The Secret to Moist Banana Bread Every Time

It’s sad when you realize you just baked a dry loaf of banana bread. But no more! Today I’m sharing the secret to moist banana bread every time you bake it. When you follow my tips, you too will brag on your banana bread.

My family loves sweet fruit breads. Banana Bread is one of my go to sweet breads because it is easy and we always have bananas on hand.

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Over the years, I have made my share of banana bread that came out dry. Who likes a dry fruit bread? Not me. I’ve tried adding more oil to the bread, but that didn’t work. I’ve tried using applesauce in place of sugar so there would be more moisture in the batter and it still didn’t work. It wasn’t until I stumbled over this secret in my tiny kitchen in Athens, Georgia, years ago.

The Secret to Moist Banana Bread Every Time

The recipe I’m sharing calls for all purpose flour, most recipes for baked goods do. You realize you don’t have to use all purpose flour along with the added salt, baking soda, and baking powder, right? You can skip those by using self-rising flour, it’s what I do. And if you are like me, you make your own self-rising flour

when everyone is frantically buying up anything and everything. Yes, I went there.

The secret to a moist banana bread is all about the moisture added to the batter. Too much oil or too many bananas can cause problems with heaviness. Be careful in following recipes.

Too much flour can be a problem. Do you scoop out of the bag or flour container? You might be packing extra flour into the cup. Make sure you “spoon” the flour into the measuring cup and then level it off with the flat side of a knife.

Are you using the correct measuring cups for your ingredients? There is definitely a difference between

dry ingredient measuring cups and liquid ingredient measuring cups

. Be sure you are using a dry ingredient cup when measuring your dry ingredients.

Do you find that your sweet breads stick in the loaf pan when turning them out? I have. I don’t use a liquid oil nor do I use a spray. I use a solid shortening for greasing my pans and I always lightly dust the pan with flour, just as I do for my cakes. I let the pan rest for about 5 minutes before turning my bread out onto a cooling rack. If you let it sit much longer, you will risk the bread sticking to the pan.

While I measure my ingredients correctly, I have found only one thing to guarantee a moist banana bread every time. Frozen bananas! I don’t always let my bananas turn dark before freezing them. Many times, as soon as I get them home from the store, I put several in the freezer for safe keeping. 

When I have the urge to bake banana bread, I pull the bananas out of the freezer and let them thaw completely on the counter. Once thawed, I cut an end off and squeeze the banana into the mixing bowl.

The day I baked the loaf for the pictures, I only had two frozen bananas, so I added one overly ripe banana with them. Sadly, it wasn’t as moist as it usually is. So, 3 frozen bananas are a must!

You don’t need a mixer for this recipe, everything can be done by hand. You want your butter to be soft, not just room temperature. You can pop it in the microwave for a few seconds, you want it to be right before it turns to a liquid.

As always, you know your oven, you may have to bake the bread a little longer than the 50 minutes. I have to bake mine an extra six minutes. When checking to see if your bread is done, whatever you used to check with (tooth pick, skewer, knife, etc.) should come out clean.

If you keep these tips in mind, you too will brag on your banana bread.

Moist Banana Bread

Ingredients:

• 1 stick butter, softened

• 1 cup sugar 

• 2 eggs 

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

• 1 ½ cups all purpose flour 

• ½ teaspoon salt 

• 1 teaspoon baking soda 

• 1 teaspoon baking power 

• 3 ripe bananas, frozen and thawed completely 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9x5 loaf pan.

In a mixing bowl, combine the butter and sugar until creamy. Add the eggs, vanilla, and bananas, continue mixing by hand. Add the flour, salt, baking soda, and baking power. Mix until it all comes together. Don’t over mix.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 50 minutes.

When the bread is done, let cool in the pan for about 5 minutes before turning it out on a cooling rack. When completely cool, slice and enjoy.