Learn how to make banana bread without ripe bananas in this detailed tutorial for how to roast bananas for banana bread. Yes, you can make moist, flavorful, and perfect banana bread with bananas that don't have a speck of brown in sight. This loaf delivers mega flavor, a soft and buttery crumb, and the optional crunch of your favorite chopped nuts.
½cup(100g) firmly packed light or dark brown sugar
6Tablespoons(85g) unsalted buttersoftened to room temperature
2large eggsroom temperature preferred
⅓cup(80mL) waterroom temperature
½cup(60g) chopped nuts1optional
Instructions
ROASTED BANANAS
Preheat the oven to 400ºF (204ºC). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat (or leave unlined, if you don't mind cleaning). Set aside.
Situate each banana so that the curved part is on a surface or cutting board and the ends are facing up. Slice each banana in half long ways, then lay the sliced bananas on the pan, exposed banana side up.
Sprinkle the bananas with the brown sugar and then turn each of them over so that the skins now face up and the exposed banana is on the prepared pan.
Roast the bananas for 10 minutes or until the skins are completely black and leaking juices from the sides.
Remove the bananas from the oven, carefully remove the skins, and place the roasted bananas and all of the juices and caramelized sugar into a small bowl.
Mash the bananas in the bowl using a fork and set them aside to cool while you make the rest of the banana bread.
BANANA NUT BREAD
Reduce the oven temperature to 350ºF (177ºC). Spray a 9" x 5" loaf pan with non-stick spray. Set aside.
In a medium size bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and baking powder. Set aside.
In a large bowl with a handheld mixer, or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat both of the sugars and the butter together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Add the eggs and beat again until completely incorporated. Add the mashed roasted bananas and the water and beat again until everything is combined.
Reduce the mixer speed to low and slowly add the dry ingredients, stopping when everything is just incorporated. Gently stir in the nuts, if using, with a large spatula, and combine the rest of the batter with a spatula until no large flour pockets remain.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan, then bake the loaf for 50-60 minutes, or until a toothpick or cake tester inserted in the center comes out mostly clean. Allow loaf to cool in the pan on a wire cooling rack before serving. Loaf stays fresh, covered tightly at room temperature, up to 5 days, or in the refrigerator up to 1 week. Loaf freezes well. Remove from pan and wrap tightly in plastic wrap and foil, and freeze up to 2 months. Thaw in the refrigerator or at room temperature.
Notes
Nuts: I prefer walnuts or pecans, or you can use a combination of the two (I often do this). You can also replace the nuts with chocolate chips, or use half nuts and half chocolate chips.
All nutritional values are approximate and provided to the reader as a courtesy. Changing ingredients and/or quantities will alter the estimated nutritional calculations.