4 Ingredient Banana Bread

It’s the kind of simple banana bread recipe you can whip up with pantry staples and a few basic ingredients— perfect for a cozy afternoon snack, a sweet breakfast or when you have a bunch of overripe bananas on the counter. Whether you’re baking for your family or looking for an easy banana bread recipe to keep on hand, this loaf delivers every time.

We always have too many bananas in the house. Finding simple and fun recipes to use them up is essential. If you love banana flavors, try our Pumpkin Banana Bread, Sheet Pan Banana Pancakes, Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies and our Banana French Toast Casserole. And here is our simple Self Rising Flour Recipe, if you need one.

• Just 4 Ingredients: No long shopping list or extra ingredients, just the essentials for a delicious banana bread recipe.
• Quick and Simple: With step-by-step instructions, you’ll go from mixing wet ingredients to pulling a golden loaf from the preheated oven in under an hour.
• Perfect Texture: Soft and moist with tender crumbs, this loaf has the best texture thanks to the bananas and the built-in leavening agent in self-rising flour.
• Versatile Base: Add chocolate chips, nuts, or a drizzle of maple syrup for extra flavor.

Here is what you will need for this traditional banana bread.

See the recipe card below for the exact quantities of each ingredient.

• Overripe Bananas: Provide natural sweetness, moisture, and the classic banana flavor. Riper bananas with brown spots are best.
• Light or Dark Brown Sugar: Adds rich sweetness and a hint of molasses depth.
• Large Eggs: Help bind the banana bread batter and add structure.
• Self Rising Flour: Acts as both flour and leavening agent and plays a crucial role in giving the loaf its lift and fluffy texture. Find our simple recipe here.

For this recipe, you'll want to have on hand an 8x4.5 metal loaf pan, measuring cups and spoons, mixing bowl, parchment paper, whisk, spatula and cooling rack.

This recipe is flexible; here are a few ideas to change it up.

• Sugar: Swap dark brown sugar for light brown or granulated sugar for a lighter flavor. You can also try coconut sugar. The ripe bananas contain natural sugars that make the final product sweet, but you can adjust the amount of sugar in this recipe.
• All-Purpose Flour: If you don’t have self-rising flour, follow our recipe to make your own.
• Mix-Ins: Fold in dark chocolate chips or chocolate chunks for chocolate banana bread that tastes like a delicious treat. Also try peanut butter chips, chopped nuts or dried fruit for great flavor and texture.
• Topping: Sprinkle turbinado sugar or sliced bananas on top before baking for a sweet, crunchy crust.
• Gluten Free: Make your banana bread gluten-free by using a gluten-free blend for a healthy 4-ingredient banana bread option.
• Melted Butter or Cottage Cheese: Adds richness and moisture if you'd like an extra moist banana bread.
• Pure Vanilla Extract: Add vanilla extract as an extra ingredient to add a deeper flavor to this quick bread.

This is such a simple recipe, just follow the process below for the best results.

Preheat oven to 350F degrees and line a prepared loaf pan with parchment paper leaving the sides high.

Whisk together the mashed bananas and brown sugar in a large mixing bowl.

Add the large eggs and whisk again until full incorporated.

Gently fold in self-rising flour until there are no dry streaks, then transfer banana bread batter into prepared loaf pan.

Bake in preheated oven for about 40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out of the center of the bread with moist crumbs.

Cool in the pan for about 15 minutes before transferring to a wire rack for cooling.

Hint: Store bananas in a paper bag to speed up the ripening process for that perfect natural sweetness. The riper the bananas, the better. Spotty bananas add the most sweetness and moisture.

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• Room Temperature: Store leftover banana bread out of direct sunlight, wrapped or in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
• Refrigerator: For longer storage, homemade banana bread keeps well for up to 5 days when wrapped tightly.
• Freezer: The great thing about this easy recipe is that banana bread freezes well. Wrap slices individually or as a full loaf, in plastic wrap or freezer-safe container and freeze for up to 6 months. Thaw at room temperature or warm in the microwave for a freshly baked

• Sweet Breakfast: Banana chocolate French toast bake, Crockpot cinnamon roll casserole, crispy fluffy pancakes, apple coffee cake, blueberry pancakes, gluten free waffles, sheet pan banana pancakes.
• Savory Brunch Favorites: Spinach ham quiche Lorraine, spinach and bacon quiche, ham and Swiss quiche, bacon wrapped sausages.
• Cozy Drinks: Caramel mocha, Crockpot hot chocolate, pumpkin chai latte, Starbucks pumpkin spice latte, Irish coffee with Baileys, espresso Irish coffee, Baileys and hot chocolate.
• More Loaves and Muffins: Pumpkin banana bread, gluten free zucchini bread, strawberry rhubarb muffins, double chocolate chunk muffins, strawberry rhubarb bread, lemon cranberry muffins.

For the best banana bread, keep these pointers in mind.

• Mixing: Be careful not to overmix once the flour goes in, since this keeps the bread tender.
• Pan Prep: Lining with parchment and leaving the sides high makes lifting the loaf out easy.
• Measuring Cup: Always measure flour correctly when not using a scale, spoon and level for the best texture.
• Let Bread Cool: Let the bread cool fully before slicing to avoid a gummy center.
• Mashing: You can use a potato masher or a fork to mash your bananas; leave some texture and chunks.

Do you have questions about 4 ingredient banana bread?

There are a couple ways to make sure your banana bread turns out light and moist: use over-ripe bananas, and don't overmix your batter. Mix until just combined for the best texture.

Yes, you can. Banana bread is a great way to use up frozen bananas, just thaw them completely before baking, and drain any excess liquid before mashing so that it doesn't change the texture of your batter.

You can make this banana bread your own by adding your favorite chocolate chips, chocolate chunks, peanut butter chips, chopped nuts, or a combination of any.

You definitely can, we just have not tested it, so we can't make any definitive recommendations for the bake time.

You can still use all purpose flour in this recipe. Just add 1 teaspoon of baking powder and ½ teaspoon of salt per cup of flour to mimic self-rising flour.

When you insert a toothpick into the centre of the bread and it comes out with just a few moist crumbs and not wet batter, it's ready. Be sure to let it cool fully before slicing as well.

Check out some more of our recipes you will want to try!

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Eggnog Cheesecake

Eggnog Martini Cocktail

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