Grandma's banana bread is an easy recipe with no fuss or frills and gives you great results every time! A great way to use ripe bananas too!
Grandma's Banana Bread. Gosh this is a delicious recipe!
It can often be hard searching for a tried and tested recipe for a good cake, that will be moist, tasty, and also look great, but Heather was lucky to have a grandma who enjoyed baking and keeping a record of all her recipes. This Banana Bread recipe dates back to at least the 1960's, if not further back.
Making this banana bread is a great way to use up over ripe bananas. The riper the better!
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The recipe is very straightforward and we've had some lovely stories and feedback from you saying you've baked Grandma's Banana Bread with your son/daughter and they've enjoyed mixing the ingredients and of course, enjoyed eating their creation too.
This particular recipe is quite sweet so if you haven't got a sweet tooth, feel free to reduce the sugar by knocking about ⅓ off the amount listed in the ingredients.
This delicious recipe has been generously shared by one of our foodie friends, Heather. I'll let Heather tell the story behind it!
"My grandmother (Geneva Ruth Buchanan) had it written on an old piece of paper that was shoved in an old cookbook from 1960, that she left for me when she passed... I sadly don't have the paper it was written on anymore, it has crumbled over the years and was very hard to get the recipe off of, that's why I copied it so I could have it forever!"
My Grand always made me banana bread when I was little, in a little loaf that was just mine!! So now I make it for my boys to remember her and her little kitchen smelling so wonderful! If you think people would like it, go ahead and use it!!
" A secret recipe is no fun if you don't have wonderful friends that you can share it with!"- Geneva Ruth Buchanan
Recipe by: Heather Rae Buchanan and her Grandma, Geneva Ruth Buchanan
Prep Time
10 minutes
Cook Time
1 hour
Yield
6 -8 Persons
You Will Need
a greased 4 x 8 inch loaf pan
Ingredients
3-4 ripe bananas, mashed
⅓ cup / 75 g melted butter
1 cup / 200 g sugar
1 egg beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
1 ½ cups / 190 g all purpose flour
Instructions
1. Heat oven to 350F, Gas 4, 180 C
2. Mix butter and smashed bananas together
3. Add sugar, egg, and vanilla
4. Add baking soda and salt and mix well
5. Add flour and give it a final mix
6. Pour into a greased 4 x 8 inch loaf pan
7. Bake for 1 hour. Let cool on a wire rack.
We'd love to hear from you and what you thought of our recipe. Did you make any changes or add some other ingredients? Let us know in the comments below. Thanks for reading and happy cooking!
Recipe Card
Grandma’s Banana Bread
Grandma's Banana Bread. Easy recipe with no fuss or frills and gives you great results every time!
Ingredients
- 3-4 ripe bananas
- ⅓ cup / 75 g melted butter
- 1 cup / 200 g sugar
- 1 egg beaten
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- pinch of salt
- 1 ½ cups / 190 g all purpose flour
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350F, Gas 4, 180 C
- Mix butter and smashed bananas together
- Add sugar, egg and vanilla
- Add baking soda and salt and mix well
- Add flour and give it a final mix
- Pour in to a greased 4 x 8 inch loaf pan
- Bake for 1 hour
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 313Total Fat: 9gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 43mgSodium: 244mgCarbohydrates: 57gFiber: 2gSugar: 32gProtein: 4g
Nutrition information isn’t always accurate
Delicious Recipes using Bananas
Here's a selection of our very best recipes using bananas.
These Muffins Are Moist, Fruity, And Extremely Delicious. They Are The Perfect Treat For Breakfast, Brunch, Or Afternoon Tea. Packed With Banana And Drizzled With Honey, A Perfect Snack
Creamy Slow Cooker Banana Rice Pudding.
Slow cooker banana rice pudding, a rich and creamy dessert or breakfast, loaded with bananas, a hint of vanilla, and a pinch of cinnamon. Delicious served warm or chilled.
Cinnamon Roll Banana Muffins, tender banana muffins with a hint of cinnamon and topped with a delicious vanilla cream cheese glaze. An easy breakfast using ripe bananas.
Banana Drop Cookies. Theses are a light fluffy cookie and great for using up those overripe bananas! Easy recipe too!
Banana Fritters. These are a lovely crispy treat, serve warm as they are or with some syrup drizzled over or a blob of ice cream! A great way to use up spare or leftover bananas too! Really quick and easy to make dessert.
White Chocolate and Cranberry Banana Drop Cookies.
These are a light, soft, fluffy cookie, loaded with white chocolate and cranberries. Great for using up those overripe bananas!
Banana Bread Cookies. Yep... banana bread in a cookie! Easy and flexible recipe. Great for snacks, breakfast, lunch boxes or anytime!
Easy Banana Cream Cake Trifle is amazing! Delicious layers of creamy custard, bananas and homemade banana bread, topped off with freshly whipped cream and a sprinkling of white chocolate. Simply delicious!
