Maple Banana Bread Recipe

This maple banana bread recipe creates a moist banana bread with a mild maple flavor. It is very easy way to make delicious “maple-y” breakfast treat. My kids love this sweet maple flavored banana bread.

Recipe Sections

1. Ingredients
2. Instructions
3. Helpful Tips

My recipe uses maple extract and maple syrup. The maple extract helps to add a mild maple flavor to this moist banana bread. Whereas, the maple syrup is used to create an easy maple glaze to spread on top of the banana bread.

Key Ingredients – Maple Extract, Maple Syrup & Ripe Bananas

Ingredients – Banana Bread

• 1 1/2 Cups – Mashed Bananas (ripe) – 345 grams
• 3 Teaspoons – Maple Extract – 15 milliliters
• 1/2 Teaspoon – Vanilla Extract – 2.5 milliliters
• 1/2 Cup – Vegetable Oil – 115 milliliters – Use a neutral tasting vegetable oil such as corn oil or mild/light olive oil. For more info, see the tips below.
• 2 – Large Eggs – 114 grams – Large eggs (not extra large or jumbo eggs).
• 1 Cup – White Granulated Sugar – 200 grams
• 2 Cups – All Purpose Flour – 240 grams
• 1 Teaspoon – Baking Soda – 5 grams
• 1 Teaspoon – Baking Powder – 4 grams
• 1/2 Teaspoon – Salt – 3 grams

Ingredients – Maple Glaze

• 1 Cup – Powdered Sugar (Confectionary Sugar) – 110 grams
• 3 Tablespoons – Maple Syrup – 45 milliliters

Maple Banana Bread with Maple Glaze

Powdered Sugar & Maple Syrup for a Maple Glaze

Instructions – Maple Banana Bread Recipe

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (163 degrees C).
• Mash bananas with a fork.
• Lightly beat eggs.
• Mix mashed bananas, maple extract, vanilla extract, vegetable oil, eggs and sugar together in a large mixing bowl. Stir until completely mixed.
• Mix in the remaining banana bread ingredients (but not the ingredients for the glaze). 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 a gummy & rubbery banana bread.
• Pour the finished batter into a nonstick bread pan. Smooth out the top of the batter with a soft spatula. FYI – Read the tips section below about “greasing” even nonstick pans.
• Bake in the oven at 325 F (163 C) for 65 to 70 minutes.
• Take 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 “cool down” completes the baking process.
• After 10 minutes, remove the banana bread from the bread pan. Place the banana bread on a wire cooling rack to completely cool. This cooldown may take 1 to 2 hours.
• Optional – Sift the powdered sugar to break up any sugar clumps.
• After the banana bread has completely cooled, pour the powdered sugar and maple syrup in a mixing bowl. SLOWLY mix these ingredients together to make the maple glaze. Spread the maple glaze on the top of the banana bread. FYI – Mixing the sugar & syrup slowly together will reduce the sugar clumps in the glaze and helps to prevent the finely powdered sugar from flying out of the bowl.
• 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 my recipe. It includes all of the recipe’s ingredients and instructions. However, the recipe print function does not include my 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 banana nut bread, eggless banana bread and blueberry banana bread.

• I tried using ONLY maple syrup when I first started experimenting with this banana bread. However, that was a total failure. Maple syrup has lots of moisture (so you have to remove some of the mashed bananas to offset this extra liquid). Moreover, a lot of the maple syrup flavor “boils off” during the baking process. Therefore, there was very little maple flavor left in the banana bread (when I used only maple syrup in my initial experiments).
• This discovery forced me to add some maple extract to the batter. It also motivated me to create a maple glaze. These two maple “additions” are necessary in order to ensure that the maple banana bread has a decent level of maple flavor.
• The use of maple extract adds a nice mild maple flavor to banana bread. However, be aware if you add too much maple extract, the banana bread can taste artificial or have a chemical flavor.
• I also found that I needed to add a little vanilla extract in the batter (because the vanilla extract enhances the maple extract flavor and reduces the chemical taste of the maple extract).
• Visitors – Did you use or exclude the maple extract when making this maple banana bread? Post your maple extract thoughts in the comment section below.

• You can make this easy maple banana bread with or without the maple glaze. However, I found that in order to achieve a stronger maple flavor, I needed to add a maple glaze to the maple banana bread.
• Optional – Before making the glaze, use a sifter to sift the powdered sugar. This will help to reduce potential sugar “clumps” in the glaze.
• Do not spread the maple glaze on the banana bread when the banana bread is hot. Otherwise, the heat of the banana bread will cause the glaze to melt and this can create a sticky mess. Wait to spread on the glaze until the banana bread has completely cooled.
• My glaze decorating skills are the not the best… as evidenced by my ugly glazed banana bread photo! However, maple glaze is very easy to make and will add extra maple flavor to your maple banana bread.
• Visitors – Did you add or exclude the maple glaze to your maple banana bread? Post your glaze thoughts in the comment section below.

