Wonderfully light in texture, but big on banana flavour, this 2-banana banana bread is the perfect use for your over-ripe bananas.
I seem to have a never ending supply of over-ripe bananas, but somehow, I always end up with just two stragglers. I was highly motivated to find a great banana bread recipe that needed only 2 bananas and this is the one that has served me well for years.
While this 2-Banana Banana Bread is light in colour and texture, it is big on banana flavour, even with just 2 bananas. It needs only regular pantry items, too. And best of all, it will fill your house with all the wonderful baking smells! You will have a hard time waiting for this one to cool before grabbing a slice. (It has the loveliest crust, too – lightly crisp and perfect for slicing.)
This banana bread will keep well for several days, wrapped and stored on the counter or freeze extras for later. I think you’ll also love that this banana bread is fairly light in fat and sugar, too!
Ingredients
Here are the ingredients you will need …
Bananas: Obviously, the more ripe the bananas, the bigger the banana flavour. That said, I have made this bread with bananas that are just starting to form brown spots with success. Unless you have super small bananas, you will only need 2 bananas here. If you have a little less or a little more than 1 cup of mashed bananas, no worries. Just use it all.
Butter: You can use salted or unsalted butter here. I like unsalted myself, if I have it on hand. If using salted butter, reduce the added salt in the flour mixture slightly.
White Sugar: I haven’t tested this recipe with less sugar, but if you are needing to reduce added sugar, you could probably reduce to 1/2 cup. It will, of course, affect the sweetness of the finished loaf, but also possibly reduce the banana flavour, as the sugar works to enhance the banana flavour, as well.
Eggs: Have your eggs at room temperature before baking, for best results. Removing from the fridge 20-30 minutes ahead should do it. I used free-range eggs here, which are quite a bright yellow. Yours batter may be paler in colour.
All-purpose flour: I am a bread baker, so I always have unbleached flour on hand, so that’s what I used here. I don’t think a bleached all-purpose will change the results at all. I haven’t tested this recipe with alternate flours.
Baking powder, baking soda and salt
Instructions
1. Be sure your butter is just at room temperature, then add to the mixing bowl, together with the white sugar.
2. Beat the butter/sugar mixture for 2-3 minutes, until it is light in colour. Don’t skimp on time here, as this process is important to the finished texture of your loaf.
3. Add the eggs, one a a time, beating well after each addition.
4. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl well, to catch any bits of butter that haven’t incorporated into the mixture.
5. How your batter will look after both eggs have been added and mixed well.
6. Add the flour mixture (whisked together with the baking soda, baking powder and salt) to the batter, alternating with the mashed banana. That means adding 1/3 of the flour, then 1/2 of the bananas, then the second 1/3 of flour, the remaining bananas and finally the remaining flour. Mix until well combined.
7. Grab your loaf pan, prepared with a sheet of parchment paper that covers the bottom and long sides of the pan. I find spraying the loaf pan first helps the parchment to stick to the sides and not fall into the pan when adding the batter. I don’t feel you generally need to line the ends of the pans, unless the loaf is super sticky.
8. Add the batter to your prepared loaf pan and level the top.
Be sure your oven is preheated and bake. Every time I bake this loaf it takes a different amount of time, anywhere from 45 minutes to 55 minutes. Start looking at the loaf at about the 40 minute mark. If the loaf is still pale, let it bake longer, before opening the oven and testing. The loaf is approaching done when the top is turning quite golden and cracked. When it starts to look like that, use a tester to test it. The loaf is done when a tester comes out clean when inserted in the centre of the loaf.
Recipe Video
FAQ
How do I store the baked banana bread: Once cooled completely, store this bread at room temperature, well-wrapped.
Can you freeze banana bread? Yes! This bread will freeze well, tightly wrapped, up to 2 months.
Can I use a different size loaf pan? An 8×4-inch loaf pan is recommended, for best results. While it seems it should be possible to use the larger 9×5-loaf pan and make a shorter/wider loaf, some people have had issues with the loaf not baking all the way through when using the larger pan size. I haven’t tested this, so I can’t say if it always happens or not. You may be able to manage it by covering the top loosely with aluminum foil to stop it from over-browning, while continuing to let it cook longer so it will cook through completely.
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Get the Recipe: 2 Banana Banana Bread
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups (220 g) all-purpose flour, spooned and levelled
- 2 teaspoons (8 g) baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, reduce slightly if using salted butter
- 1/3 cup (75 g) butter, at room temperature
- 2/3 cup (130 g) white sugar
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 cup (227 ml) bananas, mashed, about 2 medium, very-ripe bananas
Equipment
- Electric or stand mixer
- 8x4-inch glass or metal loaf pan
- Parchment paper (optional, for easy removal)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F (not fan-assisted/convection) with rack in centre of oven. *Reduce oven temperature by 25F for glass pans.
- Prepare an 8.5 x4.5-inch metal loaf pan (at least 2 1/2 inches deep) by spraying with cooking spray, then lining the bottom and sides with a sheet of parchment paper that extends about 1-inch over the sides, to use as handles to remove the loaf after baking. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together well the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl with an electric mixer or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the room temperature butter and sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well between each addition and scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.
