Honey Banana Bread – Naturally Sweetened

Honey banana bread is a delicious combination of ripe bananas and natural honey. This recipe helps you to avoid using highly processed sugars (e.g. white granulated sugar) when making a fantastic banana bread for your family. Moreover, honey naturally helps to create a very moist banana bread (see tips section below for the scientific reason why).

Honey Banana Bread Recipe

Recipe Sections

1. Ingredients
2. Instructions
3. Helpful Tips

This is one of my family’s favorites, especially for one of my sons who loves to pour extra honey!! on top of his slices of honey banana bread (picture below).

Honey Topped Honey Banana Bread

My banana bread with honey recipe takes me about 10-15 minutes to prepare and clean up (excluding the baking time, of course!). Please be aware that this is an oven-baked honey banana bread recipe. It is not made with a bread machine. FYI – You will also find a printable and “pin-able” recipe at the bottom of this page.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 Cups – Mashed Bananas (ripe) – 345 grams
• 1/3 Cup – Vegetable Oil – 79 milliliters – Use a neutral tasting vegetable oil such as corn, canola or mild/light olive oil. For more info, see the tips below.
• 2 Eggs – 114 grams – Large eggs (not extra large or jumbo eggs)
• 2/3 Cup – Honey – 154 milliliters
• 2 Cups – All Purpose Flour – 240 grams
• 1 Teaspoon – Vanilla Extract – 5 milliliters
• 1 Teaspoon – Baking Soda – 5 grams
• 1/2 Teaspoon – Salt – 3 grams
• Optional – 1 Teaspoon – Ground Cinnamon – 3 grams – Many people like to add cinnamon to their banana breads, especially if their bananas are not super ripe.
• Optional – 1 Cup of Chopped Walnuts (115 grams) or Fresh Blueberries (100 grams)

Servings – Roughly 12 slices

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

Key Ingredients – Honey & Ripe Bananas

Banana Bread With Honey Batter

Honey Banana Bread – Just Out Of The Oven

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (163 C).
• Mash bananas with a fork.
• Lightly beat eggs.
• Add mashed bananas, vegetable oil, eggs and honey into a large mixing bowl. Stir until completely mixed.
• Mix in the remaining ingredients. Stir until the batter is fully mixed. FYI – I prefer to use a large spoon to mix the batter. An electric mixer can overmix the batter and this can lead to gummy & rubbery banana breads.
• Optional – After completely mixing the batter, you can also stir in 1 cup of chopped walnuts or fresh blueberries.
• Pour the finished batter into a nonstick bread pan. Smooth out the top of the batter within the bread pan.
• Bake in the oven at 325 F (163 C) for 65-70 minutes.
• Take pan out of the 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. FYI – Do not skip this step as the 10 minute “cool down” inside the pan completes the baking process.
• After the 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.
• 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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Helpful Tips

• The tips below are designed to help banana bread “novices” and/or people with limited baking experience.
• Click on this “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 Bread Dad’s series on easy Banana Bread Recipes such as walnut banana bread, cranberry banana bread and blueberry banana bread.

• FYI – One of my sons likes to pour extra honey on top of his honey banana bread (see picture at the top of the page). He thinks it makes a great breakfast! But of course, he thinks almost anything covered in honey tastes pretty good. LOL
• As I stated at the top of this page, I created this banana bread with honey recipe because some of my visitors prefer to use honey in their baked goods instead of refined sugars such as white granulated sugar. Why? Because they want to use a more natural sweetener versus a highly processed sugar.
• Honey undergoes much less processing than refined sugars (such as white granulated sugar) and contains more natural vitamins & minerals. Honey also contains antioxidants.
• In my opinion, honey also combines well with the natural sugars found in the ripe bananas.
• Visitors – Why do you like to use honey instead of processed sugar when making banana bread & other baked goods? And what honey “flavor” do you like to use (such as clover, orange blossom or buckwheat)? Please leave your thoughts in the comment section below.

• Use RIPE bananas for the best results!! If you use unripe green or hard yellow bananas, your banana bread might 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 on the peel) is not fully ripe!!
• Optional – If your bananas are not fully ripe, you can add 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon to this recipe. The use of unripe bananas results in a bland banana bread and the ground cinnamon helps to combat this “blandness”.
• Use exactly 1 1/2 cups of mashed bananas for the best & most consistent results. FYI – 1 1/2 cups of mashed bananas is roughly 3 large bananas. However, if you use 3 random-sized bananas then your honey banana bread might come out too wet or too dry (because bananas vary in size!).

