Every kitchen accumulates the same three blackening bananas, and this is the recipe they are waiting for. The blacker the peel, the better the bread: fully ripe bananas mash into a sweet, almost caramel-tasting puree that keeps the crumb moist for days. Walnuts go through the batter and over the top, so every slice has crunch against the soft crumb — the contrast is the whole pleasure of the loaf.
It belongs with the other dependable bakes in our Desserts collection, and it follows the same house rule as our Easy Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread: one bowl, no mixer, supermarket ingredients, and a loaf that slices cleanly instead of crumbling into rubble. If you can mash bananas with a fork and stir without enthusiasm, you can make this bread.
The method is deliberately gentle. The bananas, butter, sugar and eggs are whisked together, the dry ingredients are folded in just until the flour disappears, and the walnuts go in last. Overmixing is the one real way to ruin banana bread — it develops the gluten and turns a tender loaf dense and rubbery — so the recipe is written to make undermixing easy.
How ripe is ripe enough
You want peels that are heavily speckled to mostly black, with fruit that feels soft and smells sweet and almost floral. Yellow bananas with a few spots will work, but the bread will be paler, less sweet and noticeably less banana-forward. If your bananas are not there yet, ripen them in a paper bag with an apple overnight, or bake them unpeeled at 300°F (149°C) for 15 to 20 minutes until the skins blacken — the flesh inside softens and sweetens enough to use straight away.
Walnuts, and how to keep them from sinking
Toast the walnuts for 8 minutes at 350°F (177°C) before they go in — raw walnuts can taste faintly bitter against a sweet crumb, and toasting fixes that while deepening their flavor. Chop them roughly, then toss them with a spoonful of the flour mixture before folding them in; the light flour coat helps them stay suspended through the loaf instead of settling into a layer at the bottom. Pecans swap in one-for-one if walnuts are not your thing.
Ingredients
- 3 large very ripe bananas (about 1 1/2 cups / 360 g mashed)
- 1/3 cup unsalted butter (76 g), melted, plus more for the pan
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar (150 g)
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (5 ml)
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (210 g)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda (5 g)
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (3 g)
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (3 g)
- 3/4 cup chopped walnuts (85 g), toasted, plus 2 tablespoons (14 g) for the top
- 1 tablespoon coarse sugar (12 g), optional, for the top
Amounts are for the yield below. US customary measures first, grams in brackets for scale users.
Step-by-step instructions
- Heat the oven and prep the pan. Heat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Butter a 9 x 5 inch (23 x 13 cm) loaf pan and line it with a parchment sling so the bread lifts out cleanly. Toast the walnuts on a small tray for about 8 minutes while the oven heats, then chop them roughly and let them cool.
- Mash and mix the wet ingredients. In a large bowl, mash the bananas with a fork until mostly smooth — a few small lumps are good, they bake into pockets of banana flavor. Whisk in the melted butter, then the sugar, eggs and vanilla, until the mixture looks glossy and uniform.
- Add the dry ingredients gently. Sprinkle the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon evenly over the banana mixture. Fold with a spatula just until no dry streaks remain, about 12 to 15 strokes. A few small flour lumps are better than a smooth, overworked batter.
- Fold in the walnuts. Toss the chopped walnuts with a teaspoon of flour taken from the measured amount, then fold them through the batter in a few strokes. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, smooth the top, and scatter the extra walnuts and the coarse sugar over the surface if you are using them.
- Bake until the center is set. Bake for 50 to 55 minutes, until the top is deep golden, the loaf has domed and cracked down the center, and a skewer pushed into the middle comes out with only a few moist crumbs — no wet batter. If the top browns too quickly, tent it loosely with foil for the last 15 minutes.
- Cool before slicing. Cool the bread in the pan for 15 minutes, then lift it out and cool on a rack for at least 30 minutes more. Slicing while it is still hot compresses the crumb and makes it seem gummy even when it is perfectly baked. Warm slices are fine; steaming-hot slices are not.
Nutrition estimate
| Nutrient | Per serving |
|---|---|
| Calories | 286 kcal |
| Protein | 5 g |
| Carbohydrates | 42 g |
| Fat | 12 g |
| Saturated fat | 4 g |
| Sodium | 268 mg |
| Fiber | 2 g |
| Sugar | 22 g |
Nutrition figures are estimates calculated from standard ingredient data for the yield stated. Your actual values will vary with brands, substitutions and portion sizes — treat them as a guide, not a guarantee.
Storage & reheating
The loaf keeps, tightly wrapped, for up to 4 days at room temperature and actually improves on day two as the banana flavor settles. Refrigerate for up to a week if your kitchen is warm. Slices freeze well for up to 3 months, wrapped individually; toast them straight from frozen for breakfast. Nutrition figures are estimates and vary with banana size and substitutions.
Easy Banana Bread with Walnuts
Moist, tender, one bowl — the loaf that uses up the bananas properly.
Ingredients
Tick ingredients off as you prep, and tap a step below to mark it done as you cook. Scaling adjusts the listed amounts - seasoning to taste stays your call.
Instructions
- Heat the oven and prep the pan. Heat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Butter a 9 x 5 inch (23 x 13 cm) loaf pan and line it with a parchment sling so the bread lifts out cleanly. Toast the walnuts on a small tray for about 8 minutes while the oven heats, then chop them roughly and let them cool.
- Mash and mix the wet ingredients. In a large bowl, mash the bananas with a fork until mostly smooth — a few small lumps are good, they bake into pockets of banana flavor. Whisk in the melted butter, then the sugar, eggs and vanilla, until the mixture looks glossy and uniform.
- Add the dry ingredients gently. Sprinkle the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon evenly over the banana mixture. Fold with a spatula just until no dry streaks remain, about 12 to 15 strokes. A few small flour lumps are better than a smooth, overworked batter.
- Fold in the walnuts. Toss the chopped walnuts with a teaspoon of flour taken from the measured amount, then fold them through the batter in a few strokes. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, smooth the top, and scatter the extra walnuts and the coarse sugar over the surface if you are using them.
- Bake until the center is set. Bake for 50 to 55 minutes, until the top is deep golden, the loaf has domed and cracked down the center, and a skewer pushed into the middle comes out with only a few moist crumbs — no wet batter. If the top browns too quickly, tent it loosely with foil for the last 15 minutes.
- Cool before slicing. Cool the bread in the pan for 15 minutes, then lift it out and cool on a rack for at least 30 minutes more. Slicing while it is still hot compresses the crumb and makes it seem gummy even when it is perfectly baked. Warm slices are fine; steaming-hot slices are not.
Recipe by Ahsan ul Haq · FryDaily. Printing? This card is designed to print cleanly on its own.
