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Banana Bread

Banana bread with brown sugar and toasted pecans, baked until golden and sliceable with a tender crumb. You’ll get warm cinnamon throughout and nutty, lightly caramelized pecan crunch in every bite.
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 5 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Servings: 8 servings
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Calories: 230
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Banana bread base
  • 3 very ripe bananas, mashed Use bananas with lots of brown spots for best sweetness and moisture.
  • 0.333333 cup melted butter Melt and cool slightly before mixing with the bananas.
  • 0.75 cup brown sugar Brown sugar adds molasses warmth to the crumb.
  • 1 large egg, beaten
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 salt Use a pinch (very small amount).
  • 1.5 tsp cinnamon Amount is 1/2 tsp; kept separate below for exact ingredient mapping.
  • 0.5 tsp cinnamon Cinnamon runs through the whole loaf.
  • 1.5 cup all-purpose flour Measure by spooning into the cup and leveling.
  • 0.5 cup toasted pecans, chopped Toast in a dry pan before chopping for deeper flavor.

Equipment

  • 1 sheet pan
  • 1 loaf pan

Method
 

Prep and bake
  1. Preheat oven to 350°F and grease a 9x5 loaf pan.
  2. Mash the very ripe bananas and mix in the melted butter.
  3. Stir in the brown sugar, then add the beaten egg and vanilla and mix until combined.
  4. Add the baking soda, pinch of salt, and cinnamon, then stir just until evenly distributed.
  5. Add the all-purpose flour and fold until just combined, without overmixing.
  6. Fold in the toasted pecans, then pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan.
  7. Bake for 55-65 minutes at 350°F until golden and set.
  8. Cool for 10 minutes before slicing.

Notes

For the best crumb, use bananas that are very ripe and fold the flour in gently—overmixing can make banana bread tough. Brown sugar gives a deeper molasses note than white sugar. Store covered at room temperature up to 3 days or refrigerate up to 5 days; freeze slices up to 2 months. If you want a lighter option, use reduced-sugar or dark brown sugar (measure similarly) to keep the molasses flavor.