How To Make Banana Bread With One Banana

Ever wonder how to make banana bread with only one banana? Wonder no longer! This easy-to-follow tutorial will show you the ropes. Follow these simple step-by-steps directions and you can be enjoying this delicious (and easy) treat in no time!

Do you have overripe bananas and don’t know what to make out of them? Solve this problem using this simple recipe and make banana bread with only one banana!

Table of Contents

How To Make Banana Bread With One Banana

This recipe was influenced by three things. A ripe banana is sometimes all you have when you want to bake banana bread.

Or perhaps I should say that occasionally you have a ripe banana and want to use it for something (ideally, make bread). But is that one banana really sufficient on its own?

Second, there are times when you just feel like baking. Is it just me, or does everyone occasionally feel this way (particularly during the winter)? I’d like to prepare something quick that smells fantastic in the whole kitchen.

But since I know myself well enough to know that this means I’ll probably consume a dozen cookies or scones over the next couple of days, I’d prefer if the end result WASN’T a dozen cookies or scones or whatever. Undoubtedly, I want a small treat, but basically I just want to bake something and then have a tiny taste of it.

Lastly, and most directly, this recipe was influenced by a dish from Chrissy Teigen’s cookbook (which I love). I’ll be the first to confess, though, that this is a lot simpler recipe that ultimately yields less servings.

Even though it actually is completely different, I was nonetheless inspired by her dish and wanted to share it because I adore her cookbook so much.

Don’t you just adore a white herringbone tile? Very lovely!

If you only have one banana, make this banana bread. If you LOVE banana bread (raises hand high) but don’t need a giant bundt cake size in your house due to a lack of self-control, make this banana bread. Here are some mini loaf pans if you don’t have one

One-Banana Banana Bread

The best banana bread recipe using only one banana!

Ingredients

1 banana ripe
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons olive oil
½ cup + 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
¼ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup brown sugar
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
⅓ cup walnuts chopped

Instructions

Mash the banana in a mixing bowl of medium size. After that, add the egg, vanilla essence, and oil. The flour, sugars, baking soda, and salt should then be added all at once. Mix until well-combined. Add the chopped walnuts after that and mix.
Place in your oiled or parchment-lined baking dishes, and bake at 325°F.
Six regular-sized muffins or baked donuts will result from this recipe. They should bake for 14–15 minutes.
This recipe yields three and has to bake for 18 to 20 minutes in tiny loaf pans, as I did in the images.

Recipe Notes

These miniature loaves include a second banana on top exclusively for the photographs (just trying to give you something pretty to look at it). This is not necessary, and I discovered that it really made the batter baking beneath the banana unevenly. Thus, I really don’t really advise it, but if you want the appearance, I understand.

ONE BANANA BANANA BREAD!

One Banana Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips and Walnuts ~ when there’s just one banana left on the counter, this one-banana, one-bowl quick bread recipe steps up to the plate.

Only got one banana? Make this fabulous one banana banana bread!

That one banana that was left on the counter for a little too long gets put to good use in this bread. It has a deliciously moist texture and, despite using only one banana, it still has the aroma and flavor of traditional banana bread.

It’s ideal for people who enjoy banana flavor but don’t want to be overpowered by it.

Loaf of one banana banana bread on cooling rack

One of the coziest fragrances in the world has to be the aroma of banana bread baking in the oven. I adore the concept of creating the bread batter the night before and baking it from scratch the following morning. To prevent browning, add the mashed banana right before baking. The best part is that you can practically roll out of bed and eat thick slices of warm banana bread.

check to see that you have everything:

banana ~ just one!
butter
egg
milk
flour
sugar
vanilla
baking soda
salt
chocolate chips ~ optional
walnuts ~ also optional

