Here is an easy brown sugar banana bread recipe. It is just like a traditional banana bread… but with a sweeter and slightly richer flavor. Moreover, this recipe uses large sugar crystals (turbinado sugar) in order to create a sweet & crunchy “top” to the banana bread. This delicious brown sugar banana bread is perfect as a breakfast snack or an easy dinner dessert. Your family will love it!
Brown Sugar Banana Bread with Sugary & “Crunchy” Top
This banana bread with brown sugar recipe is simple & easy to make. It should take you only 10-15 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 also find a printable and “pin-able” recipe at the bottom of this page.
Ingredients – Easy Brown Sugar Banana Bread Recipe
- 8 Tablespoons – Butter (softened)
- 2 – Large Eggs
- 3 – Bananas (ripe & large sized)
- 2 Cups – Flour (all purpose flour)
- 1 Cup – Brown Sugar
- 1 Teaspoon – Vanilla Extract
- 1 Teaspoon – Baking Soda
- 1 Teaspoon – Baking Powder (aluminum free)
- 1/2 Teaspoon – Salt
- 3 Tablespoons – Turbinado sugar (sprinkled on top of batter)
Servings – Roughly 12 slices
Equipment – Measuring cup & spoons, mixing bowl, long wooden spoon, 9 by 5 bread pan, oven mitts, silicon spatula, cooling rack and an oven. If you are missing anything, please visit Bread Dad’s baking tools section.
Ready for the Oven – Batter with Turbinado Sugar Sprinkled on Top
Instructions – Easy Brown Sugar Banana Bread Recipe – 2 lb loaf
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
- Mash bananas with a fork.
- Soften butter in a microwave.
- Stir eggs, bananas and butter together.
- Mix in remaining ingredients. Stir until fully mixed.
- Pour batter into a nonstick bread pan.
- Sprinkle two tablespoons of turbinado sugar on top of the batter just before you bake the banana bread (if you want a delicious large “grain” brown sugar crust on top of your banana bread).
- 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.
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Tips – Easy Brown Sugar Banana Bread Recipe
- The tips below are designed to help banana bread “novices” and/or people with limited baking experience.
- Optional – You can add 1 cup of cranberries, blueberries, chopped walnuts or chocolate chips in order to make this recipe even more unique. Stir the cup of extra ingredients (i.e. blueberries) into the batter after you have fully mixed all of the other ingredients.
- I like to use light brown sugar (versus dark brown sugar) for this banana bread recipe. I find that dark brown sugar adds a stronger taste to this recipe than my family likes. However, if you prefer dark brown sugar, it will work equally well.
- Allow the banana bread to completely cool down before cutting. The slightly harder top crust (due to the sprinkled turbinado sugar) may make cause the bread to crumble/break on the “softer” edges when cut if the banana bread is not completely cooled. Use a serrated bread knife for best cutting results.
- Turbinado sugar is a “coarse” raw sugar with a slight molasses taste. I like using turbinado sugar on the exterior of banana breads because it has larger sugar crystals. This adds more texture & crunch to the banana bread crust. You can find turbinado sugar in most large supermarkets. It is normally located in the aisle with regular granulated white sugar, etc.
- When I make this banana bread with brown sugar for a breakfast snack (versus for dinner), I often add a 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon. I don’t know why but cinnamon means breakfast for my family!
- Use RIPE bananas for improved taste. Ripe bananas are soft and usually yellow with small black spots. Hard yellow/green(ish) bananas are too starchy and have less banana flavor.
- 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!
- 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 toothpick 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 2 or 3 minutes. Make sure to wear oven gloves because the bread pan will be very hot. After the 2 or 3 minutes, remove the bread pan and test the banana bread again with a tooth pick.
- FYI – If you have kids, you might also like to make our Brown Sugar Banana Muffins. They are the “muffin versions” of this delicious banana bread. They are a fun baking project to make with kids.
- 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.
- In addition, you should always try to use relatively fresh baking soda & powder for the best results. For example, 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 with brown sugar.
- For more easy banana bread recipes (i.e. blueberry, cranberry, chocolate chip, vegan, oatmeal, etc.), please visit Bread Dad’s main Banana Bread Recipes section.
Reference Sources
- Wikipedia, Banana Bread, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banana_bread
- Wikipedia, Brown Sugar, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_sugar
Brown Sugar Banana Bread (Sugar Crystal Topping)
Here is an easy brown sugar banana bread recipe. It is just like a traditional banana bread... but with a sweeter and slightly richer flavor. Since this recipe uses brown sugar instead of granulated white sugar, it has a very slight molasses taste. In addition, the large crystal turbinado brown sugar sprinkled on top of the banana bread melts nicely and adds a sweet "crust" to the bread. This brown sugar banana bread is perfect as a sweet breakfast snack or an easy dinner dessert. Please visit BreadDad.com for more easy banana bread recipes.
Servings: 12 Slices
Calories: 262kcal
Ingredients
- 8 Tablespoons Butter (softened)
- 2 Eggs (large)
- 3 Bananas (ripe & large sized)
- 2 Cups Flour (all purpose flour)
- 1 Cup Brown Sugar
- 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1 Teaspoon Baking Powder (aluminum free)
- 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
- 3 Tablespoons Turbinado sugar (sprinkled on top of batter)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
- Mash bananas with a fork.
- Soften butter in a microwave.
- Stir eggs, bananas and butter together.
- Mix in remaining ingredients. Stir until fully mixed.
- Pour batter into a nonstick bread pan.
- Sprinkle two tablespoons of turbinado sugar on top of the batter just before you bake the banana bread (if you want a delicious large "grain" brown sugar crust on top of your banana bread).
- 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.
Notes
This is a Bread Dad recipe and may not be copied or reproduced. This recipe is copyright protected under the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
Legal Disclaimer
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Nutrition
Serving: 1Slice | Calories: 262kcal | Carbohydrates: 44g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 47mg | Sodium: 306mg | Potassium: 166mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 25g | Vitamin A: 292IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 46mg | Iron: 1mg
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