2 Banana Bread Recipe (Banana Bread with 2 Bananas) - Bread Dad (2024)

This 2 banana bread recipe creates a delicious banana bread that uses only two bananas. Sometimes, you run out of bananas and only have 2 bananas left at home (versus the 3 needed to make most banana bread recipes)!

Therefore, instead of making a special trip to the supermarket to buy more bananas, here is an easy “emergency” recipe to produce a great-tasting banana bread with only 2 bananas.

Problem – Oh No! I Have Only 2 Bananas. What Do I Do?

The secret is to replace the missing banana with something commonly found in your refrigerator. There should be no need to run to the supermarket to buy missing bananas… or scramble to find some crazy banana substitutes. I like to use milk as a simple banana substitute (if I am missing a singular banana when I am making a banana bread). Milk adds the necessary moisture and doesn’t overwhelm the banana taste of the 2 bananas. Moreover, the mild flavor of milk seems to enhance the taste of the “cake” ingredients contained in a banana bread.

Solution – Make Delicious 2 Banana Bread!

FYI – Many other recipes cut their ingredients by 1/3 when they have only 2 bananas. However, this results in a short mini-sized banana bread (which often has too much crust and/or is too dense). I would rather create a delicious normal-sized banana bread… that uses 2 bananas and a little milk. However, does this 2 banana bread recipe have the same banana flavor as a 3 banana bread recipe? No. It has a nice banana flavor but not as much as a standard 3 banana recipe. It is best as a good “emergency” recipe if you find yourself in a situation with only 2 ripe bananas. However, we also show you below how to add chocolate chips, blueberries, etc. in order to make this banana bread with 2 bananas even better!

This 2 banana bread recipe takes me about 10 minutes or so to prepare and clean up (excluding the baking time). Please be aware that this is an oven-baked banana bread recipe. It is not made with a bread machine. You will also find a printable and “pin-able” recipe at the bottom of this page.

Ingredients – 2 Banana Bread Recipe

• 2 – Bananas (ripe & LARGE sized) – 230 grams – The 2 large bananas should equal roughly 1 cup of mashed bananas. See the tips section below if you have less than a cup of mashed bananas.
• 2 – Eggs (large)
• 1/2 Cup – Unsalted Butter (softened) – 115 grams – 1/2 cup equals 8 tablespoons – Instead of butter, you can also use 1/2 cup of vegetable oil (118 milliliters). See the tips section below for more information.
• 1/3 Cup – Milk – 77 milliliters – You can also use sour cream or plain Greek yogurt.
• 1/2 Cup – White Granulated Sugar – 100 grams
• 1/2 Cup – Light Brown Sugar (packed cup) – 107 grams
• 2 Cups – Flour (all purpose flour) – 240 grams
• 1 Teaspoon – Vanilla Extract – 5 milliliters
• 1 Teaspoon – Baking Soda – 5 grams
• 1 Teaspoon – Baking Powder (aluminum free) – 4 grams
• 1/2 Teaspoon – Salt – 3 grams
• Optional – 1 Cup – Chocolate Chips, Chopped Walnuts, Fresh Cranberries (Not Dried), etc.

Servings – Roughly 12 slices

Equipment Needed – Measuring cup & spoons, mixing bowl, long wooden spoon, 9 by 5 bread pan, oven mitts, silicone spatula, cooling rack and an oven.

Instructions – 2 Banana Bread Recipe

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
• If necessary, grease/spray the bread pan or use baking parchment paper to line the bread pan.
• Mash bananas with a fork.
• Lightly beat eggs.
• Soften the butter in a microwave.
• Stir bananas, eggs, butter (or oil), milk and white & brown sugars together in a large mixing bowl. Mix until fully blended.
• Mix in remaining ingredients. Stir until the batter is fully mixed.
• Optional – If you want to enhance this 2 banana bread recipe, you can stir in 1 cup of your family’s favorite dessert ingredient (i.e. chocolate chips or chopped walnuts) after you have mixed the batter.
• Pour the finished batter into a nonstick bread pan. Smooth out the top of the batter within the bread pan.
• Bake in the oven for 60-65 minutes at 325 F or until golden brown.
• Take bread pan out of oven and let the banana bread cool down in the bread pan for 10 minutes. Do not remove the banana bread from the bread pan during this 10 minute cool down period. Use oven mitts as the bread pan will be very hot coming out of the oven.
• Optional – Right after taking the bread pan out of the oven, use a long wooden skewer (or toothpick) to test if the banana bread is completely cooked. Wear oven mitts as the bread pan will be hot. See the tips section for more details on this classic “toothpick” test.
• After 10 minutes, remove the banana bread from the bread pan. Place the banana bread on a cooling rack in order to completely cool. This cool down may take 1-2 hours. Gently slide a silicon spatula between the banana bread and the bread pan walls if the banana bread is stuck in the pan.
• Please read the tips section below for extra information on how to make this recipe successfully & to avoid common banana bread problems.

