One day, a friend was telling me about how she used to be so in love with the Starbucks banana bread, and all I could think about was how the price for one slice is probably more than it costs to make a whole loaf, so I had to work on a dupe. It took about eight tries, but I finally made a homemade banana bread recipe that is super rich, moist, and totally melt-in-your-mouth delicious. And the best part? It ended up costing about $0.52 per slice. Take that, ‘bucks! Anyway, this recipe is so good that I’ve been dreaming about it ever since. So now the question is, is it wrong to make it every single weekend??
Easy Recipe for Banana Bread
There are so many different recipes for banana bread out there, and they create loaves that vary quite a bit in color, size, shape, texture, and, of course, flavor. My goal for this recipe was to create a loaf that was super soft and moist, had a really good pronounced banana flavor, the loaf had to rise to a nice domed shape (not be a flat brick), and didn’t get too over-browned. It took a combination of ingredients and techniques, but I finally got the perfect loaf of homemade banana bread.
How to Make Banana Bread Step-by-Step Photos
Cream the sugars: Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Add 4 Tbsp of room-temperature salted butter, ¼ cup cooking oil, ½ cup white sugar, and ½ cup brown sugar to a mixing bowl.
Use a hand mixer or stand mixer to cream the butter, sugars, and oil together until it looks light and creamy.
Mash the bananas: Mash 3-4 bananas, or until you have 1.5 cups of mashed banana.
Make the batter: Add the mashed banana, two large eggs, and 1 tsp vanilla extract to the bowl with the creamed butter and sugar. Use the mixer to mix the ingredients together until smooth.
In a separate bowl, stir together 2 cups of all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon salt, ¼ tsp nutmeg, and ¼ tsp cinnamon until well combined. Pour the flour mixture into the bowl with the wet ingredients and then fold them together just until they form a wet batter. Do not overmix.
Add ½ cup of chopped walnuts to the batter and fold briefly to combine.
Pour into a loaf pan: Grease a standard 8.5″x4.5″ bread pan. Pour the batter into the pan and then spread it out evenly.
Bake and slice: Bake the bread for 60 minutes, or until golden brown on top, cracked in the middle, and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow the bread to cool for about 5 minutes in the pan, then gently remove it from the pan and allow it to finish cooling on a wire rack.
Once cooled, cut the loaf into slices and enjoy!
Storage Instructions
I could eat this whole loaf of banana bread within a few days by myself no problem, but if you’re not a champion eater like myself, here’s how to store the leftovers. After baking, make sure the bread is cool, then cut it into thick slices. The sliced bread can be stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container for 4-5 days, or it can be frozen for longer storage.
To freeze the slices, place sheets of parchment paper between the slices to prevent them from sticking, then place them in a gallon-sized freezer bag. Individual slices can be taken out and thawed at room temperature or briefly microwaved to warm through.
