Banana Bread with Oil (No Butter Banana Bread)

This banana bread with oil recipe is tasty and simple to make. Your family will love this delicious no butter banana bread. Our easy recipe simply replaces the butter used in most banana bread recipes with vegetable oil. It is the perfect solution if you have run out of butter late at night (“$@&%! No more butter in the fridge. How do I make banana bread now?“), can’t get to the store (due to snow, rainstorms, etc.) and/or want to reduce the saturated fat associated with butter. Moreover, this no butter banana bread tastes just like a traditional old fashioned banana bread.

Moist & Delicious – Banana Bread with Oil (No Butter Banana Bread)

You can also “tweak” this moist banana bread recipe to make no butter chocolate chip banana bread, no butter banana nut bread, etc. See the tips section below for more information on how to tweak this banana bread recipe. However, if you are looking for a moist banana bread that does not use butter, milk and/or eggs, you should try our easy Vegan Banana Bread recipe.

Key Ingredients – Vegetable Oil & Ripe Bananas

This no butter banana bread recipe should take you roughly only 10 minutes to prepare and clean up. Please be aware that this is an oven-baked banana bread recipe. It is not made with a bread machine. You will find a printable and “pin-able” recipe at the bottom of this page.

Ingredients – Banana Bread with Oil Recipe (No Butter Banana Bread)

• 1/2 Cup – Vegetable Oil – 115 milliliters – Use a neutral tasting vegetable oil such as corn or canola.
• 2 – Large Eggs
• 3 – Bananas (ripe & large sized) – 345 grams – Use 1 1/2 cups of mashed bananas to be exact.
• 2 Cups – Flour (all purpose flour) – 240 grams
• 1 Cup – White Granulated Sugar – 200 grams – Some visitors prefer to use 1 cup of light brown sugar (215 grams). See our tips section for more information.
• 1 Teaspoon – Vanilla Extract – 5 milliliters
• 1 Teaspoon – Baking Soda – 5 milliliters
• 1 Teaspoon – Baking Powder (aluminum free) – 5 milliliters
• 1/2 Teaspoon – Salt – 2.5 milliliters
• Optional – Add 1 Cup of Chocolate Chips (170 grams) or Fresh Cranberries (100 grams) or Chopped Walnuts (115 grams), etc.

Servings – Roughly 12 slices

Equipment Needed – Measuring cup & spoons, mixing bowl, long wooden spoon, 9 by 5 bread pan, oven mitts, silicon spatula, cooling rack and an oven.

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You Can Also Make Variations such as Chocolate Chip No Butter Banana Bread

Instructions – Banana Bread with Oil Recipe (No Butter Banana Bread)

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
• Mash bananas with a fork.
• Lightly beat eggs.
• Stir eggs, bananas and vegetable oil together.
• Mix in remaining ingredients. Stir until the batter is fully mixed.
• Optional – If you want to enhance this “basic” no butter banana bread, you can stir in a cup of your family’s favorite dessert ingredient (i.e. chocolate chips or chopped walnuts) after you have mixed the batter.
• Pour the finished batter into a nonstick bread pan. Smooth out the top of the batter within the bread pan.
• Bake in the oven for 65-70 minutes or until golden brown.
• Take out of oven and let the banana bread cool down in the bread pan for 10 minutes. Do not remove the banana bread from the bread pan during this 10 minute cool down period. Use oven mitts as the bread pan will be very hot coming out of the oven.
• After 10 minutes, remove the banana bread from the bread pan. Place the banana bread on a cooling rack in order to completely cool. This cool down may take 1-2 hours. Gently slide a silicon spatula between the banana bread and the bread pan walls if the banana bread is stuck in the pan.
• Please read the tips section below for extra information on how to make this recipe successfully & to avoid common banana bread problems.

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Tips – Vegetable Oil Banana Bread Recipe

• The tips below are designed to help banana bread “novices” and/or people with limited baking experience. This no butter recipe results in a moist banana bread with lots of banana flavor.
• Click on our “print recipe” link if you want to print out this recipe. It includes all of the recipe’s ingredients and instructions. However, the recipe print function does not include our tips section. Please read the tips section in order to avoid common recipe problems.
• This recipe is part of our series on easy Banana Bread Recipes.

