The Best Banana Bread

A classic banana bread recipe that will cook all the way through every time. You’ll get two delicious loaves in 1 hour from start to finish.

This banana bread recipe has been in our family for years. We have made a few tweaks of our own to it. But it is one of those family recipes we cherish and will make for years to come.

You should have most of the ingredients on hand already. You’ll see in the ingredient list you can opt for coffee or buttermilk. As I rarely have buttermilk in my fridge, we typically choose coffee—and you can certainly make it with decaf. Plus, we always have a stash of frozen bananas in our freezer to make banana bread.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 4 bananas, mashed
• 1/4 cup coffee or buttermilk
• 2 cups flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• pinch of salt

How to Make Banana Bread

Follow these easy steps to make this tasty banana bread.

Step 1 | Preheat oven to 350°F

Start by preheating your oven to 350°F.

Step 2 | Prepare loaf pans

Prepare two 8 x 4-inch loaf pans. Spray lightly with cooking spray and dust with flour. We also use parchment paper on occasion – making it really easy to lift the banana bread loaves out after they’ve cooled.

Step 3 | cream sugar and shortening

Start by creaming shortening and sugar together in a medium-sized bowl. We use the butter-flavored shortening or regular shortening. You can also mix it up and use 1 cup of granulated sugar and 1/2 cup of brown sugar.

Step 4 | Add eggs, coffee, and bananas

Add eggs, coffee (or buttermilk), and mashed bananas to the shortening and sugar mixture.

Step 5 | Combine dry ingredients

Next, mix all of your dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Step 6 | Mix in dry ingredients

Then fold the dry ingredients into the banana mixture.

Step 7 | Divide the batter into 2 loaf pans

Separate the batter evenly between the two loaf pans.

Step 8 | Bake for 45 minutes

Bake for 45 minutes at 350°F. Depending on your oven, this could take longer. Once a toothpick comes out clean from the center of the loaf, the banana bread is done.

Step 9 | Allow to cool

Remove from the oven and let it cool slightly.

Step 10 | Enjoy or store for later

Banana bread is the best when served warm with butter.

Banana Bread Variations

Here are some delicious ways to vary this banana bread recipe.

• Add chocolate chips to the batter before you divide the batter into the loaf pans.
• Sprinkle the top of both loaves with cinnamon and sugar before you bake.
• Fold chopped walnuts or pecans into the mixture before you separate the batter into each loaf pan.

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Final Notes

We love this recipe because we typically have the ingredients on hand and don’t need to make a special trip to the grocery store. We always have a stash of bananas in the freezer. And as avid coffee drinkers, we always have coffee on hand. If you don’t, you can easily switch it out for buttermilk.

We love that this recipe makes two loaves—perfect for our family or easily packaged as a gift for family or friends.

More Bread Recipes

• Caramel roll pull-aparts
• Bread machine buns
• Cranberry cinnamon cornbread
• Pumpkin bread with cake mix

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The Best Banana Bread