4-Ingredient Banana Bread
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Four very ripe bananas, brown sugar, two eggs, and self-rising flour. That’s the whole list. No cake mix, no butter, no oil, and one bowl to wash. There’s more banana in this loaf than there is flour, and that’s the part I care about.
One reader, Leslie, commented: “I am not the best bread maker, but this recipe is perfect for people like me! It’s so easy to make! Thank you! ★★★★★”
Another reader, Tristin, commented: “I definitely have everything I need to make this banana bread. I love recipes that only have a few ingredients. ★★★★★”
I took the last one to a brunch, which meant it sat until it was completely cool before anyone cut it. That turned out to be how this loaf wants to be served. The slices came off firm and clean with almost no crumb on the board, which is not what I expect from a quick bread. If you want a softer, more cake-like crumb, the version I make with butter and three bananas is a different bread on purpose.
Watch the loaf, not the timer. I’ve baked this in two different ovens and gotten two very different loaves out of the same recipe, so start checking at forty-five minutes and let the tester make the call. When I want a loaf and don’t want to heat the oven at all, I make a pumpkin bread in the bread machine instead. Everything else I bake in loaf form sits in my collection of bread recipes.
How It Comes Together
This is a one-bowl bake, and you’re going to want a big one. Four mashed bananas plus a cup and a half of flour takes up more room than you expect, and a tight bowl is how flour ends up on the counter.
Mash the bananas first, then the eggs and brown sugar, then the flour last. I’ve made this mixing by hand, with an electric hand mixer, and with a stand mixer. Stop the second you can’t see flour anymore and you’ll be good. That stopping point is the only fussy thing in the recipe. Self-rising flour is doing all the lifting here, and there’s no butter or oil to keep the crumb tender, so this batter has less margin than a richer banana bread does.
For the top, peel one extra banana and split it lengthwise, then lay the two halves on the batter slightly askew so one curves out, the other curves in, and they sit against each other.
Bake at 350°F and start checking at forty-five minutes. A cake tester pushed into the middle should come out clean. Give it ten minutes in the pan, then lift it out by the parchment and let it finish cooling on a rack.
The printable card below has the full ingredient list, measurements, and steps.
Ingredient Notes
Bananas. They need to be overripe, covered in brown spots or gone black altogether. Firm fruit won’t mash down, and you end up with a heavy batter that struggles to rise. You can speed ripening along in a low oven, but be honest with yourself about what that does. It darkens the peel and softens the fruit without building the sugar that real ripening builds. It’s a rescue, not a shortcut. Buy an extra banana if you want the split halves on top.
Brown sugar. It gives the loaf more depth than white sugar does. White sugar works and nothing breaks, the flavor just goes flatter.
Self-rising flour. This is the whole leavening system, not a convenience. It’s plain flour with baking powder and salt already in it, and nothing else in this recipe lifts the loaf. Swap it for all-purpose and stop there and you’ll bake a brick. The substitution is 1 1/2 cup of all-purpose flour, 2 1/4 teaspoons of baking powder, and 1/2 a teaspoon of salt. It has to be all three.
What I’ve Learned Making This
Watch the batter as you go. It should be thick but still pourable, the kind of thick that piles up in the bowl without rolling into a ball. If it’s stiffer than that, a splash of water loosens it. If it slumps and runs, a small spoonful of flour brings it back. Bananas vary and can sometimes produce differing results.
Lay a strip of parchment down the length of the pan so it hangs over both long sides. That overhang is the handle you lift the loaf out with later. With a batter this wet, it’s the difference between a clean loaf and one that leaves its bottom behind.
In my testing, I’ve seen the same recipe in the same pan baked in two different ovens yield two completely different loaves. The first came out heavy and gummy through the middle. The second was firm and sliced clean. If your banana bread comes out damp and dense, look at your oven temperature (it’s probably too low) before you blame your mixing.
I used to scatter banana coins across the top instead. They were more trouble than they looked. The pieces dragged on the knife when I sliced the loaf, and they never landed evenly from one slice to the next. Now I arrange two long halves cut straight through. They look and function better.
Substitutions and Variations
Any of these can go in, one at a time or together. Fold them in at the very end, once the flour has just disappeared, so you’re not mixing the batter a second time to spread them through.
- ¾ cup semisweet chocolate chips
- ½ cup chopped walnuts
- ½ cup shredded coconut
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Storage
Keep it airtight on the counter for three or four days. The refrigerator sounds like the safer choice, and it isn’t. Bread goes stale faster in the refrigerator than it does on the counter.
To keep it longer, freeze it, then slice it, placing a square of parchment between slices so they come apart one at a time rather than in a block. It holds up on a brunch table next to breakfast sausage done five different ways, which you can do in the skillet while the loaf bakes or reheats in the oven.
4-Ingredient Banana Bread With No Cake Mix
Ingredients
- 4 medium ripe bananas
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 ½ cups self-rising flour
- 1 medium ripe banana optional, split lengthwise to decorate the top
Optional Add-Ins
- ¾ cup semisweet chocolate chips
- ½ cup chopped walnuts
- ½ cup shredded coconut
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a 9×5-inch loaf pan with a strip of parchment long enough to hang over both long sides.
- Mash the bananas with a fork in a large mixing bowl.
- Add the eggs and sugar; mix well.
- Finally, mix in the flour and continue stirring until the ingredients look evenly combined. Don’t over-mix because that can lead to gummy banana bread. Give just as many stirs as it takes to combine well.
- Transfer the batter to the loaf pan. Split the extra banana lengthwise and lay the two halves on the batter slightly askew. Bake at 350°F, checking from 45 minutes, until a tester comes out clean. Up to 60 minutes depending on your oven and pan.
- Remove the bread from the oven and place it on a wire rack. Let it sit for 10 minutes before pulling up the parchment paper, removing from the pan, and placing it on a wire rack to cool for approximately 10 more minutes. Then, slice into approximately 9 1-inch pieces.
I definitely have everything I need to make this banana bread. I love recipes that only have a few ingredients.
It just helps knowing you will almost have everything on hand, doesn’t it?! Thanks for trying the recipe, Tristin!
I am not the best bread maker, but this recipe is perfect for people like me! It’s so easy to make! Thank you!
Easy peasy for even the most beginner bakers 😉
Perfect for Breakfast.Quick and easy to make. All the additions to it makes it yummier.
I love how simple and easy to make this bread recipe.
I made it and my kids love it!
I can’t believe how easy this banana bread was to make! It was perfectly moist and sweet and we really enjoyed it for breakfast with some yogurt.
Yes, sweet but not over-sweet….glad you enjoyed!
We are all banana bread lovers at home. Like you, I’m a food blogger and have two recipes on my blog. I tried this, and we all agreed this is one of the best banana bread we have ever had!
Thank you Enriqueta! Glad to hear it was approved by “foodies” alike 🙂
Love banana bread and this recipe is so simple, tasty, and delicious! It came together in minutes and did not last a full day in my house.