Three things inspired this recipe. First, sometimes you want to make banana bread but you only have one ripe banana.
Or maybe I should say, sometimes you have a ripe banana and you want to do something with it (ideally, make banana bread). But is that one lonely banana enough all on its own? Spoiler: Yes.
Related: 50+ Healthy Breakfast Ideas and Date Shake
Second, sometimes you just want to bake something. Is it just me, or does everyone feel this way now and again (especially in the winter months)? Ideally, I want to bake something easy that will make my whole kitchen smell amazing.
But I’d prefer if the end result was NOT a dozen cookies or scones or whatever because I know myself well enough to know that this means I will likely eat a dozen cookies or scones over the following couple of days.
I want a little treat, sure, but mostly I just want to carry out the act of baking something and just get a little bite of something at the end.
Third, and most literally, this recipe is inspired by Chrissy Teigen’s recipe from her cookbook (which I love). But, I’ll be the first to admit that this is a much more simple version that results in a smaller serving amount in the end.
It’s really very different, but I was still inspired by her recipe and I love her cookbook so much I wanted to mention it anyway. 🙂
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 any!
Be sure check out these banana bread-inspired recipes:
- Overnight Baked Banana Bread Oatmeal
- No-Bake Banana Cream Pie
- Banana Bread Muffin Cookies
- How to Quickly Ripen Bananas
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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
- In a medium size mixing bowl, mash the banana. Then stir in the egg, vanilla extract, and oil until combined. Then, add all at once the flour, sugars, baking soda, and salt. Fold until combined. Then stir in the chopped walnuts.
- Spoon into your prepared (oiled or lined with parchment) baking vessels and bake at 325°F
- Regular size muffins or a baked donut pan will yield six and should be baked for 14-15 minutes.
- If you use mini loaf pans (like I have in the photos), this will yield three and should be baked for 18-20 minutes.
Notes
Nutrition
Notice: Nutrition is auto-calculated, using Spoonacular, for your convenience. Where relevant, we recommend using your own nutrition calculations.
I remember reading this recipe years ago and thought it was such a genius idea! I finally needed to use it this weekend on a girl’s trip. I was in charge of breakfast on our last day, and we had one banana left that had seen better days. I quickly whipped this up, and got such rave reviews. It was honestly the best banana bread I’ve ever had. Great job, Emma! Perfect as usual.
Love the pod! 😘
I use this recipe all the time even if I have more than one banana! It is a tad sweet for me personally if I make it just as the recipe is written, so I do half the amount of sugar for myself. I’ll typically make the recipe as written when I make it for others.
My go-to recipe when I have a ripe banana! It’s moisty and not too sweet (how I prefer it). It’s always a success and I always get asked for the recipe 🙂
Always have just the one half rotten bananna. Thank you so much for making this recipe, it was so delicious and simple!!
A little too sweet for me. I would maybe halve the sugar, or do 3/4 worth.
What was with the flour measurements the +1 tablespoon I didn’t understand I thought that 1 tablespoon was to dust the pan right?
I’ve successfully baked mini loaves twice – looked handmade professional! Just got a small loaf tin in with the whole mix 🤞I need it for dessert this evening!
This is my go to banana bread recipe, which I found while searching for what to do with the last overripe banana. I typically reduce the sugar, but that’s just my preference.
This banana cake is delicious. It is very moist and made two mini loaves for my husband and me. Most of the ingredients I always have on hand. I did not have the walnuts, so I substituted 1/3 cup cranberry and pecan salad topping. The only problem I had was it took twice as long to bake than the time listed in the recipe. It was worth the extra time. Next time I’ll make sure I have walnuts. Thank you for a good recipe for two people.
Thanks for the delicious amd easy recipe! I had (and generally EVER have) 1 banana that nobody will eat! I cut back on the sugar, using only brown sugar portion and added 1/3 c unsweetened coconut flakes. Used a loaf pan and breakfast ready!!
Yippee!
Can I use butter instead of oil?
I swapped out the tablespoon of flour for a scoop of vanilla protein powder to get some extra protein in and added chocolate chips (measured with my heart) and poured into a single loaf pan. The single loaf pan definitely required an extra 5 minutes (total 25 min) but it turned out great! Next time I would add some cinnamon to give it a bit more dimension but good recipe for when you only have one overripe banana.
L🩷VE this recipe!! I add chocolate chips & maraschino cherries for a Banana Split feel. Today I added some unsweetened coconut and fresh diced mango also. Can’t wait for them to come out of the oven!!!😋
Trying this today
same
This recipe was so nice, and it didnt take long at all. The measurements left a tasty loaf (i used a small cake tin and it made two!) certainly a tasty snack to slice and eat with friends. The banana taste isnt too overpowering nor too sweet with sugar. However, i would recommend putting it in the oven for longer ( i put it in the oven for 28 minutes ≈)
Used my air fryer and fiddled with temp° and time – turned out slightly overcooked, but still delicious!
what a great idea, thanks for posting
Surprisingly delicious! Was worried that it would be dry without any liquid but it was moist! For an extra pop of flavor, I added a touch of cinnamon and sprinkled the walnuts on top for crunch instead of adding them to the batter! Loved it! Will be making this recipe again!
I used 60% of the sugar and it was way too sweet for me. Otherwise it was good.
Mine took more like 19-20 min. But we’re delicious!! Thank you.
Thank you for the metric sistem converter in your recipe!