banana bread recipes

Banana Bread Tips

• Bananas ripen best at room temperature. To quickly ripen bananas, place them in a brown paper bag and close the bag tightly. Since the fruit will give off a gas as it ripens, containing the gas in the closed bag will hasten the ripening process of the bananas.
• While bananas that are beginning to blacken may be too ripe to eat, they are perfect for making your favorite banana bread.  If you have more bananas than you need for a recipe, peel the bananas then freeze them in resealable freezer-weight plastic bags for up to 6 months.  These overripe bananas are also perfect for making fruit smoothies.
• About 3 medium bananas will yield 1 cup mashed bananas.  If you have more ripe bananas than what you need to make your favorite banana bread recipe, why not double the recipe and make 2 loaves instead of 1?  Give the other as a gift or freeze for later enjoyment.
• Customize your banana bread recipe by stirring ½ to 1 cup chocolate chips, raisins, dried cranberries, BAKER’S ANGEL FLAKE Coconut or your favorite chopped PLANTERS Nuts into the batter before baking as directed.
• Overmixing the batter can result in tough or rubbery breads or muffins.  Take care to mix the batter just until moistened. It’s OK if a few lumps remain in the batter.
• Cinnamon and banana is a wonderful flavor combination.  For a change of pace, sprinkle 1 Tbsp. cinnamon sugar over the banana bread batter in pan before baking as directed.
• For easy slicing, use a long serrated knife to slice the cooled bread.
• Bananas are a good source of fiber, vitamin C and potassium.  For everything you need to know about this popular fruit, check out bananas in our Seasonal Produce Guide.
• For a change of pace, enjoy these better-for-you Banana-Nut Graham Muffins, which are made with graham crackers instead of flour.
• Or, our Chocolate Chunk Banana Bread Mix makes a wonderful gift.  Wrap in plastic wrap, then in colorful wrapping paper or tissue paper for a one-of-a-kind gift.