Easy Banana Bread Without Baking Soda
Quick and easy banana bread without baking soda is moist, soft, and fluffy. It's well-risen, smells and tastes amazing, and disappears from the table in time!
- Total Time: 1 hour, 45 minutes
- Yield: 12 1x
- Category: Quick bread
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
Scale
For the bread batter:
- 5.3 oz. (150 g) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup (200 g) brown sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 2/3 cups + 4 tablespoons (240 g) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons (10 g) baking powder
- 10 oz. (285 g) bananas, mashed
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) dark rum
For the crumb topping (optional)
- 5 tablespoons (40 g) all-purpose flour
- 6 1/2 tablespoons (40 g) almond flour
- 5 tablespoons (40 g) icing (powdered) sugar
- 1.4 oz. (40 g) cold salted butter
For the decoration (optional):
- flaked toasted almonds
- icing (powdered) sugar
*Don't you have the correct baking pan on hand right now? Try this simple Cake Pan Converter!
** If needed, please refer to Baking Conversion Charts.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300°F/150°C. Butter and flour or line a nonstick loaf pan with parchment paper.
- Beat softened butter and brown sugar for 5 minutes using an electric mixer. Add all-purpose flour (1 2/3 cup + 4 tablespoons/240 g) mixed with baking powder and eggs, and delicately mix with a rubber spatula.
- Mash bananas with a fork and fold them into the principal preparation. Add rum and mix with a spatula just until combined. Place the bread batter in the fridge while making the streusel.
- To make the crumb topping (optionally), in a separate bowl, mix all-purpose flour (5 tbsp/40, almond flour, icing (powdered) sugar, and chilled salted butter cut into pieces. and Make the crumbly dough with your hands. It has to look like wet sand.
- Pour the batter into the pan, sprinkle the streusel on top, and bake for 90 minutes. The bread is ready when a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Sprinkle the top of the bread with flaked toasted almonds and dust with icing (powdered) sugar.
Notes
- Soften unsalted butter by taking it out of the fridge for 2 hours before cooking.
- Replace dark rum with some juice if you serve the cake to kids.
- Mash bananas with a fork, an electric handheld mixer, or a potato masher.
- Do not overmix the bread batter when you add crushed bananas. Instead, gently mix to combine.
- Split the recipe into four small loaves or make banana bread mini muffins if you prefer.
- Adjust your oven's baking time: I have tested and re-tested that the cake is ready in 90 minutes.
- Test the cake for readiness! Use a toothpick: if it is inserted in the middle of the cake and comes out clean, the bread is ready. If it still has the batter on it, add another 3 to 5 minutes and test again.
- Cool the baked banana bread completely before slicing.
- Serve with a dollop of mascarpone or slabs of salted butter.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice
- Calories: 317
- Sugar: 22.5 g
- Sodium: 108 mg
- Fat: 14.4 g
- Saturated Fat: 8.5 g
- Carbohydrates: 43.6 g
- Fiber: 1.4 g
- Protein: 3.9 g
- Cholesterol: 61 mg