Bread Machine Banana Bread

4.67 from 6 votes

Easy bread machine banana bread using the Cake or Quick Bread cycle. No yeast, no rise time, moist and tender, ready in about 2 hours. The classic banana quick bread, made with five minutes of work.

Prep Time10

Cook Time1 50

Total Time2

Course: Bread

Cuisine: American

Keyword: banana bread, banana bread bread machine, banana bread in bread machine, Bread Machine, bread machine banana bread, Bread Machine Quick Bread, Bread Maker, bread maker banana bread, easy banana bread, no yeast banana bread

Servings: slices

Author: Ashley Adamant

Equipment

Bread Machine

Ingredients

3 large eggs beaten
1/4 cup oil or melted butter
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup banana very ripe, mashed
2 cups white flour All Purpose or Cake Flour
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt

Instructions

Beat the eggs in a small bowl. Mash the bananas in a separate bowl until mostly smooth. Add the eggs, oil, vanilla, and mashed banana to the bread pan and stir briefly with a fork.
Add the flour on top of the wet ingredients, covering them completely.
Make small wells in the flour for the baking powder and baking soda. Add baking powder and baking soda into the wells, then sprinkle the sugar and salt over the top of the flour.
Select the Cake or Quick Bread cycle (no rise time) and light crust setting (sugar burns at darker settings). Press start.
Optional: at the mix-in beep (about 5 to 10 minutes in), add 1/2 cup chopped nuts or 3/4 cup chocolate chips. Use a silicone spatula to fold them into the batter and scrape any flour from the sides of the pan. Close the lid.
Let the machine complete the cycle without opening the lid again. Total time is typically 1 hour 50 minutes to 2 hours.
Cool 5 to 10 minutes in the pan, then turn out onto a wire rack. Cool completely (at least 1 hour) before slicing.

Notes

Machine size: This recipe makes a single loaf that fits in 1 1/2-pound and 2-pound machines without adjustment.

Cycle name varies: Zojirushi calls it "Cake," Cuisinart calls it "Quick Bread/Cake," Sunbeam and Oster machines may call it "Quick" or "Sweet." Confirm in your manual that the cycle has no rise time. Do NOT use the Basic White cycle; the rise phase will destroy chemically leavened bread.

Light crust is essential. With 3/4 cup of sugar plus the natural sugars in ripe bananas, the crust browns quickly. Medium or dark settings will burn the outside before the inside finishes baking.

Don't reduce the baking powder. The 1 Tbsp amount looks high but is intentional. Bread machines bake longer and gentler than ovens, and the higher leavening ratio is what keeps the loaf from baking up dense. Reducing it produces a gummy, sunken loaf.

Use very ripe bananas. Skins covered in dark brown or black spots, soft inside. Underripe bananas (yellow, firm) produce a flat, starchy-tasting bread.

Frozen bananas: thaw fully at room temperature, pour off the released liquid, then mash and measure 1 cup. The discarded liquid concentrates the banana flavor.

The most common cause of a dense loaf is scooped flour. Spoon flour into the measuring cup and level with a knife, or weigh it (250 g for 2 cups).

Mix-ins: Add 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans, or 3/4 cup chocolate chips, at the mix-in beep.

Storage: 3 to 4 days at room temperature wrapped in plastic. Flavor improves overnight. For longer storage, freeze the cooled loaf wrapped tightly in plastic for up to 3 months.

Nutrition