Banana Bread Recipe with Fresh or Frozen Bananas
Easy banana bread recipe with cranberries, walnuts, chocolate and a refreshing burst of orange. The perfect solution for those overripe or frozen bananas.
Servings: 10 people
Calories: 302kcal
Ingredients
Dry ingredients
- 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup white granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅓ cup dried cranberries optional
- ⅓ cup walnuts optional
- ⅓ cup dark chocolate chips optional
Wet ingredients
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 1 ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 ½-2 cups mashed frozen or fresh bananas about 2 large overripe bananas; liquid from frozen bananas should be discared.
- ½ cup unsalted butter melted and cooled
- 1 Tablespoon orange zest
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. The oven rack should be in the middle. Grease the bottom and sides of a loaf pan (8 ½"x4 ½" x 2 ½") with butter or a nonstick cooking spray. Line the sides and bottom of the bread pan with parchment paper if desired.
- Mix the dry ingredients. Ina medium bowl, add the dry ingredients: flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ground cinnamon, dried cranberries, walnuts, and dark chocolate chips. Mix.
- Mix the wet ingredients. Ina large mixing bowl, combine the eggs, mashed bananas, vanilla and melted butter.
- Make the batter. Using a rubber spatula or a wooden spoon, fold in the dry ingredients a little bit at a time into the wet ingredients until all the flour mixture is just moistened - it will look thick and chunky - about 10 seconds. Do not overmix. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and smooth the top of the batter.
- Bake the Frozen Banana Bread. Bake in the middle rack until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Place on a wire rack to cool. Remove the banana bread from the pan after it has rested for at least 15 minutes. Place the banana bread on the wire rack to cool. Banana bread is best served warm or at room temperature.
Video
Notes
Adjust the sweetness if the bananas are not overripe. If the bananas are not very ripe, you may need to a add more sugar to make sure the recipe has the right amount of sweetness.
Make sure the bananas are completely mashed. Mash the bananas with a fork or potato masher until there are no visible pieces of banana.
Grease the baking pan well. Baked banana bread sticks tightly to the loaf pan and can lose large chunks when removed from the pan. To avoid this, grease the baking tin with butter or a non-stick spray. Tip - You can also grease and line the baking pan with parchment paper. Allow a few inches of parchment to hang over the long side of the pan like a "hammock" so the whole loaf can be lifted easily out of the pan.
Mix the wet and dry ingredients separately. Overmixing the batter can result in a dense, gummy loaf. To avoid this, whisk the wet and dry ingredients separately so that they are fully combined before mixing to form the batter.
Don't overmix the batter. When ready to mix the batter, pour in the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients a little at a time. The total mixing time should be about 10 seconds or just enough so that the dry ingredients are moistened. This will result in a tender banana bread.
To intensify the banana flavor microwave or bake the bananas. If you prefer a much stronger banana flavor, microwave or bake the bananas. I do not add the brown liquid that is released from the cooked bananas as it adds too much liquid to the loaf. If you want to add the liquid, reduce it first on a stovetop. Aim to add no more than ⅓ cup of liquid.