Banana Bread Recipe - Love and Lemons (2024)

FAQs

When not to use bananas for bread? ›

If the bananas have any visible signs of mold, throw them out. If they smell off, that's another good indicator that they are no longer okay to use. Rotten bananas will often have a fermented or alcohol-like smell.

Fight the urge to use more banana than called for in your recipe. Using too much banana could make your bread heavy and damp in the center, causing it to appear undercooked and unappealing. If you have bananas leftover, you can always freeze them for later use.

Cool completely on rack. Wrap and store at room temperature overnight before slicing. (We know it's hard to wait, but your bread will be more evenly moist and less crumbly if you let it sit overnight.)

The longer the bread sits, the banana flavor intensifies. And speaking of bananas, I want you to wait to use your bananas until they look like fruit flies are going to eat them. Sorry for the gross visual, but the riper the bananas are, the more flavor and sweetness we'll get from the fruit.

These bananas may be a bit too ripe for your cereal, but they're just beginning to come into their own for banana bread. Let the bananas ripen (and overripen) at room temperature. Depending on the weather, this could take a few days, or up to a week. The best bananas for banana bread aren't yellow; they're black.

Skimping on the sugar can dry out a loaf of banana bread and leave it flavorless. It turns out, sugar does more than just make things sweeter. When it comes to banana bread, cutting back on sugar will leave you with a dry loaf totally devoid of any distinguishable flavor.

Brown, overripe bananas are sweeter because in the ripening process the starches in the banana are converted to sugar. You can even use super-soft, black bananas that have a really strong smell and are oozy inside. As long as they're not moldy, there's no such thing as too-ripe bananas for banana bread.

In my experience, using bananas with a dark brown or even black peel for banana bread is ideal, as long as the inside isn't rotten. Key takeaway: As long as your bananas aren't starting to get moldy, infested with fruit flies or beginning to rot they aren't too ripe for baking banana bread.

An overmixed banana bread batter will result in a dense, rubbery loaf. As you're prepping your batter, heed the advice of "stir until just moistened" and "no more than 10 seconds."

Fill the pan until it's two-thirds full, and if there is any remaining batter, fill up a muffin tin. This ensures you get a beautifully risen loaf instead of a potentially flat loaf in a 9×5.

Is it OK to refrigerate banana bread batter? ›

Banana Bread Muffins or Mini Muffins

(If you don't have enough pans to make them all at once, refrigerate the remaining batter until you're ready to bake them.) Heat oven to 350°F.

Never store it in the refrigerator. A refrigerator circulates cool air, which removes moisture and can prematurely dry breads and cakes. Place your cooled loaf on a plate and cover it in plastic wrap, or store it in an airtight container. Store it for up to four days on your counter.

Baking soda works best in conjunction with an acidic ingredient. In the case of banana bread, this may be buttermilk, brown sugar, molasses or the bananas themselves. Recipes generally include just enough baking soda to balance the acidity in the batter.

Believe it or not, you can actually bake delicious banana bread without baking soda or another leavening agent to help it rise. Generally, it won't rise quite as much, but it will still taste absolutely delicious.

In my experience, using bananas with a dark brown or even black peel for banana bread is ideal, as long as the inside isn't rotten. Key takeaway: As long as your bananas aren't starting to get moldy, infested with fruit flies or beginning to rot they aren't too ripe for baking banana bread.

Mold on bananas is fuzzy white, gray, or greenish—it looks a lot like mold on bread. If a banana smells rotten or fermented or is leaking fluid, it's time to say goodbye. If the fruit inside, not just the peel, is black, that's a sign that your banana is too far gone to safely eat.

Patients with kidney problems, migraines, or latex allergies should avoid eating bananas. Bananas contain high levels of potassium, which can be harmful for individuals with impaired kidney function. The natural sugar in bananas can trigger migraines in some people.

That's right. Baking can turn your firm bananas into a warm mush of sweetened banana pulp ready for your baking needs. According to Food52, low and slow is the way to go, with the sweet spot for the best texture and banana flavor being at 300 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the peel is almost black.