Moist banana bread that is easy to make with ripe bananas and caramel sauce, resulting in the best upside-down banana bread ever! Find out the secret for making it super moist!
Who doesn’t love bananas? From fruit salads to desserts, this tropical fruit delivers big time!
A great example is this tasty, caramelized upside-down banana bread — a recipe adapted from Dessert Before Dinner.
Their Best Ever Banana Bread became our Upside-Down Banana Bread. A few changes were made to the original recipe, particularly the addition of a banana topping with caramel sauce.
Both quick bread loaves are yummy, moist, and versatile since banana bread can be served either for breakfast or as a dessert — even more if paired with ice cream.
In my home country, Brazil, we enjoy upside-down banana bread with cafezinho (a small cup of our strong coffee) or, with a cup of tea.
Because this banana bread recipe yields extra batter, I mixed it with Nutella and baked it in a mini muffin pan. We took care of the leftovers quickly though. My kids can vouch for that as they took all the banana muffins to school.
Well, enjoy our caramelized banana bread paired either with coffee or ice cream!
Moist Banana Bread
You may be asking: ‘what are the secrets for a super moist banana bread?’ Well, it is the same as moist cakes.
For this particular recipe, we used applesauce! The fiber in the fruit puree (applesauce) helps to absorb moisture and keep this quick bread moist. It will make it a little denser than one without a fruit puree, but it will be moist.
In addition, to keep it moist and prevent it from drying out, store it well-covered or sealed for 2 days at room temperature or up to 7 days in the fridge.
What Is The Best Banana Bread Recipe?
Basically for 2 main reasons:
- It is an easy recipe to make: All that you have to do to prepare its batter is to mix ingredients. Moreover, it requires no special skills and its ingredients are widely available.
- It is SUPER moist! And if it wasn’t enough, it comes topped with caramelized bananas. You may choose to not do this extra step for turning a simple banana bread into a glorious upside-down banana bread but it makes it even more delish.
Ingredients and Substitutions
For making this quick bread recipe, you’ll need these simple ingredients:
FOR THE BANANA BREAD BATTER:
- All-purpose flour: Make sure to sift before adding to the batter. You may replace half of its amount with whole wheat flour for making a healthy version of this recipe.
- Baking soda: Needed for helping neutralize an acidic ingredient which is brown sugar.
- Salt
- Spices: We used ground cinnamon and nutmeg, but you can replace it with a blend of choice such as apple pie spices.
- Unsalted butter: It must be softened in order to cream with the sugars.
- Granulated sugar: You may replace every cup with ⅔ cup of honey or maple syrup if you prefer.
- Light brown sugar: It will give a caramel-like flavor to the batter.
- Eggs: They must be at room temperature!
- Applesauce: To make this moist banana bread less sweet, use unsweetened applesauce instead. Some add sour cream or plain Greek yogurt instead.
- Mashed bananas: Must be ripe but not fermented for giving this recipe a real banana flavor! Use a potato masher or a fork to mash bananas.
- Vanilla extract: Add one teaspoon of pure vanilla extract to the batter for extra flavor.
FOR THE BANANA TOPPING (OPTIONAL):
- Unsalted butter: Cut into chunks and mix with the sugar to make the caramel sauce for our upside-down banana bread.
- Light brown sugar: Along with butter it will make the caramel sauce.
- Bananas: Cut ripe yet firm bananas in half lengthwise and crosswise in order to end up with 4 pieces for each banana.
NOTE: You can replace the caramelized bananas with a cream cheese frosting if you prefer!
Substitutions for Healthy Banana Bread
- Replace sugar with honey: For each cup of granulated sugar, replace it with ⅔ cup of honey.
- Use half whole wheat flour and half all-purpose flour instead of all-purpose flour only. Some use almond flour instead!
- Use unsweetened apple sauce!
- Replace 1 tablespoon of all-purpose flour with flax eggs (or 1 tablespoon of flaxseed for extra nutrition) which contain fiber, protein, vitamin B1, and Omega-3 fatty acids.
- For substituting other ingredients or making vegan banana bread, check out our baking substitutions.
How to Make Banana Upside Down Bread
- First, prepare the banana bread batter: Preheat the oven to 350 F (180 C) and grease a standard bread loaf pan. Set aside! In a large mixing bowl, sift the flour and mix with baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Set aside.
- Then, in a bowl of an electric mixer cream together butter and both sugars. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition until just incorporated into the batter (please, do not overbeat!!). SEE PIC. 1
- Beat in half of the flour mixture at low speed just until incorporated into the batter. Next, beat in half of the applesauce.