• You should use a NEUTRAL flavored vegetable oil (i.e. corn or canola oil) in order to make this no butter banana bread recipe. Stronger flavored oils (i.e. peanut oil or olive oil) may negatively impact the banana bread taste.
• When selecting a vegetable oil for this no butter banana bread, please read the label on the vegetable oil container if you are trying to reduce the saturated fat in your diet. Be aware that some vegetable oils (such as coconut oil) may contain a lot of saturated fat. For information on the levels of saturated fat in various vegetable oils, you might like to read this Wikipedia article.
• FYI – Banana breads made with oil tend to taste a little moister than banana breads made with butter. The main reason is because vegetable oil remains liquid at room temperature whereas butter turns back to a solid at room temperature. Therefore, the use of vegetable oil helps to create a moist banana bread.
• Economic Benefit – A number of our visitors (Cindy & others) have pointed out that it is cheaper (in most cases) to use basic vegetable oil instead butter (on an ounce to ounce basis) to make banana breads. Therefore, banana bread with oil recipes may help to lower your baking bills during times of economic uncertainty.

• Use RIPE bananas for the best results!! If you use unripe green or hard yellow bananas, your banana bread will come out bland (with little banana flavor). Unripe bananas have more starch and less sugar than ripe bananas. The natural sweetness of ripe bananas works best when making banana bread recipes.
• Ripe bananas are soft and have many small brown & black spots on the exterior of the yellow banana peel. FYI – A beautiful pure yellow banana (without any spots) is not fully ripe!!
• Make sure to use 3 large bananas (not 3 medium bananas). Otherwise, the banana bread might turn out to be a little dry.
• In case, you like to use cups versus banana “sizes”… 3 medium-sized bananas equal roughly 1 to 1 1/4 cups of mashed bananas (not sliced bananas). 3 large-sized bananas equal roughly 1 1/3 to 1 2/3 cups of mashed bananas (not sliced bananas). Of course, banana sizes can vary greatly… and my version of medium and large-sized bananas may differ from yours!
• To be exact, you should use a measuring cup and measure out 1 1/2 cups of mashed bananas. This will help to prevent your banana bread from being too dry or too wet.

• When making this recipe, many international bakers prefer to use a kitchen scale versus using measuring cups. A kitchen scale provides greater accuracy because the amount of ingredients in a measuring cup can vary somewhat (i.e. a cup of fluffed flour vs a cup of densely packed flour). Therefore, this recipe also includes gram/milliliter measurements.
• Since this moist banana bread recipe uses eggs, it is not a vegan recipe. If you are looking for a completely vegan dessert (that does not contain butter, milk or eggs), you should try out our Easy Vegan Banana Bread Recipe.

• Use FRESH ingredients (i.e. baking soda and flour) for the best results. For example, if you use stale baking soda and/or baking powder, your banana bread will not rise properly and will be too dense. Baking soda & powder is best if used within 6 months of opening the container. Using baking soda from an open container (that has been deodorizing your refrigerator for months) may lead to subpar results. Old & hard baking soda/powder may lead to rising problems and/or leave small bitter clumps in your banana bread.
• Try to keep your ingredients (i.e. flour) in airtight food containers in order to extend their shelf life and avoid spoilage (i.e. exposure to moisture, pests and dust).
• Optional – This recipe helps you to create a delicious “basic” moist banana bread. However, if you want to “enhance” this banana bread recipe, you can add 1 cup of your family’s favorite dessert ingredient (i.e. chocolate chips, chopped walnuts, blueberries, etc.) after you have completely mixed all of the other ingredients. Stir in the extra ingredient (i.e. chocolate chips) until it is even spread throughout the batter.
• Optional – For a slightly richer & mild “molasses” taste, you can substitute light brown sugar for the white granulated sugar. Our thanks to Melissa & Stefanie for this tip!

• Optional – You can improve your banana bread by adding a variety of toppings (i.e. sprinkling chopped walnuts on top of the batter before the banana bread is placed in the oven). One of our visitors (thanks Carol!!) left a great suggestion about mixing ground cinnamon & sugar together and sprinkling it on top in order to create a delicious “crunchy” topping.
• Optional – In order to add a little variety to their banana breads, some people like to add extra spices to the batter when making banana bread. One of our visitors (thanks Pamela!!) suggested adding 1 teaspoon of cinnamon. Of course, you should pick the spices that your family loves and you should not add too much (or you will overwhelm the taste of the bananas).
• Optional – Visit our Banana Bread Glaze page if you would like to learn how to add a vanilla or chocolate glaze to your banana bread.