- With mixer on low, add the flour mixture, alternately with the mashed bananas (add 1/3 flour mixture, then 1/2 the bananas, then more flour, then remaining banana, ending with the remaining flour). Mix until well combined, then give it a quick, 15-second beat.
- Pour batter into prepared 8x4-inch loaf pan and level top.
- Bake in preheated oven for 45-55 minutes, or until a tester inserted in the centre comes out clean. *Start checking the loaf at about 40 minutes. If the top is still quite pale, no need to test. Start testing when the top is cracked and turning golden.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool in the pan on a cooling rack for 10 minutes, then remove from the baking pan, gently remove the parchment paper and allow to cool further or completely on a baking rack.
Notes
More banana recipes you might like …
Hi! I’m Jennifer, a home cook schooled by trial and error and almost 40 years of getting dinner on the table! I love to share my favourite recipes, both old and new, together with lots of tips and tricks to hopefully help make your home cooking enjoyable, stress free, rewarding and of course, delicious!
Love the simplicity. I was out of granulated white sure so I did 2/3 light brown with 1/3 confectioners… and creamed the bonkers out of it. I also added a dash of vaniilla.
Results
Crusty exterior fluffy interior banana perfumed heaven.
So glad it worked out in the end, Jessica :) Thanks!
Just made this and it came out great! Was grateful for simple ingredients I already had at home, Added chocolate chips. 45 min in oven and out came yummy,, golden banana bread! Thx for sharing.
So glad to hear, Dana :) Thanks so much!
Made as muffins with chocolate chips was a hit!! Will definitely make many more times!
So glad to hear, Becca :) Thanks so much!
made this just now and it turned out lovely! I subbed half of the sugar with dark brown sugar and added 1 tsp of vanilla extract and it was perfect with a crispy exterior but moist interior. Next time I make this (very soon lol), I’ll try to add some cinnamon. Also used a pan that I had and baked it for only 25 minutes since it was much more wider. Thank you for your recipe, definitely a go-to now!
So glad you enjoyed it :) Thanks so much!
Made once as banana bread and once as banana muffins. My BF loves these and says they are THE BEST EVER.
So glad you are both enjoying it :) Thanks so much Shannon!
Made today and came out delicious! Won’t last long around here. This will be my go to recipe from now on.
So glad you enjoyed it, Angela :) Thanks so much!
Such a good recipe! I made it the second time today and it is just as perfect as the first one. Smells delicious, looks great, tastes amazing :) Many thanks from the Netherlands!
So glad to hear, Dewi :) Thanks so much!
Turned out perfect, best recipe so far, I love that it’s not too mushy from the bananas and yet the banana flavor is still very much there. I added a pinch of cinnamon and lemon zest and voila, delicious, thanks so much for sharing!
So glad you enjoyed it, Ginny :) Thanks!
I have used the same recipe for 3 left over bananas several times, but this time I only had 2! I found this recipe and made it right away, BOMB!! Half of the loaf is already gone 10 minutes after it cooled down! Make this!!
So glad you enjoyed it, Averie! Thanks so much :)
Loved this recipe. I have tried banana bread without success in the past. I tried this with whole wheat atta and this turned out to be really good. Thank you so much for sharing!
Glad to hear! Thanks so much :)
I added walnuts and cinnamon. 40 min in my silicone pan..Turned out wonderful!
So glad you enjoyed it, Susan :) Thanks so much!
Great! I mixed by hand and used a larger loaf pan, and it still came out perfect. I added some rosemary on top. Delicious. Thanks for this recipe!
So glad you enjoyed it, Allison! Thanks :)
A recipe for the books! I’ve never left a comment on a recipe before but this recipe is so perfect, I couldn’t resist! I mixed walnut pieces into the batter and then layered blueberries (covered in flour so they wouldn’t sink) into the pan with the batter. It might be my oven but I found 350 to be a bit hot, so the top did burn a bit but it was still delicious. Bookmarking this one for future enjoyment!
So glad to hear, Anna! And you could try lowering your oven rack one notch, too. Will reduce top browning as well. Thanks!
The recipe was exactly the 2 banana recipe I needed! =) It was my very first time making banana bread and it came out great. However, I did substitute 1/3 of the white sugar used with light brown sugar. I also did not have baking powder at home, so I used baking soda with white vinegar as catalyst for the leavening effect. I also added about 3 oz of white chocolate morsels because, well, it’s chocolate… need I say more? I love how she reminded us of the lower temperature with glassware, because that’s exactly what I had at home. I didn’t even have loaf pans. I only went online to find banana bread recipes because I had two bananas I had forgotten to eat. So, I used a small baking dish that was 7x11x3 lined with parchment paper, baked at 325F, middle rack, for 45 minutes. It came out better than a lot of the store-bought banana breads that I’ve eaten. Amazingly easy recipe. Love it!
So glad to hear, Wei :) Thanks!
Awesome recipe! I added some chocolate chips on top and would definitely recommend that addition to an already delicious recipe!
So glad you enjoyed it, Missy :) Thanks so much!
Perfect recipe! I wouldn’t change a thing!
Thanks so much! So glad you enjoyed it :)
Soo good! I’m dairy free so I used coconut oil instead, and I added some vanilla and cinnamon! I also used 2 and a half bananas because I had an extra half so why not!
So glad you enjoyed it, Sophia :) Thank so much!