Easy Banana Bread

This Easy Banana Bread is perfectly moist thanks to the greek yoghurt in the recipe, and has a crunchy turbinado sugar topping. It is the best way to use up over ripe, sad looking bananas.

Hi hi! I Hope you are well - I am just popping in to share this Easy Banana Bread Recipe. We are coming up to the one year anniversary of staying inside our homes and making banana bread, and so I thought what better time to add this recipe to the other 433,000,000 other hits that come up when you google banana bread!

My original recipe for Banana Bread actually comes from my friend's Dad, Barry (Hi Barry!). The blog post is one of the first things that I posted here so is super old, so I re-shot the recipe and tweaked it just a tiny bit - adding in some greek yoghurt and finishing it with some crunchy turbinado sugar. Rich can take down almost a whole loaf of this by himself in one day - it's super, super good.

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Banana Bread made with Greek Yoghurt

I'm not going to give you a whole spiel on why this is the best banana bread you've ever made - because to be honest, it's just another banana bread recipe. I did loads of research into other people's recipes and they are all relatively similar, but use different ingredient ratios. However this is the recipe that I make all the time, and so thought I might as well share it here with you!

I added some greek yoghurt into the recipe because I love the moisture and super subtle tang that it adds to baking without making the batter too runny. It is my go to if I need something to help texture wise in baked goods, and I almost always have a container of it in the fridge, so popped some into this banana bread. The yoghurt will give the banana bread a nice soft crumb, and will help to keep it moist for a few days.

How to make Banana Bread

The steps for making this easy banana bread are just that - super quick and easy. If you can, make sure your ingredients are at room temperature and your oven is well preheated before you start!

• Preheat your oven - Ovens often need about 20 minutes to properly come to temperature, so make sure you do this ahead of time to make sure the whole oven is warm, not just where the thermostat is.
• Mash bananas - I like to do this with the electric mixer to minimise dishes. I just pop it into the bowl with the bananas and the yoghurt, and mix until the bananas are mashed and the yoghurt is incorporated.
• Cream butter and Sugar- This aerates the batter and provide a base for perfect fluffy banana bread. The butter and sugar is creamed together, then the eggs are added and incorporated.
• Add in Banana - The Banana and yoghurt mixture is added in and then incorporated. Either you can use your mixer here, or you can incorporate this by hand.
• Combine dry ingredients and add - I like to combine the dry ingredients separately before adding them to the mixture to ensure the leavening agent is evenly dispersed. I usually just do it in the bowl that the banana and yoghurt mixture was just in to minimise mess.
• Transfer to pan - Transfer the batter to the prepared loaf pan and then sprinkle with turbinado sugar if using.
• Bake - Banana bread needs to bake for a relatively long time, so bake until a tested inserted into the cake comes out clean.
• Cool - I like to leave the banana bread to cool for about 5 minutes in the pan and then remove and allow to finish cooling on a wire rack.

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What are the best bananas to use for Banana Bread?

The best bananas for banana bread are ones which are SUPER ripe and squishy. Ideally you want to leave them until they are almost black all over, and super mushy. Using these bananas will give you the sweetest, moistest banana bread. However, I make this all the time with bananas that are just looking a bit tired and beaten up - just make sure that they are some form of over ripe!

Banana bread with Frozen Bananas.

I get asked this often - can you make banana bread with frozen bananas?

Sometimes If bananas look like they are going to go rotten on me, I will throw them into the freezer with the skins still on to use for baking at another time. These work just great in baking - I thaw them at room temperature on a plate and then once they are ready to use, proceed with the recipe as usual. If they have leaked any moisture onto the plate, then just discard that. The banana quantity in this recipe is done by weight so you don't have to worry about accounting for any moisture lost in the freezing process.

What pan should I use to bake this in?
I used a one pound loaf pan (8"x4"x2 ¾") to make this. Here is the exact pan that I used. There are generally two sizes of loaf pan and this is the smaller of the two. If you use a bigger pan that's totally fine too, your bread will just come out a little wider and flatter! Add image

Can this be frozen?
Yes! I make this and freeze it all the time. I like to slice it into thick slices and then freeze the whole thing tightly wrapped. That way when you want some you can defrost it by the slice. Rich does this often and actually does it in the toaster!

Do I have to use the Turbinado sugar on the top?
Nope! If you don't have it, that's totally fine! Just leave it off.

Do I have to use an electric mixer for banana bread?
I tested this both by hand and with a handheld electric mixer and both worked great. The electric mixer makes things quicker but making this by hand works perfectly too.

What can I use in the place of greek yoghurt?
Sour cream or cream fraiche should work great as a sub for greek yoghurt. I sub sour cream for greek yoghurt 1:1 all the time and it works perfectly.

How do I know when the banana bread is baked?
I like to use a paring knife or a skewer (I find cake testers are too thin) to insert into the middle of the cake. If it comes out with wet batter on it, it needs a little more time - it should come out clean or with a few crumbs. Add some foil to the top of the banana bread if it needs a little more time and you are worrieda bout it getting too dark.

Do I have to use the cinnamon?
The cinnamon is just there to add a tiny little bit of warmth. I really like it but if you don't like cinnamon, just leave it out! I live with a cinnamon hater (who eats cinnamon rolls, go figure), and he didn't even notice it in there!

For more loaf cake recipes, check out:

• Cranberry Loaf Cake
• Passionfruit and Olive Oil Loaf Cake
• Olive Oil, Chocolate Chip and Ricotta Loaf Cake
• Lemon Sour Cream Loaf Cake

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