• Visitors – What additional ingredients have you added to this recipe to make it more unique or special? Do you add chopped walnuts, chocolate chips, extra spices (i.e. cinnamon), etc? Please post your ingredient additions in the comment section below. Your suggestions & comments are a great help to beginning banana bread makers.
• In case you need some ideas, here are some of our visitors’ great recipe variations (from the comment section below); add pecans & mini chocolate chips (thanks Edie), add semi-sweet chocolate chips & chopped walnuts (thanks Kathy), add avocado oil & mini chocolate chips (thanks Margi), reduce the oil by 1/2 cup and add 1/2 cup of apple sauce (thanks Nela), add tiny chunks of chopped up dried apple (thanks Janet), add honey on the top during the last 10 minutes of baking (thanks Tete), add two tablespoons cocoa powder and some cinnamon chips (thanks Kirsten), add “a bit of grated nutmeg, a dash of Angostura bitters and mixed essence in place of vanilla” (thanks Michele for your “Caribbean” banana bread version), chopped pecans & raisins (thanks Donna), etc.

• A few people have asked (thanks Stefanie!) if you can replace the all purpose flour with bread flour when making this moist banana bread recipe. I wouldn’t. For the best results, I would stick with all purpose flour in order to make a banana bread. Bread flour will work but it is likely to change the taste and texture of the banana bread. For example, since bread flour has more gluten than all purpose flour, you will get a tougher and chewier banana bread.
• If you are looking for a fun project for kids, you can turn this recipe into No Butter Banana Bread Muffins. Your kids can help you to make the no butter banana bread batter and pour/scoop the batter into the muffin trays. They will enjoy making (and eating!!) these muffins.
• Optional – If you want to make this moist banana bread even more unique, you can add homemade whipped cream & sliced fruit (i.e. sliced strawberries or banana slices) on top of the banana bread (after it has cooled down). See our Blueberry Bread Recipe or Strawberry Bread Recipe for instructions on how to make homemade whipped cream and for pictures of sweet “quick breads” with whipped cream & sliced fruit on top.

• This doesn’t happen often but if the top of the banana bread looks too moist or under cooked, you should try the “toothpick test”. Gently push a wooden toothpick or wooden skewer into the top of the bread and see if any batter sticks to the toothpick. If batter is sticking to the toothpick then it hasn’t completely cooked. Place the bread pan back into the still hot oven for another 3 to 5 minutes. Make sure to wear oven gloves because the bread pan will be very hot. After the 3 to 5 minutes, remove the bread pan and test the banana bread again with a toothpick.
• To prevent your banana bread from sticking to the bottom of the bread pan, you should consider either “greasing” the bottom of the pan with butter or vegetable oil, using a cooking spray, using a nonstick pan or lining the interior of the bread pan with baking parchment paper.
• Baking parchment paper is probably the best solution to prevent sticking (especially if you are using really sticky ingredients such as chocolate chips or fresh cranberries). It also allows you to lift the banana bread out of the pan without disturbing the top of the banana bread… in case you have added any special ingredients (such as chopped nuts or chocolate chips) to the top of the banana bread.
• However, don’t grease the bread pan near the top of the pan. There will be nothing for batter to cling to as it rises. This could cause the bread top to collapse as it rises.
• Do NOT use an electric mixer to mix your ingredients (when combining the wet and dry ingredients). Stick to an old fashioned wooden spoon. An electric mixer can overmix the ingredients and the banana bread will turn out rubbery & gummy.

• Make sure that your oven has been completely preheated. If the oven has not been properly preheated, this quick bread could come out undercooked. Use a portable oven thermometer to check the interior oven temperature.
• In case, you didn’t see this in the “equipment used to make this recipe” section, this recipe is based on using a standard 9 by 5 bread pan. This means that the interior of the bread pan (not exterior) measures 9 inches in length, 5 inches in width and 2 1/2 inches in depth/height. Of course, Bread Dads are crazy about exact measurements… thus the use of measuring tapes! Ha!
• Please use the suggested 9 x 5 bread pan to make this recipe. If you start using different sized pans, there is a greater potential for bread top collapses (potentially less bread pan “wall” support for the quick bread as it rises), different interior batter to exterior bread ratios (thus the need for different baking lengths), smaller pans are more likely to overflow, etc.

