I know what you’re thinking. Another banana bread recipe? But trust me, my family has been in love with banana bread since way before it became the “it” thing during countrywide lockdowns in 2020. We’ve tried them all. Eggs/no eggs, oil/butter, lots of nuts/no nuts, cinnamon/no cinnamon. So I promise you, this is the best banana bread you will make.
The icing on the cake though? (Pun totally intended) It’s that this recipe can be made using only 1 bowl. Yes, you could use 2 or 5 if you really want, but unless washing dishes is a form of meditation for you, there’s no need with this recipe!
Another great thing about this recipe is that there’s no small appliances needed, so it’s perfect for baking with kids.
Can You Freeze Bananas?
Yes, you can! And if you ask me, you should. You can chose to freeze your bananas already peeled or chopped up. But I have a secret to share. Freezing your bananas in their skin not only saves plastic bags from the wasteland, but it also contributes to a super tasty and moist Banana Bread. Yep, you read that right. I find that when the bananas are frozen in their skin then left to defrost in them as well, there is an added bit of liquid that comes out when you peel them. You might be thinking that that sounds gross but I promise you it isn’t. Don’t fret though. You do not HAVE to freeze your bananas for this recipe. I just prefer them that way!
What Type Of Bananas are Best for Banana Bread?
The darker the banana, the better the bread. That’s it. I don’t have any more to say about that. Here’s a photo of the bananas we used just today to make our bread.
Bananas ready to become Banana Bread
How To Prepare Your Pans
Again, probably not the most common or popular opinion, but I don’t use a loaf pan for Banana Bread, or any type of bread really. I always use cake pans. Whether they are like these square, circle, or sheet pans, it doesn’t matter. There are 3 reasons I use cake pans:
- Even Baking: The bread is going to be done all at the same time, as opposed to in a loaf pan where the edges are usually a little dry because you had to wait for the heat to reach the centre and cook it.
- Faster Cooking: I don’t like to wait 60 minutes for my banana bread. Let me re-phrase that. I don’t like to spend 60 minutes listening to “is it ready yet? I want bananaaaaaaa bread mommy!!” The shallower pans cut the baking time almost in half.
- Faster Defrosting: Same as above. When you want banana bread, you want it ASAP. Thinner loafs means it will defrost much faster. While in the topic of freezing, it also stacks nicely, meaning you can fit more into the freezer when stacked.
2 square cake pans ready for batter
Ok, back to prepping the pans. I simply place a large piece of parchment paper over the pans, and when the batter is poured into it I lift the edges up and cut off the excess. This makes for little to no clean up of the pans afterwards. Once again, the less clean up the better for me!!
All ingredients
Best One Bowl Banana Bread Recipe Ever (with Chocolate Chips)
Makes 1 Loaf or 2 8-9 inch cake pans
- 1 large egg
- 4 Large Ripe Bananas
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter melted
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 Tbsp cinnamon
- 1-2 cups of chocolate chips (depending on how chocolaty you want it!)
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Prepare two 8 or 9 inch cake pans or one half sheet cake pan by lining it with parchment paper (allowing an overhang on sides).
- Beat egg, mashed banana and melted butter in a large bowl until thoroughly blended. Stir in milk.
- Add flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt on top of banana mixture.
- Stir dry ingredients into banana mixture and mix until just moistened.
- Add chocolate chips and stir until just incorporated.
- Scrape batter into prepared pan(s).
- Optional: Sprinkle some more chocolate chips on top!
- Bake for 30-35 minutes, until toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.
Baked Banana Bread
Tips
You can use this recipe to make muffins or mini loafs as well! Just cut the bake time approximately in half, less if making mini muffins.
When we make this banana bread it literally doesn’t last more than a couple hours after it’s out of the oven. It is a family favourite of ours and hopefully will be for you as well.
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Until next time,
Oli
