put it in the oven.
Let bake 60-65 minutes.

The top of your bread should be brown and you may see some cracks, that’s normal. I double check mine with a toothpick or chopstick.

This bread retains heat and will still be hot to warm on the inside for an hour or two after you take it out. Feel free to cut it early if you want to let some of that heat out.

Let it rest for about 30-45 minutes, or as long as you can bear it.

Cut it up, dig in and enjoy!