• If your oven does not have a built-in thermometer, you can buy an inexpensive oven thermometer that you can place inside your oven (in order to correctly gauge the temperature). Moreover, some built-in oven gauges can be 25-50 degrees different than the actual temperature inside the oven. For the best results, you should know the actual temperature inside your oven (as this reduces the potential for over or under cooked baked products).
• If you like “no butter” desserts, you should also try our No Butter Oatmeal Cookies and No Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies.
• If you want more banana breads made with oil (and not butter), you should try our Almond Banana Bread, Chocolate Chip Walnut Banana Bread and Pecan Banana Bread recipes.

• Since this recipe uses baking soda, this banana bread should be placed in the oven as soon as the batter has been mixed & poured into the bread pan. Baking soda activates quickly and if the batter sits around for a while before the bread pan is put in the oven, the quick bread might have problems rising properly (as some or most of the gas will have been released before the baking has commenced).
• If you have a problem with a banana bread recipe, please make sure that you are following the recipe exactly (i.e. using the correct oven temperature), using the correct amounts of ingredients (i.e. don’t eyeball the measurements versus using a measuring cup or accidentally add a tablespoon when a teaspoon is called for), using the correct ingredients (i.e. baking soda/powder versus yeast or all purpose flour versus bread flour), etc. Please don’t “wing” things with recipes.
• Always wear oven mitts/gloves when dealing with a hot oven and bread pan.
• Warning – Do not add the optional chopped walnuts if anyone who might eat this banana bread has peanut and/or tree nut allergies.
• For more banana bread ideas (i.e. chocolate chip banana bread, vegan banana bread or blueberry banana bread), please visit Bread Dad’s main Banana Bread Recipes or Quick Bread Recipes sections.

If you liked this recipe, please leave a comment below & give us a 5 star rating. Beginning bakers learn a lot from your baking comments, tips & recipe variations. Jump to comment section

Other Bread Dad Sections

• Baking Tools – Bread pans, etc.
• Bread Machines – My favorites
• Bread Making Books
• Bread & Dessert Mixes
• Ingredients, Sandwich Books, etc.

No Butter Banana Bread Questions

Can I use olive oil to make banana bread?

Yes. If you really love olive oil, you can use olive oil as a substitute for butter in order to make banana bread. However, I would suggest using a more neutral flavored vegetable oil such as canola oil or corn oil. Vegetable oils with more distinctive flavors (i.e. olive oil and peanut oil) can interfere with the sweet taste of bananas in the banana bread… and your guests might not like these more “unique” tasting banana breads!

Can I make no butter banana bread with other ingredients such as chocolate chips?

Yes. You can make almost any variety of banana bread since you are just substituting vegetable oil for butter. For example, you can create no butter versions of chocolate chip banana bread, blueberry banana bread, cranberry banana bread and many more. If you like nuts, you might like to make our Pecan Banana Bread recipe. It is also a no butter banana bread.

Why do people make banana bread without butter?

There are many reasons that people like to make banana bread without butter. For example, they don’t have any butter at home (i.e. ran out of butter), want to reduce the saturated fat in their diet, don’t want to eat animal-sourced ingredients, have allergies, don’t like the taste of butter, etc. Many people think that vegetable oil banana breads taste similar to butter-based banana breads.

Can I make banana muffins from this banana bread with oil recipe?

Yes! It is easy to turn this banana bread with oil recipe into banana muffins. You are basically just pouring/scooping this recipe’s banana bread batter into a muffin tray in order to create banana muffins. However, be aware that muffins bake more quickly than banana bread (due to their smaller size).

Please see our No Butter Banana Muffins recipe for more information on how to make no butter banana bread muffins.

If you liked this recipe, please leave a comment below & give us a 5 star rating. We LOVE to hear from people who have enjoyed our recipes!! Jump to comment section

Reference Sources

• Wikipedia, Banana Bread
• Wikipedia, Butter
• Wikipedia, Vegetable Oil

Your fantastic comments motivate us to write more easy & delicious recipes. Also beginning bakers learn a ton from your helpful suggestions, tips and amazing recipe variations.

Related Recipes

• Bread Machine Banana Bread
• Eggless Banana Bread
• No Butter Banana Muffins
• No Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
• 2 Banana Bread Recipe – Banana bread made with only 2 bananas.
• Vegan Banana Bread

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