Banana bread can feel a little like cake at times. Not that I have a problem with this when I’m in for a treat, but I feel a little better about things if it's a little lower on the sweetener.
Where we live we can buy cases of ripe, ready to use need to be sold ASAP bananas…for $10! It used to be $5! This is Canadian dollars too…so $10 CAD is about $7.50 USD.
This makes it fun to gorge on bananas for a week (they keep in the fridge or cool room well) and then freeze a bunch of peeled bananas for smoothies and baking! I have been hankering for banana bread recently. My sister might say I have been obsessively texting her about it! Once I was finally in town and grabbed a case of bananas and put them by the warm cookstove so they speed ripened…oh how happy I was to have banana bread!
If you've got lots of sourdough discard around, you can also use that to make delicious banana muffins.
Why You Need This Recipe
- Easy to customize what you add in to the batter!
- Makes muffins or bread - which keeps things interesting.
- Freezes so well, so make sure you double or triple!
Key Ingredients
Bananas - Definitely super brown and ready to mash up! This makes them even sweeter, requiring less sweetener.
Honey - I know honey can get expensive, but this only requires a half cup due to the bananas already being sweet.
Flour - "White" flour makes the tastiest bread here. I grind my own white wheat but you can also use regular all-purpose flour.
Butter - Yum, love it. Whether you make your own or not, this is perfect for in (and on top of!) your batter.
Mix-ins - Chocolate or nuts are the obvious choices!
How to Make Honey Sweetened Banana Bread
***See recipe card below for precise measurements and instructions.***
Step 1: Start by melting your butter into the honey, and letting it cool enough to not cook the eggs.
Step 2: Mash up the bananas well! Even if you love bananas, a giant chunk in your slice of bread isn't always pleasant.
Step 3: Add the egg and stir everything well.
Step 4: I add my flour on top, no need to dirty a second bowl! Then I stir in the other dry ingredients to the flour before mixing it in completely.
Step 5: Add your desired mix-ins.
Step 6: Spread into your prepared pan and rest 20 minutes if using fresh flour.
Step 7: Bake until your tester comes out clean.
Tips and Tricks
- Honey baked goods sometimes brown more quickly, so if your loaf isn't done inside but is browning fast, you can pop some foil overtop.
- Double this and make a loaf and a pan of muffins all at once! Keep in mind they will finish at different times.
- Cool completely, then wrap well and store. Your future self will thank you!
FAQs
Make sure you've let it cool off most of the day so the center is completely cool. You can wrap it right in the parchment you baked it in and pop it in a bag. If it'll be longer-term, you can feel free to wrap in foil first as well. I freeze the loaf whole for better texture when thawed.
I love this recipe because as written it will give ya one loaf or a dozen muffins. This means you can easily double it and make some of each. You can also stir chocolate into the bread and then add toppings to the muffins individually, like half nuts and half chocolate. This mixes things up and no one will feel like they are eating the same snack over and over.
Photos by Dante from Shire by the Sea
More Baked Goodies
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Honey Sweetened Banana Bread
Ingredients
- 3 very ripe bananas
- 1 egg
- ¼ cup butter
- ½ cup honey
- 1 ¾ cups all purpose or fresh ground wheat see notes
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ cup chocolate chips or nuts optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a loaf pan with parchment paper (or grease it well!) or prep one dozen muffins with liners or grease.
- Melt butter and honey together on medium/low until just melted. Let cool.
- Mash 3 bananas in a bowl. Add in your egg.
- Add butter mixture into your banana mix and mix well.
- On top of the wet mix measure out your flour and leave it there in a pile.
- Then on top of that, measure baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon. Gently mix those three into the flour, and then mix your batter together.
- You can mix in your chocolate or nuts at this point if you want them throughout the bread.
- Bake for 45-55 minutes for bread (i turn around half way and test with a butter knife to see that it comes out clean) or 18-23 minutes for muffins.
- Let rest in the pan 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- For your flour, you can use a soft white wheat, or this is nice and nutty with a hard red or red fife too!. You can also use all-purpose pre-ground flour. If you are using fresh ground, make sure to hydrate about 20 minutes before baking.
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