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Helpful Tips – Banana Bread with 2 Bananas

• The tips below are designed to help banana bread “novices” and/or people with limited baking experience. For more recipes, please visit Bread Dad’s main Banana Bread Recipes section.
• Click on our “print recipe” link if you want to print out this recipe. It includes all of the recipe’s ingredients and instructions. However, the recipe print function does not include our tips section. Please read the tips section in order to avoid common recipe problems.
• This recipe is part of Bread Dad’s series on easy Banana Bread Recipes such as walnut banana bread, chocolate chip banana bread, Greek yogurt banana bread and many more.

• Has this happened to you? I will be saving 3 bananas in order to make a banana bread later in the day. Of course, when I start to make the banana bread, I often find that there are only 2 bananas left… one of my kids has “stolen” a banana for a snack!! Thus the impetus to make a great banana bread with only 2 bananas.
• UseRIPE bananas for the best results.The natural sweetness of ripe bananas works best when making banana bread recipes. Ripe bananas are soft and have many small brown & black spots on the exterior of the yellow banana peel. FYI – A beautiful pure yellow banana (without any spots) is not fully ripe!!
• If you use unripe green or hard yellow bananas, your banana bread will NOT have much banana flavor. Unripe bananas have more starch and less sugar than ripe bananas. Unripe bananas have a lot less banana flavor when compared to ripe bananas.

• Since you are using only 2 bananas in this recipe, this is another reason to make sure that your bananas are RIPE or you will not be able to taste the bananas.
• FYI – 2 large bananas equal roughly 1 cup of mashed bananas (not sliced bananas). Of course, banana sizes can vary greatly… and my version of large-sized bananas may differ from yours!
• If you use exactly 1 cup of mashed bananas, you will have less banana bread “problems” with this recipe (i.e. the banana bread being too dry or too wet).
• If you add more than 1 cup of mashed bananas to this recipe, it will take longer for the banana bread to bake properly (versus what was stated in the instructions) because you will have added excess liquid to the recipe.
• This recipe calls for the use of 2 LARGE sized bananas. However, if you have only 2 MEDIUM sized bananas, you will need to add MORE milk. 2 medium sized bananas equal roughly 3/4 cups of mashed bananas. Therefore, if you only have 2 medium sized bananas (3/4 cups of mashed bananas), you need to use 1/2 cup of milk (versus the 1/3 cup of milk used with 2 large bananas).
• However, be aware that 2 medium bananas will have less banana flavor versus 2 large bananas.
• As I said above – Does this 2 banana bread recipe have the same banana flavor as a 3 banana bread recipe? No. It has a nice mild banana flavor but not as much as banana flavor as a standard 3 banana recipe. This 2 banana recipe is best as a good “emergency” recipe if you find yourself in a situation with only 2 ripe bananas.
• However, to add even MORE flavor to your 2 banana bread, you can easily add chocolate chips, chopped walnuts, fresh cranberries, fresh blueberries, etc.

• Visitors – What extra ingredients do you like to add to your banana breads? Chocolate chips, chopped walnuts, cinnamon, raisins, chopped pecans, cranberries, fruit juice or something else? Please post your “secret ingredient” in the comment section below. Help beginners to make better or more unique banana breads.
• If you are lactose intolerant, you can replace the 1/3 cup of milk with 1/3 cup of applesauce. Your banana bread with 2 bananas will have a very mild applesauce flavor that combines well with the banana flavor. Or you can try soy milk, oat milk, etc. based on your family’s dietary restrictions.
• Moreover, some people like to use fruit juice (instead of milk) in order to add different flavors to their banana bread (i.e. orange juice).
• You can also use sour cream or plain Greek yogurt instead of regular dairy milk. Sour cream and Greek yogurt have a similar moisture content to mashed bananas. In addition, their slight acidity helps to soften the banana bread. Nevertheless, many people do not have these ingredients readily available thus the use of milk in this recipe (with the sour cream & Greek yogurt as alternative ingredients).

