Move Over, Boxed Mixes: Banana And Flour Are The Start Of This Simple Bread, Ready In Under An Hour

For a baked good with such a simple and direct name, banana bread recipes can be fairly complicated. Some call for brown butter while others call for chocolate chips, seeds, or even cream cheese on top of all the other necessary ingredients. But when it comes down to the root recipe of the bread, you only need a few simple ingredients to make a delicious homemade banana bread. Rather than relying on intricate recipes or taking a sometimes sub-par shortcut by using a boxed mix, if you have ripe bananas, eggs, brown sugar, and self-rising flour, you're ready to make banana bread from scratch in the easiest way possible.

If you're unfamiliar with self-rising flour, it's regular all-purpose flour that's been mixed with a leavening agent like baking powder, as well as a bit of salt for added flavor. The beauty of self-rising flour is that it eliminates the extra step of measuring out baking powder and salt, or even using baking soda, which needs to be paired with another acid in your recipe to leaven. What's incredibly important, however, is to make sure your self-rising flour isn't expired, as it may lead to a flat, sad final product. Self-rising flour is the perfect shortcut for busy home bakers who want to get something in the oven as quickly as possible without making sacrifices in quality or ingredients. 

In terms of the process, making sure that you don't overmix the batter is essential, as you don't want the gluten to develop and become tough. Mixing everything in a bowl by hand until just incorporated is the best way to ensure the bread stays tender. While it would be technically another ingredient, if you happen to have it in your refrigerator, consider adding a large spoonful of sour cream or Greek yogurt to make your banana bread even more moist and tender.

Another key factor in making the flavor of the banana bread really stand out is to use overly ripe bananas, as the starch in the fruit converts to sugar the longer they ripen, which makes them wonderfully sweet — and that sweetness will come through in the final product. Additionally, extra-ripe bananas are incredibly soft, which makes them easier to mash up before adding them to the batter and also easier to incorporate into said batter.

If you're itching for even more banana flavor in your bread, you could make a banana reduction with a few more bananas and add that caramelized, concentrated, highly flavorful banana reduction to the batter instead of just plain mashed bananas. If after all this you still have an extra banana in your kitchen, slice the fruit in half lengthwise and set it on top of the batter after you've poured it into your baking pan, leaving the center sides exposed. This not only creates a striking visual element for your bread, but it's also another opportunity to pack even more banana flavor into every bite.