Banana Bread (Without Butter)

Ingredients You'll Need

You only need a few basic ingredients for this delicious bread!

• All Purpose Flour. A combination of whole wheat flour and all purpose flour can be used too.
• Brown Sugar. For added sweetness. Maple syrup, honey, or white sugar can be used too.
• 3 Medium Bananas. They should be brown and spotty, but not too black. The overripe bananas are perfect for this banana bread and also banana bread with cake flour.
• Coconut oil. In place of melted butter we are using coconut oil, but any neutral oil will work.
• Leavening agent. You will need both baking soda and baking powder.
• Flavorings. Cinnamon and vanilla extract are classic in a delicious banana bread.

What Bananas Should I Use?

We all buy that bunch of bananas, and there are inevitably two or three left over that get too soft and brown to eat. I know my kids refuse to eat them unless they are perfectly yellow. A little brown and forget it!

To make banana bread though, those bananas are perfect! Brown, spotty, and a little mushy have the perfect amount of sweetness and are easily mashed, to make the most delicious banana bread.

How To Make Banana Bread Without Butter

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Spray a loaf pan with cooking spray and line it with parchment paper. Place the greased loaf pan aside.

In a small mixing bowl, add the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon. Set that aside.

In a large bowl, mash bananas well. Add the brown sugar, eggs, and coconut oil to the mashed bananas. Mix well.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Mix until the ingredients are just combined. It's ok if there are a few lumps left in the batter.

Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Set the bake time for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick is inserted and comes out clean. Let the banana bread cool in the loaf pan for 10 minutes and then take it out of the pan and let it cool on a wire cooling rack.

Tips and Tricks

• Banana bread is known to stick to the sides of the loaf pan, so it's really important to grease it well. To make it even easier to get the banana bread out of the pan, line the loaf pan with parchment paper. The parchment paper will make it really easy to lift out the bread when it's done.
• If the top of the banana bread is browning too fast in the oven, take a piece of aluminum foil and tent it over the loaf pan. That will stop the browning on the top of the bread.
• Though it might be tempting to cut this bread as soon as you take it out of the oven, it's really important to let it cool. If you don't allow the bread to cool, it will likely fall apart when you cut into it.

How To Quickly Ripen Bananas

• To ripen bananas faster than they normally would, place the bananas in a brown bag with an apple. The gases from the skin of the apple speeds up the ripening process. This way will take about a day to ripen.
• If you are in a pinch and want to ripen bananas quickly, preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Place the whole banana on a baking sheet and place them in the oven for 15 minutes. When the skins turn completely black they are ready! Carefully peel the banana and let it cool, then proceed with the recipe.
• Otherwise you can do what we do, leave them out on the counter until we forget about them and then make banana bread!

Variations

• Add 1 cup of chocolate chips to make a chocolate chip banana bread.
• Mix in one cup of chopped walnuts for banana nut bread.
• Substitute ½ cup of coconut oil or light olive oil for the butter to make a dairy free banana bread.
• Swirl in ½ cup of peanut butter for a peanut butter banana bread.
• Add ½ cup of white chocolate chips or cinnamon chips for added sweetness!

Storage Information

Once the banana bread cools to room temperature, place the banana bread in an airtight container on the counter for up to 4 days. Do not place the banana bread in the refrigerator, it will go stale and moldy very quickly in the refrigerator.

Banana bread freezes beautifully! Wrap the banana bread in plastic wrap and then place it in a Ziploc bag. Freeze it for up to 3 months. To defrost the bread, let it sit out on the counter for a few hours to defrost.