• If you do not have maple extract, you can make a plain banana bread instead. Just replace the 2 1/2 tablespoons of maple extract and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract (called for in the recipe) with 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract. However, if you do not have any maple extract and you still want your banana bread to have some maple flavor, you need to add the maple glaze (which uses maple syrup & not maple extract).
• However, if you prefer to use honey instead of maple syrup & maple extract, check out Bread Dad’s recipe for Honey Banana Bread.
• FYI – If you have a favorite baked good recipe made with honey, you can not simply replace the honey with maple syrup in that recipe. Maple syrup has a lot more moisture and is less sweet than honey. These differences can throw off recipes if you try a straight 1:1 swap (with honey & maple syrup).

• You should use a NEUTRAL flavored vegetable oil (e.g. corn) in order to make this moist banana bread recipe.
• Stronger flavored oils (e.g. peanut oil or extra virgin olive oil) may NEGATIVELY impact or change the taste of banana bread. You want to use an oil that has very little flavor (so it does not interfere with the banana flavor).
• If you want to use olive oil, I would recommend using a “mild”, “light” or “extra light” olive oil as they would have the least flavor 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.
• A number of my visitors like to use avocado oil in order to make their banana breads. Avocado oil has a neutral flavor and is high in monounsaturated fats. However, as you are probably aware, avocado oil is usually significantly more expensive than corn oil.

• 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!!

• 1 1/2 cups of mashed bananas equals ROUGHLY 3 large bananas. However, banana “sizes” vary so you need to use exactly 1 1/2 cups of mashed bananas (versus 3 random sized bananas). Using this exact amount of mashed bananas will help to prevent your banana bread batter from being too wet or too dry.
• Don’t try to sneak in a little extra banana because you have some leftover banana (after mashing your bananas) or you want even more banana flavor in your banana bread. The extra banana will throw off the liquid-to-dry ingredients ratio of the recipe. In turn, you are more likely to get a sunken middle, an underbaked banana bread, a wet & dense banana bread and/or a “weaker” banana bread (more likely to fall apart if it hasn’t been fully baked).

• Optional – If you want to “enhance” this maple banana bread recipe, you can add 1 cup of chopped walnuts or fresh blueberries to the batter after you have completely mixed in all of the other ingredients.
• Given the maple flavor, I do not think this maple banana bread needs any spices. Extra spices can negatively impact the maple flavor.
• Visitors – What additional ingredients have you added to this recipe to make it more unique or special? Do you add chopped walnuts? Chocolate chips? Fruit? Please post your ingredient additions in the comment section below.

• 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. 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.
• 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).
• Flour (if stored in an open bag and not 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.
• This recipe is based on using all purpose flour and NOT bread flour. Bread flour has more gluten than all purpose flour. Therefore, you will get a tougher and more rubbery banana bread if you use bread flour (instead of all purpose flour).

• This doesn’t happen often but if the top of the banana bread looks too moist or undercooked, 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 (including me) like to use a digital bread thermometer to test if their banana bread is fully baked. Generally, a “quick bread” (e.g. banana bread or pumpkin bread) is done when the internal temperature reaches 200 to 205 degrees F. Just make sure to measure the temperature in the center of the loaf for the most accurate reading.
• 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.

• 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.
• FYI – I have found as nonstick pans get older, they seem to get stickier. Therefore, as some anti-sticking “insurance”, I like to “grease” even my nonstick pans.
• 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.
• FYI – Baking parchment paper is NOT regular paper. It is a specialty paper designed for use with baking.

• Do NOT use an electric mixer to mix your ingredients (when combining the wet and dry ingredients). I prefer to use an old fashioned wooden spoon. An electric mixer can easily overmix the ingredients if used too long. Unfortunately, overmixing batter can result in a rubbery & gummy banana bread.
• Make sure that your oven has been completely preheated. If the oven has not been properly preheated, this quick bread could come out undercooked.
• 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.
• If your oven does not have a built-in thermometer, you can buy an inexpensive hanging oven thermometer that you can place inside your oven (in order to correctly gauge the temperature & see if the oven has been preheated to the correct 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 undercooked baked products).

• 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 inch metal 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 inch 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.
• 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.
• 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 (e.g. a cup of fluffed flour vs a cup of densely packed flour). Therefore, this recipe also includes gram/milliliter measurements.

• Problem with sinking middles? Then check out my Why Does My Banana Bread Sink In The Middle? page for reasons & potential solutions.
• Problem with dry banana breads? Check out my Tips For Making A Moist Banana Bread for information on how to avoid making dry banana breads!
• Long-term storage – If you want to keep your banana bread for more than 1 or 2 days (depending on your home’s temperature & humidity), 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.
• For more banana bread ideas (e.g. chocolate chip banana bread, eggless banana bread or blueberry banana bread), please visit Bread Dad’s main section on Banana Bread Recipes.

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Reference Sources

1. Wikipedia, Banana Bread
2. Wikipedia, Maple Sugar
3. Wikipedia, Maple Syrup

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1. Banana Nut Bread – Chopped walnuts or pecans
2. Easy Banana Bread – Classic banana bread
3. Eggless Banana Bread
4. No Butter Banana Bread
5. Super Moist Banana Bread
6. Bread Machine Banana Bread

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