Easy Moist Banana Bread: If you’re looking for a banana bread recipe that is super moist and bursting with banana flavour, then this recipe is it! It comes together so easily, and is finished off with an optional topping of walnuts that add great crunch and texture to the banana loaf – so so good!
Ingredients
- 1½ cups (339 g) mashed bananas – about 3 large bananas, must be ripe bananas (the riper the better!)
- 1⅔ cups (200 g) all purpose flour
- 2 tbsp (16 g) cornstarch – also known as cornflour in some countries
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ¾ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt – omit if using salted butter
- ¾ tsp ground cinnamon
- ¾ cup (150 g) soft brown sugar
- ¼ cup (56 g) unsalted butter – room temperature
- ¼ cup (52 g) unflavoured vegetable oil – I use canola oil
- 1½ tsp vanilla essence/extract
- 1 large egg – room temperature, size 7 egg
- ¼ cup walnuts – you can add more or less
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 160 °C (320°F) with the fan on (see note 1 if you don’t have a fan function) and line an 8.5×4.5inch loaf tin (I like to lightly grease the tin before lining it so that the baking paper sticks better).
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Place the bananas into a bowl and using a potato masher or fork, mash it well until there are no large chunks remaining. Set aside for now.
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In a bowl sift together your flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Using a whisk, mix until well combined. Set aside for now.
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In a large bowl combine the butter, sugar and oil, and using a hand or stand mixer on a medium speed, cream together for 2 minutes until light and fluffy.
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Add in the egg and mix until well combined.
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Add in the mashed bananas from earlier and vanilla, and mix until well combined. Once done, remove any remaining batter off of the attachment(s) and set your mixer aside as the rest of the mixing will be done by hand.
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Add the pre-sifted dry ingredients from earlier into the wet mixture and using a spatula, gently fold until just combined. It’s really important not to overmix the batter.
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Distribute the batter into your loaf tin, and spread it out evenly. Finish by evenly scattering the walnuts on top.
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Bake for 1 hour or until a skewer or butter knife comes out clean. Allow to cool in the cake tin for about 15 minutes, and then using the baking paper on the edges, lift the banana bread out of the loaf tin and place it on a wire rack to cool for another 15 minutes before serving. Enjoy!
What I love about this banana bread recipe
One of my main issues with banana bread, is that I often find that it’s just a little too on the dry side. I know banana bread is supposed to be in between a bread and cake, but that doesn’t mean it has to be dry!
What I love about this banana bread recipe is it’s the perfect balance between moist and firm, so it’s soft enough while still being able to hold it’s shape (for those who love to spread a little butter on their banana bread!).
I’m also super sensitive to that baking soda taste that I feel a lot of banana breads have, so this recipe uses a combination of baking soda and baking powder to help leaven in, so that the amount of baking soda could be reduced.
Finally, this recipe is BURSTING with banana flavour. It uses 3 whole bananas to ensure that that banana flavour really comes through!