Overhead photo of one banana bread sliced on a board, next to a piece on a plate

Tips for the perfect banana bread ~

Although bananas can be used at any stage, ripe bananas have the nicest flavor.
Your batter shouldn’t be overmixed. Just enough to integrate everything should be blended.
Make use of a sturdy aluminum loaf pan. Glass and pans with black coatings don’t cook evenly or soon enough for me.
To make it easier to remove the baked bread out of the pan for cooling and neater slicing, line your loaf pan with a long strip of parchment paper.
To be certain of your oven’s temperature, make a little investment in an oven thermometer. A few degrees in either direction can have a significant impact on how well your banana bread turns out.
The flavor of the banana is significantly enhanced with a small amount of genuine vanilla extract.
You may prepare this batter the night before and bake it fresh the next morning, did you know? To avoid browning, simply omit the banana and add it in the morning.
Just let the banana bread cool completely before wrapping it up. I like to double wrap my bread in a strong zip lock freezer bag after first covering it in plastic or foil.

One banana plus a few common cupboard ingredients are all you need to make this quick and simple one banana banana bread recipe. It has a rich cinnamon sugar crust that bakes up moist and sweet.

Small-batch Banana Bread
This mini version bakes in a 5.5 x 3-inch loaf pan (or can be baked as muffins in a muffin tin) and like my small-batch banana muffins, it can be made with just a single brown banana.
The bread is soft, moist, buttery, and just such a treat. And to make things even better, there’s a crinkly cinnamon sugar crust over the top that is just SO good.

Ingredient Notes

One brown banana: You need just one brown banana for this recipe. If you have a banana, but it’s not quite brown enough for baking, check out my post on how to quickly ripen bananas.
Butter: You can use salted or unsalted butter here, just make sure to read the recipe notes and add more or less salt depending on which you’re using.
Cinnamon sugar: The cinnamon sugar crust, is optional (but highly recommended). If you’re not a huge fan of cinnamon or don’t want the extra sweetness, you can skip it.

How To Make One-banana Banana Bread

1. Combine Dry Ingredients: In a medium bowl, whisk together sugar, flour, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, and salt.
2. Combine most of the wet ingredients: In a separate medium bowl, mash the banana and whisk in the egg until well-combined. Pour banana mixture into the dry ingredients and mix until just-combined.
3. Add butter: Add melted butter, and mix until butter is incorporated into the batter. Don’t over mix, but there should not be melted butter remaining around the edges of the batter (note the way the batter looks in the last photo above).

4. Bake: Transfer the batter to your prepared loaf pan, leaving ¾-inch of space from the top of the pan (discard extra batter if there is too much). Sprinkle cinnamon sugar evenly over the top of the batter, and bake until a toothpick or knife inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.
5. Enjoy: Allow to cool in the pan for 15 to 20 minutes before removing and slicing.

INGREDIENTS FOR “ONE BANANA” BANANA BREAD

1 ripe banana, (mashed up in the mixing bowl you’re going to use)

1 egg (with enough milk to make 1 cup)

1 stick of butter, softened

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups flour

1 cup sugar

1 tsp baking soda

HOW TO MAKE “ONE BANANA” BANANA BREAD

What makes this so awesome? Put all of those ingredients in a sizable bowl.

That’s accurate. they are all. all at once.

Stir everything thoroughly to remove all lumps.

(And sure, there may be butter chunks in my batter. My butter wasn’t all the way melted. Let this serve as a lesson for everyone.)

the batter into a loaf pan that has been buttered. Around two thirds of the pan should be covered in batter.

Bake for 45 to 60 minutes at 350 degrees.

Then what? You have a gorgeous loaf of banana bread now, guys.

Do not even attempt to persuade me that you do not want to consume that. Considering that I won’t believe you.

But I’ll let you in on a secret. Here’s a pro tip: although this bread is fantastic fresh from the oven, it tastes even better the next day.

Thus, if you can manage to wait—and I know it’s difficult—know that it will be even more lovely when you wake up the following day.

Now that you know how to make banana bread, you may use the ripe banana you currently have on the counter.