The BEST Banana Loaf Pound Cake, super moist, made from scratch recipe with mashed bananas. Great for breakfast, brunch, or dessert. Excellent, easy banana cake
Pecan and Banana Mini Cakes are wonderful soft, moist and full flavored with a great streusel topping. Also nice as a regular loaf size.
Chocolate Banana Muffins With a Caramel Drizzle Topping. Fluffy, soft and packed with bananas and chocolate. Perfect for breakfast, brunch or snack time.
Moist Caramel Banana Bread. Add nuts like I did or leave them out. Either way it's delicious!
No Bake Peanut Butter Banana Cheesecake. Oh boy! Super easy recipe, no bake and a chocolate chip cookie base!
Caramel Pecan Banana Pie. A delicious pecan pie crust, filled with bananas and topped with caramel sauce. Perfect for the holidays or to take to parties!
Banana Split Bread.
A great family favorite cake recipe, using ripe bananas, pineapple, cherries, nuts, and chocolate chips to give you a lovely soft bread, perfect for breakfast or a snack
Banana Cream Pie, made from scratch, VERY easy and oh so delicious! Perfect for Easter, Thanksgiving, potlucks and BBQ's too!
Banana Cream Pie Trifle Cups. A delicious no bake dessert and easy too!
The BEST Banana Walnut Loaf Pound Cake is a super moist, made from scratch recipe with mashed bananas and nuts. Great for breakfast, brunch or dessert. An excellent, easy banana cake
Creamy Strawberry Banana Smoothie. Quick and Easy to make and taste just like milkshake but without the cream or ice cream!
Chocolate Banana Boats are easy chocolate filled bananas, wrapped in foil and grilled. Perfect for camping and BBQ's. Easy recipe with just 2 ingredients
Sour Cream Banana Bread. A soft and delicious cake using sour cream and bananas makes for a lovely easy recipe. Instructions for mini loaves or regular loaf pan!
Nanny's BEST Banana Bread is a lovely soft, moist cake and absolutely delicious with the glaze poured over! A nice, easy recipe and freezer friendly too!
Butter Pecan Banana Bread - These are mini loaves,made for gifts, and will also work using regular loaf pans... mini ones are so cute!
Nutella Banana Loaf. Delicious, soft pound cake with banana and Nutella chocolate. Easy recipe and very popular. Great tasting cake
Refreshing Blueberry and Banana Smoothie is a perfect start to your day. Quick & easy recipe using fresh ingredients. Takes minutes to make and seconds to blitz
Amy
says:I lost my grandmother’s recipe. It was simple ingredients just like this one. The only difference is she used Lady Finger bananas- they are smaller, but much sweeter! I love these simple recipe type of fruit breads because I can hand mix them in pretty much one bowl. It really is no fuss! Now if we could only bake it in the bowl? Ha!
Jane
says:Can you freeze the banana bread when cooled
Lovefoodies
says:Hi Jane, yes of course!
Terry N
says:This is the best banana bread I have eaten. I cut the sugar to 3/4 cup and on the next one I plan on cutting the sugar to 1/2 cup. I also added about a cup of chopped walnuts. This bread is very moist. I will definitely make this again and again.
Debbie
says:I made your Grandma’s Best Banana Bread today. I did add to your recipe, I always add to recipe’s just to see what I get. With your exact ingredients, I also added 1/2c of crushed Walnuts, 1/2c of chopped mini peanut butter pieces, and a 1/2c of plain Greek yougurt, with a dash of cinnamon. I have already eaten two pieces of this Banana bread, it is soooo good! Thanks for sharing your recipe, and as I say, it is always fun to add to it too. It’s a keeper!
Dunia
says:Was wondering if I could use thawed frozen bananas in Grandmas recipe?
If so, do I use the same amount?
Can’t wait to make this and your banana cookies!
Thank you
Lovefoodies
says:Hi Dunia, yes of course! Just make sure when they have thawed you use some kitchen paper to get any excess water off them otherwise your batter could end up a bit too wet!
Rebecca
says:Made two loaves today and they are so darn good. Cant wait to make some more!
Pauline Mae Ray
says:The banana bread recipe here, is excellent. I made this tonight and it can out so good. Will definitely make again.
Stefanie
says:Made this today. Put only half the sugar it was delicious!
Marilyn
says:Yum!
Marilyn
says:I made this recipe today! Yum!
Carol
says:Is this a high altitude banana bread? I live 8,000 for above sea level and I would love to try this recipe
Merrily
says:Delicious indeed. I only made small changes because it is perfect.
I used Gold Medal bread flour, Turbinado Sugar in the Raw and added a1/2 cup of chopped pecans. Mix the Turbinado with the bananas. Because it has melted butter, use room temp bananas or the butter will gel.
Eat right out of the oven or after it’s been cooled off and in fridge, it’s easier to cut. Toasted with a bit of butter is how we like it.
And by far the easiest recipe and the tastiest.