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A whole banana bread in a parchment paper lined in a bread pan.

4-Ingredient Banana Bread With No Cake Mix

Author: Jessica Haggard
Most 4 ingredient banana bread hides the fruit under two cups of flour, and this one uses four whole bananas with barely more than half that. It bakes up moist and banana-forward in one bowl, no cake mix.
5 from 52 votes
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 55 minutes
Rest Time 20 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 25 minutes
Course Bread
Cuisine American
Servings 9 (1-inch) servings
Calories 293 kcal

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 9x5-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.
    Mashed bananas in a glass bowl with a fork.
  • Add the eggs and sugar; mix well.
    Mashed bananas with egg and sugar in a glass bowl with a fork.
  • 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.
    Mashed bananas mixture with flour added in a glass bowl with a fork.
  • 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.
    Banana bread mixture pour in a baking dish.
  • 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.
    Close-up of a sliced loaf of banana bread with visible banana slices on the surface.

Notes

Banana size swings this batter more than anything else does. You want it to pour slowly and still mound up in the bowl. Loosen it with water or tighten it with flour, a little at a time, depending on which way you want to go.
In a glass pan, check at 45 minutes. Glass colors the crust faster.
Stir add-ins through at the end, once no dry streaks are left.
Serve: Let the loaf come to room temperature all the way through before the first cut. That is when the edges cut cleanest. Good with coffee, and it travels well.
Store: Covered on the counter, three to four days. The refrigerator will dry it out, so skip it.
For the freezer, cut the loaf into slices and stack them with parchment in between, so you can take out a single slice.

Nutrition

Serving: 1gCalories: 293kcalCarbohydrates: 39gProtein: 6gFat: 13gSaturated Fat: 6gPolyunsaturated Fat: 4gMonounsaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0.02gCholesterol: 42mgSodium: 34mgPotassium: 186mgFiber: 2gSugar: 20gVitamin A: 70IUVitamin C: 0.2mgCalcium: 38mgIron: 2mg
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