• You should use a NEUTRAL flavored vegetable oil (e.g. corn or canola oil) in order to make this moist banana bread recipe. Stronger flavored oils (e.g. peanut oil or extra virgin olive oil) may negatively impact the banana bread taste.
• If you want to use olive oil, I would recommend using “mild”, “light” or “extra light” olive oil as they would have the least impact on the banana bread. Unfortunately, extra virgin and virgin olive oil have stronger flavors and are more likely to negatively impact the taste of your banana bread.
• Optional – To add a “tropical” flavor to this honey banana bread recipe, you might like to try using food grade unrefined coconut oil (instead of corn oil or olive oil). Just be aware that food grade unrefined coconut oil has more coconut flavor versus unrefined coconut oil which has a very mild or neutral flavor.
• You should use fresh oil when baking as some oils spoil faster than others. Old oil can go rancid and taste bitter, stale, funky, etc. Old oil can leave a bad aftertaste in your baked goods.
• FYI – Banana breads made with vegetable 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 an extra moist banana bread.
• Visitors – Do you like to add anything extra to this honey banana bread recipe? Do you add chocolate chips? Chopped walnuts? Fruit (such as blueberries or cranberries)? Extra spices? Please leave your thoughts in the comment section below.

• Is this banana bread super sweet? No, in my opinion, the honey adds a more subtle sweetness to banana bread versus using processed white granulated sugar. Of course, the flavor will also depend on what type of honey you use. As you probably know, there are many varieties of honey such as clover honey, buckwheat honey, orange blossom honey, alfalfa honey, etc.
• Honey Benefit – Honey is seen by many people as more natural than highly processed & refined white sugar. Honey usually requires minimal processing before being bottled. In contrast, refined white sugar needs to go through many steps before sugar cane or sugar beets are converted into white sugar. For more information on the sugar manufacturing process, you should read this Wikipedia article on sugar refining.
• Another Benefit – Honey helps to create a very moist banana bread. Why? Because honey is a “humectant”. According to Wikipedia, “A humectant is a hygroscopic (water-absorbing) substance used to keep things moist”…”When used as a food additive, a humectant has the effect of keeping moisture in the food”…”Some common humectants used in food are honey and glucose syrup both for their water absorption and sweet flavor”.
• Honey Drawback – Honey is more expensive that white granulated sugar. If you want to make a lower cost banana bread, you should consider making a banana bread with white granulated sugar instead of a similar banana bread with honey.
• Also be aware that some people are allergic to honey. So always check for potential food allergies before serving baked goods made with honey to anyone.
• Visitors – What type of honey do you use to make your banana bread (a generic supermarket honey or a specialty premium honey)? If you use a premium honey, do you think it improves the banana bread (e.g. adds a better flavor or higher level of ingredient quality & safety)? Or do you prefer the lower cost of generic supermarket honey? Please leave your honey thoughts in the comment section below.

• Have a problem getting the honey out of your measuring cup? Some people like to spray the interior of the measuring cup with cooking spray. This allows the honey to stick less to the sides of the measuring cup.
• Have a problem with honey coming very slowly out of its container? Some people like to place the entire honey container in a bowl of warm water. The water will warm the honey and improve its viscosity (making it more pourable).
• Many of my visitors like to make banana bread with honey (instead of sugar). Therefore, I modified my popular & moist Banana Bread with Oil recipe in order to turn it into this delicious honey banana bread recipe.
• However, you can’t just swap the honey for the sugar (as honey is sweeter, wetter and more acidic than regular white sugar). Therefore, below are some of the modifications that I made to my banana bread with oil recipe in order to create my banana bread with honey recipe.
• Optional – For a slightly different taste, you can replace the honey in this banana bread recipe with light molasses. Molasses will add an earthy, smokey and/or slightly burnt caramel flavor. Do NOT use blackstrap molasses as this type of molasses is very bitter.

