Simple Banana Bread: An Easy Everyday Loaf

Updated November 2026. This recipe is general cooking information, not professional, medical, or nutrition advice.

A quick answer: Banana bread is a soft, sweet loaf made with mashed ripe bananas, flour, sugar, eggs, and oil. Mash the bananas, mix the wet and dry ingredients, pour the batter into a loaf tin, and bake at 180°C for 50–55 minutes. It is one of the easiest bakes there is — a good first recipe, and the best use for bananas that have gone too soft to eat.

A soft loaf made from bananas that were too ripe to eat — nothing wasted, and better than the fruit on its own.

Why banana bread?

Banana bread exists because ripe bananas are too good to waste. A banana with brown spots is too soft to eat on its own, but it is perfect for baking: it is sweeter and softer, and it mashes easily. Mixed into a batter, it makes a loaf that stays moist for days. It needs no special skill and no special equipment — one bowl, one tin, and an oven.

What you need

Ripe bananas, two eggs, and a loaf tin — the whole recipe starts from these.

For a standard loaf tin (about 900 g / 2 lb), greased and lined:

Ingredient	Amount
Ripe bananas, mashed	3 medium (about 300 g)
Plain flour	200 g
Sugar	100 g
Eggs	2
Vegetable oil	80 ml
Baking powder	1 teaspoon
Baking soda	1/2 teaspoon
Vanilla extract	1 teaspoon
A pinch of salt	—

How to make it

1. Heat the oven to 180°C. Grease a loaf tin and line it with baking paper.
2. Peel the bananas and mash them in a large bowl with a fork until mostly smooth — a few small lumps are fine.
3. Add the eggs, oil, sugar, and vanilla to the bananas and stir until mixed.
4. In a second bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
5. Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture and stir only until the flour disappears. Do not over-mix.
6. Pour the batter into the tin and smooth the top. Bake for 50–55 minutes, until a skewer pushed into the centre comes out clean.
7. Leave the loaf in the tin for 10 minutes, then turn it out onto a wire rack to cool.

Tips for a good result

• Use ripe bananas. Yellow bananas with brown spots are best — green or firm bananas make a dry, plain loaf.
• Do not over-mix. Once the flour is in, a few gentle stirs are enough. Over-mixing makes the bread heavy and tough.
• Check at 50 minutes. If the top is browning too fast, cover it loosely with foil for the last 10 minutes.
• Let it cool before cutting. A warm loaf slices badly and falls apart; a cool loaf cuts in clean slices.
• Add extras if you like. A handful of chopped walnuts or chocolate chips, stirred in with the flour, works well.

How to serve and store it

Serve banana bread in thick slices, plain or with a little butter. It keeps well: wrapped, it stays soft at room temperature for 2–3 days, and in the fridge for up to 5 days. It also freezes well — slice it first, freeze the slices in a bag, and toast them straight from frozen.

Frequently asked questions

How ripe should the bananas be? Yellow with brown spots, soft enough to mash with a fork. Very dark, almost black bananas work too — they are the sweetest.

Can I use frozen bananas? Yes. Thaw them first and use the banana and its juice — it all goes into the batter.

Can I use butter instead of oil? Yes. Use 100 g of melted butter instead of the oil, and let it cool slightly before adding it.

Why did my banana bread sink in the middle? Usually it was under-baked, or the batter was over-mixed. Check with a skewer and stir gently next time.

Can I make muffins instead? Yes. Spoon the same batter into a muffin tray and bake at 180°C for 20–25 minutes.

In short: mash three ripe bananas, stir in the rest, pour into a loaf tin, and bake at 180°C until a skewer comes out clean. The easiest loaf there is — and the best answer to bananas nobody wants to eat.