• Optional – You can also use this recipe to make chocolate chip banana bread with 2 bananas. Just follow all of the recipe steps and stir in 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips before you pour the batter into the bread pan.
• Optional – Other easy variations that you can make from this 2 banana bread recipe include 2 banana nut bread, 2 banana blueberry bread, 2 banana cranberry bread, etc. Just add 1 cup of your favorite ingredients (such as chopped walnuts or blueberries) to this 2 banana bread recipe.
• Optional – If you do not have butter, you can replace it with a neutral tasting vegetable oil (i.e. canola oil or corn oil) on a 1 to 1 basis (i.e. replace 8 tablespoons of butter with 8 tablespoons of oil). Using vegetable oil often results in a moister tasting banana bread (as vegetable oil remains a liquid at room temperature whereas butter is a solid). However, you will be giving up the buttery flavor.

• Optional – You can also sprinkle 1 tablespoon of Turbinado sugar on top of the finished batter just before you put the bread pan in the oven. The addition of this large crystal sugar creates a crunchy & sugary top to the dessert. Turbinado sugar is made from sugar cane. You can find this natural sugar in most supermarkets.
• Optional – Our visitors also like to use spices in order to enhance their banana bread with 2 bananas. This is an easy way to turn a “basic” banana bread into something special or unique. They like to use spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves, allspice, extra vanilla extract, orange essence, etc.
• Many people like to add 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon if their bananas are not super ripe. The cinnamon helps to partially “hide” the missing banana flavor.
• In case you need some banana bread inspiration, here is one of visitors’ (thank you Leanne!) amazing variations to this recipe. “Phenomenal recipe for two(medium) bananas. Followed the suggestions and added the extra milk, walnuts and fresh blueberries. I reduced the sugar to nearly 2/3 and the resulting bread was delicious! Perfect crumb, moisture and taste”… “PS: added cinnamon and a little ginger powder as well. It’s just yummy”.
• Do you have 4 fully ripe bananas? You can make either two loaves of our 2 banana bread recipe or you can try our 4 banana bread recipe.

• Always try to use FRESH baking soda & powder for the best results. For example, using baking soda from an open container (that has been deodorizing your refrigerator for months) may lead to subpar results. Old & hard baking soda/powder may lead to rising problems and/or leave small bitter clumps in your banana bread with 2 bananas.
• Do NOT use an electric mixer to mix your ingredients (when combining the wet and dry ingredients). Stick to an old fashioned wooden spoon. An electric mixer can overmix the ingredients and the banana bread will turn out rubbery & gummy.
• In case, you didn’t see this in the “equipment used to make this recipe” section, this recipe is based on using a standard 9 by 5 bread pan. This means that the interior of the bread pan (not exterior) measures 9 inches in length, 5 inches in width and 2 1/2 inches in depth/height. Of course, Bread Dads are crazy about exact measurements… thus the use of measuring tapes! Ha!
• Please use the suggested 9 x 5 bread pan to make this recipe. If you start using different sized pans, there is a greater potential for bread top collapses (potentially less bread pan “wall” support for the quick bread as it rises), different interior batter to exterior bread ratios (thus the need for different baking lengths), smaller pans can overflow, etc.
• FYI – Many other 2 banana recipes use much smaller pans (i.e. 8×4 inch bread pans). However, most people usually own 9×5 and/or 8.5×4.5 bread pans (and not 8×4 bread pans). Our recipe is based on the traditional 9×5 bread pan which is used for most banana bread and quick bread recipes.
• In case you are interested, 8.5 x 4.5 bread pans (the other popular size for bread pans) are typically used for baking sandwich-type breads (and not banana breads).