• This honey banana bread recipe uses 2/3 of a cup of honey instead of the 1 cup of sugar used in most of my banana bread recipes. Honey is naturally sweeter than refined white granulated sugar so you do not need as much.
• However, honey adds a little bit of extra moisture to banana bread. Therefore, I reduced the oil to 1/3 cup (versus the 1/2 cup used in many of my other banana bread recipes) to offset this extra moisture.
• Moreover, since honey is acidic and activates baking soda strongly, I removed the extra 1 teaspoon of baking powder used in many of my other banana bread recipes.
• In case you are interested in converting other recipes – To keep the same level of sweetness, I generally replace 1 cup of white granulated sugar with roughly 2/3 to 3/4 cup of honey. Some other people think the ratio is closer to 1/2 to 2/3 cup of honey (perhaps due to the variety of honey??). Of course, if you are replacing the sugar in a recipe with honey, you will need to reduce the liquid in the recipe slightly in order to offset the added liquid from the honey.
• FYI – If you like to make baked goods with honey, you might also like to try my oven-baked sandwich bread recipes for Honey Oat Bread and Honey White Bread.

• Use FRESH ingredients (e.g. 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. Old & hard baking soda/powder may lead to rising problems and/or leave small bitter clumps in your banana bread.
• Old flour can affect the taste of banana bread. Old flour can spoil and taste bitter, sour, musty, etc. Banana bread made with old flour does not taste great!
• Try to keep your ingredients (e.g. flour) in airtight food containers in order to extend their shelf life and avoid spoilage (e.g. exposure to moisture, pests and dust).
• Old flour (when not stored in an airtight container) can absorb a lot of moisture from the air. This extra moisture throws off recipes and can lead to banana bread collapses, etc.

• Do NOT use an electric mixer to mix your ingredients. Stick to an old fashioned wooden spoon. An electric mixer can overmix the ingredients and the banana bread will turn out rubbery & gummy.
• Don’t worry of the top of your finished banana bread has some cracks. Most banana breads crack on the top due to the rapid rising baking soda/powder. This is perfectly normal for banana breads and doesn’t impact the taste. If you don’t believe me… take a look at banana bread pictures online and most will have cracks in the top of the banana bread.
• 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.
• Instead of the “toothpick test”, some people like to use a bread thermometer to test if their banana bread is done. Generally, a “quick bread” (e.g. banana bread or pumpkin bread) is done when the internal temperature reaches 200-205 degrees F. Just make sure to measure the temperature in the center of the loaf for the most accurate reading.

• If your banana breads are sticking to the bottom of your 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 blueberries). 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.
• FYI – Baking parchment paper is NOT regular paper. It is a specialty paper designed for use with baking.

• Please use the suggested 9 x 5 inch metal 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 time lengths), smaller pans are more likely to overflow, etc.
• My recipes are based on using a metal bread pan and NOT a glass bread pan. Glass bread pans bake faster than metal bread pans. If you use a glass bread pan for my recipes, you are more likely to overbake your banana bread (e.g. burnt crust).
• My recipes are based on using a regular oven and NOT a convection oven. Convection ovens bake faster than regular ovens and require less baking time than what is stated in my recipes.
• Place your banana bread in the middle of your oven. If you place it on the top or bottom racks, the banana bread may be too near the oven’s heating element and bake faster than expected.

• Make sure that your oven has been completely preheated. If the oven has not been properly preheated, this banana bread could come out underbaked.
• It takes roughly 10-20 minutes to preheat most ovens with some variability due to the size of the oven, planned baking temperature (hotter takes longer), etc.
• I like to use an inexpensive hanging oven thermometer to determine if my oven has been preheated to the correct temperature.
• Moreover, for some ovens, the temperature set on the oven dial can be 25-50 degrees different than the actual temperature inside the oven. Again, I would recommend using a hanging oven thermometer to confirm the actual temperature inside your oven (as this reduces the potential for over or underbaked banana bread).
• This temperature used to bake the banana bread in this recipe is based on using Fahrenheit and NOT Celsius!!
• My recipe use a slightly lower temperature (and thus a slightly longer baking time) than many of my peers’ banana bread recipes. Why? Because the lower temp results in a softer & more tender banana bread. Moreover, the lower temp reduces the potential for an over-baked crust and/or an overly dry banana bread.

• Long-term storage – If you want to keep your banana bread for more than 1-2 days, you will need to freeze it. Please read Bread Dad’s How To Freeze Banana Bread for more details.
• If you have a problem with a banana bread recipe, please make sure that you are following the recipe exactly (e.g. using the correct oven temperature), using the correct amounts of ingredients (e.g. 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 (e.g. 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.
• 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 (e.g. 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.

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Reference Sources

1. Wikipedia, Banana Bread
2. Wikipedia, Honey
3. Wikipedia, Humectant

Related Recipes

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2. Honey White Bread – Oven baked sandwich bread
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6. Walnut Banana Bread

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