- Beat in the remaining flour mixture, and then the other half of the applesauce. Mix in both the mashed bananas and vanilla. Set the banana mixture aside. SEE PIC. 2
- Prepare the banana topping: Place 4 tablespoon butter and ¾ cup brown sugar in a small saucepan and stir over medium heat until the butter melts and the sugar has dissolved. SEE PIC. 3
- Without stirring, continue cooking for a few more minutes or until bubbles just start to form around the outside edges of the mixture (i.e. the sugar begins to caramelize).
- Stir and then pour into a loaf pan. Evenly arrange the banana slices, flat side down, on top of the caramel. SEE PICS. 4 and 5
- Last, pour batter over bananas and bake the loaf for 55-70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. SEE PIC. 6
- Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let it cool for 10 minutes. If needed, run a knife around the edges to loosen it and gently invert the bread onto a plate.
Tips for Making This Easy Banana Bread Recipe
- To avoid the top of the upside-down banana bread loaf becoming too brown, cover it loosely with a sheet of aluminum foil after being halfway baked.
- Let the upside-down banana bread loaf cool in a pan on a rack.
- Run a knife around the edges to loosen the loaf from the inside of the pan and invert it onto a plate.
- Enjoy it warm by itself (for breakfast), or with vanilla ice cream (as a dessert)!
- Use any remaining batter to make banana nut muffins or mini loaves.
- Freezing bananas: Don’t throw out your browning overripe bananas. Instead, place them into a Ziploc bag or freezer bag, removing as much air as possible. Then, freeze them for up to 3 months. Defrost them in the fridge or microwave them for 1 minute when you are ready to make our super moist banana bread.
- To make this banana bread recipe, your bananas should be turning brown and very soft – almost squishy. The riper, the sweeter. But they cannot be black to the point they are fermenting.
- Use applesauce for added moisture!
- Don’t over-mix the batter. Lightly incorporate the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients. Don’t overmix; our moist banana bread will become denser.
- Don’t overbake. Start checking after 50 minutes in 5-minute increments.
- For easy clean-up: If not making the caramel sauce for making upside-down banana bread, line your loaf pan with parchment paper before adding the batter.
How to Ripen Bananas
If you have bananas that are too green, there are a few things you can do to help them ripen faster:
- Place them in a brown paper bag with another fruit like an apple and let them sit for a day or two.
- Or bake the unpeeled bananas in a 300°F oven for 15 to 20 minutes or until the peels are completely black. Let them cool before using them!
Variations
For making variations of our moist banana bread recipe, add one of the following:
- Chocolate Chips: You can add ½ cup dark or semisweet chocolate chips to the batter for making banana chocolate chip bread.
- Nuts: Add toasted walnuts for banana walnut bread or any other type of nuts for a banana nut bread recipe.
- Pumpkin Puree: Replace the applesauce with pumpkin puree for pumpkin banana bread. If you want, use pumpkin pie spice instead of cinnamon and nutmeg.
- Nutella/Peanut Butter: Add ½ to 1 cup of Nutella or creamy peanut butter for a Nutella banana bread or peanut butter banana bread.
- Cocoa Powder: Add ¼ cup of Dutch cocoa powder to the batter for making chocolate banana bread. Chocolate chips or chunks are also a welcome addition!
How to Store Banana Bread
- Store moist banana bread in an airtight container either at room temp for up to 2 days or in the fridge for up to 5-7 days.
- Do NOT FREEZE; otherwise, the banana topping would be mushy.
Other Quick Bread Recipes
Other Banana Recipes
- Upside Down Banana Cake
- Banana Meringue Pie
- Mocha Cake with Banana Foster Topping
- Deep-Fried Bananas
- Banana Pudding Cheesecake Bars
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Moist Banana Bread Recipe
Ingredients
FOR THE BANANA BREAD BATTER:
- 2½ cups all-purpose flour sifted (OR REPLACE ½ the flour with whole wheat flour)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 cup white granulated sugar
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- 3 large eggs at room temperature
- 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 2 cups mashed bananas about 4 to 5 ripe medium bananas
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
FOR THE BANANA TOPPING (OPTIONAL):
- 4 tablespoon unsalted butter cut into chunks
- ¾ cup light brown sugar
- 2 medium ripe yet firm bananas slice in half lengthwise and the crosswise (ending up with 4 pieces for each banana)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F (180 C) and grease a standard bread loaf pan. Set aside!
- First, prepare the banana bread batter: In a large mixing bowl, sift the flour and mix with baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Set aside.
- Then, in a bowl of an electric mixer cream together butter and both sugars. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition until just incorporated into the batter (please, do not overbeat!!).
- Beat in half of the flour mixture at low speed just until incorporated into the batter. Next, beat in half of the applesauce.
- Beat in the remaining flour mixture, and then the other half of the applesauce. Mix in both the mashed bananas and vanilla. Set banana mixture aside.
- Prepare the banana topping: Place 4 tablespoon butter and ¾ cup brown sugar in a small saucepan and stir over medium heat until butter melts and the sugar has dissolved.