• This doesn’t happen often butif the top of the banana bread looks too moist or undercooked, you should try the “toothpick test”. Gently push a long wooden toothpick or wooden skewer into the top of the banana bread and see if any batter sticks to the toothpick. If batter is sticking to the toothpick then it hasn’t completely cooked. Place the bread pan back into the still hot oven for another 3 to 5 minutes. Make sure to wear oven gloves because the bread pan will be very hot. After the 3 to 5 minutes, remove the bread pan and test the banana bread again with a toothpick or skewer.
• Given variability in banana sizes, banana breads tend to have more moistness variability than many other quick bread recipes. This can lead to excess moisture and the banana bread being potentially undercooked. Therefore, many bakers like to use the “toothpick” test to ensure that their banana bread with 2 bananas is completely baked.
• Instead of the “toothpick test”, some people like to use a bread thermometer to test if their banana bread is done. Generally, a “quick bread” (i.e. banana bread or pumpkin bread) is done when the internal temperature reaches 200-205 degrees F. Just make sure to measure the temperature in the center of the loaf for the most accurate reading.
• Optional – If you are finding small white clumps of flour in your banana breads, you can use a fine mesh strainer or flour sifter to sift your flour (before mixing the flour with the wet ingredients). This “aerates” the flour and breaks up & screens out small flour lumps.

• If your banana breads are sticking to the bottom of your bread pan, you should consider either “greasing” the bottom of the pan with butter or vegetable oil, using a cooking spray, using a nonstick pan or lining the interior of the bread pan with baking parchment paper. Baking parchment paper can also help you to avoid disturbing (smudging) the top of the bread when you lift the banana bread from the bread pan.
• Light brown sugar adds a slightly richer flavor to banana breads (versus using only white granulated sugar).
• Don’t remove the brown sugar from this recipe because the slight acidity of brown sugar helps to activate the baking soda. If you use 100% white sugar, the baking soda might not activate properly (and your banana bread might not rise sufficiently).
• Make sure that the light brown sugar is completely mixed because you will occasionally find small hard brown lumps of brown sugar in the sugar package. These light brown sugar clumps should be broken up by hand or mashed with a fork.
• Make sure that your oven has been completely preheated. If the oven has not been properly preheated, this quick bread could come out undercooked. Use an oven thermometer (i.e. one that hangs inside your oven) to check the interior oven temperature before baking.
• Portable oven thermometers are also great for telling if your oven temperature matches what you set on the oven temperature dial. Some ovens (esp. older ovens) can be off by 25+ degrees.
• Long-term storage – If you want to keep your banana bread for more than 1-2 days (depending on your home’s temperature & humidity), you will need to freeze it. Please read Bread Dad’s How To Freeze Banana Bread for more details.

• If you have a problem with a banana bread recipe, please make sure that you are following the recipe exactly (i.e. using the correct oven temperature), using the correct amounts of ingredients (i.e. don’t eyeball the measurements versus using a measuring cup or accidentally add a tablespoon when a teaspoon is called for), using the correct ingredients (i.e. baking soda/powder versus yeast or all purpose flour versus bread flour), etc. Please don’t “wing” things with recipes.
• Problem with sinking middles? Then check out my Why Does My Banana Bread Sink In The Middle? page for reasons & potential solutions.
• Always wear oven mitts/gloves when dealing with a hot oven and bread pan.
• Do not add the optional chopped walnuts if anyone who might eat this baked good has peanut and/or tree nut allergies.
• For more easy banana bread recipes (i.e. blueberry, cranberry, chocolate chip, vegan, oatmeal, etc.), please visit Bread Dad’s main sections onBanana Bread Recipes or Quick Bread Recipes.

If you liked this recipe, pleaseleave a comment below & give us a 5 star rating. We LOVE to hear from people who have enjoyed our recipes!!! Jump to comment section

Highlighted Recipe

• High Fiber Bread Recipe – When you get a little older, some people (like me) need extra fiber in their diet. So check out this delicious & fiber-icious bread recipe.

Other Bread Dad Sections

• Bread Machines – My favorites!
• Bread Machine Cookbooks
• Bread Mixes – Ingredient kits for buttermilk bread, rye bread, sourdough bread, French bread, Italian country bread, etc.
• – Ingredient kits for homemade blondies, snickerdoodles, chocolate donuts, pecan brownies, etc.
• – Turn your homemade bread into delicious sandwiches or toasty paninis.

Reference Sources

• Wikipedia, Banana
• Wikipedia, Banana Bread
• Wikipedia, Quick Bread

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• Banana Nut Bread
• Greek Yogurt Banana Bread – Extra moist
• No Butter Banana Bread
• No Egg Banana Bread
• Vegan Banana Bread

I want to thank everyone who shares their baking knowledge below. Visitor suggestions, recipe variations & baking tips are a great help to beginning bakers.

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