Banana bread is the home baker's safety net: no mixer, no chilling, no decorating. This version leans on weight for the flour (the difference between moist and brick) and produces one 9×5 loaf — or two, when December demands it.
Ingredients — one 9×5 loaf
- 3 very ripe bananas (about 340 g peeled — weight is the honest measure)
- 8 tbsp (113 g) butter, melted and cooled slightly
- ¾ cup (150 g) brown sugar, packed
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 cup (120 g) all-purpose flour — spoon and level, or weigh it
- 1 tsp baking soda, ½ tsp salt
- ½ cup (60 g) walnuts or ½ cup (85 g) chocolate chips (optional)
Method
- Heat oven to 350 °F (175 °C). Line the loaf pan with a parchment sling.
- Mash bananas until mostly smooth in a large bowl. Stir in melted butter, then sugar, egg, and vanilla.
- Scatter flour, baking soda, and salt over the batter and fold until just combined — ten strokes left of lumpy is correct. Fold in nuts or chips.
- Bake 55–65 minutes, until a skewer in the center comes out with moist crumbs, not wet batter. Cool in the pan 15 minutes, then lift out onto a rack.
Why the weights matter here
Flour is the recipe's whole personality: 110 g bakes tender and fudge-edged; 145 g (scooped) bakes dense and dry. Our cups-to-grams converter exists precisely for this line of the ingredient list.
Scaling to two loaves
Double everything (the scaler handles it) and use two prepared pans — do not pour double batter into one deep pan; the center won't set before the edges overbrown. Bake both on the same rack, rotate at 40 minutes, and add 5–10 minutes to the check time.
Troubleshooting, quickly
- Sunken middle: underbaked or too much leavener — trust the skewer, not the clock.
- Dry crumb: flour crept up (weigh it) or overbaked by 10+ minutes.
- Pale top, raw center: tent with foil for the last 15 minutes and keep going.
Ballpark per slice (12 slices): ~210 kcal. Freeze whole or in slices; it toasts beautifully from frozen on busy mornings.