Full disclosure: I’m not a huge “baker”…the endless amount of very specific ingredients and the stress of it coming out just perfect is a little too tedious for me. With that being said, this recipe is pain-less and surprisingly really easy to make (hence why it’s making a blog appearance).
I’m not gonna brag, but…this banana bread has made an appearance on several occasions from work parties, to birthday parties, to happy hours and it’s been a hit. MAJOR hit.
P R E P
The one downfall of making banana bread is getting those ripe bananas, and trust me–the riper the better. I usually buy bananas on a weekly basis in a big ol’ bunch and then just let half of them go brown; never EVER throw away your spotty bananas since there’s so many different recipes you can use them with.
What you’ll need
- A bowl, just one! I want to make this easy on you.
- 9×5 loaf pan. If yours is bigger or smaller it’s not a huge deal.
- 3-4 mashed bananas. Just use a fork and go to town until they’re all mashed up. The riper the better, and size doesn’t matter here. Try to use minimum 3 bananas.
- 5 tablespoons melted butter. You can use salted or unsalted butter, but if you use salted OMIT the pinch of salt below. Make sure this is definitely melted, not softened.
- A pinch of salt. Unless using salted butter!
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract.
- 1/2 cup brown sugar.
- 1 egg.
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder.
- 1 teaspoon baking soda.
- 1 and 1/2 cup of flour.
- 1 cup Chocolate chips. My favorite is the dark chocolate chips because they’re bigger and something about bananas and dark chocolate is just too good to pass up. 100% your call though!
Total prep time: 10 minutes (don’t forget to set everything out before you start!)
Servings: 8
Directions:
- Preheat even to 350 degrees.
- Spray the loaf pan with Pam (Step Brothers, anyone?), or make sure it’s greased.
- Using a large bowl, mash up all the bananas and then add the melted butter.
- Combine vanilla extract, brown sugar, egg, baking powder/soda and mix until smooth.
- Add flour and mix it ALL up.
- Add roughly 1 cup of chocolate chip and “fold in”-aka just mix gently until they’re distributed.
- Pour mixture into your greased loaf pan and sprinkle with chocolate chips.
- Bake for 35-45 minutes. The time has varied for me a lot depending on what oven I’m using, so my rule of thumb is to check at the 40 minute mark. You can use a toothpick to make sure it’s done–if there’s no batter on the toothpick when you stick it in, you’re good to go.
- Allow the bread to COOL. Especially if you’re planning on taking it somewhere shortly after, you want to make sure it can easily come out of the pan. Try to wait at least 30 minutes.
POST COOKING NOTES
Nutritional information and how to store!
- Each serving (out of 8) is roughly 320 calories, which is better than having a donut AND it’s guilt free because you’re getting your fruit intake for the day, right?
- I’d recommend storing this in a gallon-size plastic ziplock, and store it in a cool place (bread drawer, etc). Enjoy for up to a week, and freeze for up to 4 months.
- Best paired with any kind of red wine, and lots of it.
If you end up making these, feel free to tag me on Instagram (cayhay1351) or use the hashtag #basickneads!
Basic Kneads 