Every home cook needs a banana bread recipe they can make on autopilot. This is mine.
One bowl. No mixer. No creaming butter and sugar for ten minutes while wondering if your arms are going to fall off. You mash some bananas, stir in some stuff, pour it in a tin, and an hour later your entire house smells like the best bakery you've ever walked into.
I've tried the fancy versions — the ones with brown butter, or cream cheese swirls, or chocolate ganache. They're fine. But I always come back to this one because it's the most reliable, the most forgiving, and honestly the most satisfying. Simple banana bread done perfectly beats complicated banana bread every time.
What you'll need
— 3 large ripe bananas (the browner the better — if they look disgusting, they're perfect) — 75g melted butter (or coconut oil) — 150g caster sugar (or brown sugar for more depth) — 1 egg — 1 teaspoon vanilla extract — 190g plain flour — 1 teaspoon baking soda — Pinch of salt
Optional extras (pick one or none — the plain version is perfect): — 70g walnuts, roughly chopped — 70g dark chocolate chips — 1 teaspoon cinnamon
From the Wooden Collection kitchen: I bake this in a standard loaf tin and let it cool on a bamboo cooling rack before slicing on our acacia cutting board. The wooden handle bread knife gives you clean slices without crushing the crumb — serrated metal knives tear soft bread, but a sharp wooden-handled one glides through.
Method
Step 1 — Preheat and prep (2 minutes)
Preheat your oven to 175°C (350°F). Line a loaf tin with baking paper or grease it well.
Step 2 — Mash and mix (5 minutes)
In a large bowl, mash the bananas with a fork until mostly smooth — a few lumps are fine and actually give the bread better texture. Stir in the melted butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla. Mix until combined.
Step 3 — Add the dry ingredients (2 minutes)
Add the flour, baking soda, and salt directly to the bowl. Stir until just combined — you should still see a few streaks of flour. If you're adding walnuts, chocolate chips, or cinnamon, fold them in now.
Do not overmix. Overmixing develops the gluten and turns your banana bread into a banana brick. Stir until the flour disappears and then stop.
Step 4 — Bake (50-60 minutes)
Pour into your prepared tin. Bake for 50-60 minutes, until the top is deeply golden and a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean (or with just a few moist crumbs — not wet batter).
Step 5 — Cool
This is the hardest part. Let it cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then turn it out onto a rack. Slicing it too early means it'll crumble. Give it at least 20 minutes.
Then slice a thick piece, add a smear of butter, and enjoy the best thing you'll eat all week.
Jacob's tips
On the bananas: Riper is better. If your bananas are still yellow, this isn't the recipe for them yet — leave them on the bench for a few more days. The brown, spotty, slightly-too-soft-to-eat ones are banana bread gold. They're sweeter, more flavourful, and mash easier.
On the sugar: I use brown sugar more often than caster because it adds a slight toffee note that pairs beautifully with banana. Both work. You can also reduce the sugar to 100g if you prefer it less sweet — the ripe bananas carry a lot of sweetness on their own.
On freezing: This bread freezes perfectly. Slice it before freezing, then pull out individual slices and toast them straight from frozen. Sunday bake, weekday breakfasts sorted.
On storage: Wrapped in a tea towel on the bench, it keeps well for 3-4 days. In the fridge it'll last a week but the texture suffers slightly. The freezer is your best friend.
Have a go at this one and tag us on Instagram @woodencollection — I'd love to see your version.