This double banana bread recipe is delicious & easy to make. It is called double banana bread because it has a double dose of bananas (bananas on top and inside the bread). This is a fun recipe to make because your kids & guests will love the interesting look to your great tasting banana bread.
I know that I have posted this a billion times before on this website… but the key to fantastic banana bread is RIPE bananas! Not green bananas. Not even perfectly yellow bananas. The best bananas (for banana bread) are those bananas which are a little soft and have lots of small black & brown spots on the yellow banana peel. Hard unripe green or yellow bananas have too much starch and are not very flavorful. In contrast, ripe bananas are sweeter, softer and have much more delicious banana flavor.
This 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. For more great recipes, please visit Bread Dad’s sections on Bread Recipes or Easy Banana Bread Recipes. Bread Dad also has a printable and “pin-able” recipe at the bottom of this page. If you like this recipe, we hope you will leave a comment below and give us a 5 star rating. Thanks!
You will need Mashed Bananas and…
Sliced Bananas
Double Banana Bread – Before Entering the Oven
Double Banana Bread – Exiting from the Oven
Ingredients – Double Banana Bread Recipe
- 8 Tablespoons – Unsalted Butter (softened)
- 2 – Large Eggs
- 3 – Bananas (ripe & large sized)
- 2 Cups – Flour (all purpose flour)
- 1 Cup – White Granulated Sugar
- 1 Teaspoon – Vanilla Extract
- 1 Teaspoon – Baking Soda
- 1 Teaspoon – Baking Powder (aluminum free)
- 1/2 Teaspoon – Salt
- 1/5 – Banana (cut into 1/8 inch slices for top of banana bread)
Servings – Roughly 12 slices
Instructions – Double Banana Bread Recipe
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
- Mash bananas with a fork.
- Cut part of a banana into 1/8 inch slices.
- Soften butter in a microwave.
- Stir eggs, bananas and butter together.
- Mix in remaining ingredients. Stir until the batter is fully mixed.
- Pour finished batter into a nonstick bread pan. Smooth out the top of the batter within the bread pan.
- Add banana slices to the top of the batter.
- Bake in the oven for 70 minutes or when 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.
Reference Sources
- Wikipedia, Banana, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banana
- Wikipedia, Banana Bread, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banana_bread
Tips – Double Banana Bread Recipe
- For the bananas placed on top of the banana bread, you should create slices that are about 1/8 inches thick. If they are too thin, the banana slices can darken or burn in the oven. If they are too thick, the banana slices might sink into the batter.
- If you add two lines of banana slices, place them near the middle of the batter. Banana slices placed near the sides of the banana bread batter can slide out of place (because they will move towards the lower edges of the bread pan as the batter rises in the oven)… as you can see with one of the slices in the finished banana bread picture above!
- For the slices, you don’t need to “waste” an extra banana… unless you want to eat the leftover banana while you work. Just cut off some slices from the longest of the 3 bananas (that are going to be used for the recipe’s mashed bananas ingredient).
- This recipe is very similar to our old fashioned classic banana bread recipe. We have just added some banana slices to make it more fun!
- Use ripe bananas for improved taste. Ripe bananas are soft and the exterior peel is usually yellow with small black & brown spots. Hard yellow/green(ish) bananas are too starchy and have less banana flavor.
- Please make sure to use 3 large bananas (not 3 medium-sized 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.
- 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.
Related Recipes
- List of Easy Banana Bread Variations – This section of Bread Dad covers tons of easy-to-make banana bread recipes (i.e. classic banana bread, blueberry, cranberry, chocolate chip and many more). Oven-baked & bread machine varieties.
- Bread Machine – Banana Bread – Classic banana bread… but made with a bread machine.
- Blueberry Banana Bread – This is a delicious recipe for blueberry banana bread.
- Chocolate Chip Banana Bread – This is a great recipe for a milk chocolate chip banana bread.
- Cinnamon Banana Bread (Crumble Top) – A wonderful cinnamon banana bread with a crumble top.
- Classic Banana Bread – This is a simple recipe to make a nice old fashioned banana bread.
- Cranberry Banana Bread – A tasty combination of sweet bananas with the slightly tart cranberries.
Double Banana Bread Recipe
Ingredients
- 8 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter (softened)
- 2 Eggs (large)
- 3 Bananas (ripe & large sized)
- 2 Cups Flour (all purpose flour)
- 1 Cup White Granulated Sugar
- 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1 Teaspoon Baking Powder (aluminum free)
- 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
- 1/5 Banana (cut into 1/8 inch slices for top of banana bread)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
- Mash bananas with a fork.
- Cut part of a banana into 1/8 inch slices.
- Soften butter in a microwave.
- Stir eggs, bananas and butter together.
- Mix in remaining ingredients. Stir until the batter is fully mixed.
- Pour finished batter into a nonstick bread pan. Smooth out the top of the batter within the bread pan.
- Add banana slices to the top of the batter.
- Bake in the oven for 70 minutes or when 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
- For the bananas placed on top of the banana bread, you should create slices that are about 1/8 inches thick. If they are too thin, the banana slices can darken or burn in the oven. If they are too thick, the banana slices might sink into the batter.
- If you add two lines of banana slices, place them near the middle of the batter. Banana slices placed near the sides of the banana bread batter can slide out of place (because they will move towards the lower edges of the bread pan as the batter rises in the oven)... as you can see with one of the slices in the finished banana bread picture above!
- For the slices, you don't need to "waste" an extra banana... unless you want to eat the leftover banana while you work. Just cut off some slices from the longest of the 3 bananas (that are going to be used for the recipe's mashed bananas ingredient).
- This recipe is very similar to our old fashioned classic banana bread recipe. We have just added some banana slices to make it more fun!
- When mashing your bananas, please make sure to use 3 large bananas (not 3 medium-sized bananas). Otherwise, the banana bread might turn out to be a little dry.
- Use ripe bananas for improved taste. Ripe bananas are soft and the exterior peel is usually yellow with small black & brown spots. Hard yellow/green(ish) bananas are too starchy and have less banana flavor.
- 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.
- 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.
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