- Without stirring, continue cooking for a few more minutes or until bubbles just start to form around the outside edges of the mixture (i.e. the sugar begins to caramelize).
- Stir and then pour into a loaf pan. Evenly arrange the bananas slices, flat side down, on top of the caramel.
- Last, pour batter over bananas and bake the loaf for 55-70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let it cool for 10 minutes. If needed, run a knife around the edges to loosen and gently invert the bread onto a plate.
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
- ★ Did you make this recipe? Please, give it a star rating below!!
- To avoid the top of the upside-down banana bread loaf becoming too brown, cover loosely with a sheet of aluminum foil after being half-baked.
- Let moist banana bread loaf cool in a pan on a rack.
- Run a knife around the edges to loosen the loaf from the inside of the pan and invert it onto a plate.
- Enjoy upside-down banana bread warm by itself (for breakfast), or with vanilla ice cream (as a dessert)!
- Use any remaining batter to make muffins.
- If you prefer, replace the banana topping with cream cheese frosting!
- Store in an airtight container either at room temperature for up to 2 days or in the fridge for up to 5-7 days. DO not freeze it if making upside-down banana bread! But if making without the banana topping, wrap it well with parchment paper and then foil and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge and enjoy!
- Replace sugar with honey: For each cup of granulated sugar, replace it with ⅔ cup of honey.
- Use half whole wheat flour and half all-purpose flour instead of all-purpose flour only. Some use almond flour instead!
- Use unsweetened apple sauce!
- Replace 1 tablespoon of all-purpose flour with flax eggs (or 1 tablespoon of flaxseed for extra nutrition) which contain fiber, protein, vitamin B1, and Omega-3 fatty acids.
- For substituting other ingredients or making vegan banana bread, check out our baking substitutions.
Nutrition
** Nutrition labels on easyanddelish.com are for educational purposes only. This info is provided as a courtesy and is only an estimate, since the nutrition content of recipes can vary based on ingredient brand or source, portion sizes, recipe changes/variations, and other factors. We suggest making your own calculations using your preferred calculator, based on which ingredients you use, or consulting with a registered dietitian to determine nutritional values more precisely.
Please note that health-focused and diet information provided on easyanddelish.com is for educational purposes and does not constitute medical advice, nor is it intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent disease. Consult with your doctor or other qualified health professional prior to initiating any significant change in your diet or exercise regimen, or for any other issue necessitating medical advice.
Post first published on March 23, 2014.
Sarah & Arkadi says
this looks really good! i want that and a cafezinho right now! 😉
Denise Browning says
Me three, Sarah and Arkadi! This with cafezinho is heavenly!
whatjessicabakednext says
The bread looks absolutely divine!
Denise Browning says
Thanks, Jessica!
The Grape Gal says
Hi Denise, this looks so yummy. Avoiding sugar so could I use honey, maple syrup or something else in it's place?
Can't wait to make this...
Denise Browning says
Hi!!! Yes, you can replace sugar for honey or maple syrup. But please follow these guidelines and make the necessary adjustments to the recipe:
1. Honey and maple syrup are sweeter than sugar, so use less honey or maple syrup for each cup of sugar. NOTE: Since the recipe calls for 1 cup of granulated sugar and 1/2 cup of brown sugar, use in total about 1 cup of honey or maple syrup in the BATTER of this bread.
2. If baking with honey or maple syrup, reduce the oven temperature by 25 degrees Fahrenheit, since maple syrup and honey will tend to caramelize and burn faster than granulated sweeteners. NOTE: Instead of preheating the oven at 325 F, preheat at 300 degrees F. Since the temperature is lower, it will take more time to bake this banana bread. Do the toothpick test!!!
3. Since maple syrup and honey are somewhat acidic, when baking, you will need to add 1/4 – 1/2 tsp baking soda per cup of honey or maple syrup to the batter so it will rise. NOTE: I think the recipe calls for enough baking soda (1 tsp) for the amount of honey or maple syrup you will be using.
4. For this banana bread topping, use preferably maple syrup (it is more flavorful and less sticky than honey). You can heat about 1/4 to 1/3 of a cup of maple syrup (add a few drops of fresh lemon juice) and stir in 2 TBSP of butter, in order to brown or caramelize the sliced bananas. Then, follow the instructions stated in the recipe.
Enjoy and thanks for stopping by.
John / Kitchen Riffs says
This recipe is so much fun! A really different banana bread -- thanks.
Teresa says
What is the temperature you bake the banana bread at? Did I miss it? I didn't see it anywhere
Denise Browning says
Hi teresa! Thank you so much for calling this out. When I updated the post, it seems it got erased. But it is to bake the banana bread in a preheat oven to 350 F (180 C) and grease a standard bread loaf pan. I am ameding the recipe now. I really apologize for that! ENjoy the bread.