Use it up
What to Do With Overripe Bananas: One-Bowl Banana Bread
Brown, spotty bananas make the best banana bread. One bowl, no mixer, and a great way to use up overripe bananas before you toss them.
- TIME
- 65 min
- SERVES
- 8
- ENERGY
- 240 cal
Those blackening bananas on the counter aren’t past it — they’re at their best for baking. The classic answer to what to do with overripe bananas is banana bread, and there’s a good reason it never goes out of style: the riper the fruit, the sweeter and more banana-forward the loaf, so the ugliest bananas make the best bread.
This version is deliberately a one-bowl, no-mixer recipe. You mash, stir, and pour — no creaming butter, no special equipment — because a use-it-up bake should be easier than a trip to the shop, not harder.
If you’re not in the mood to bake today, don’t let them go to waste: peel and freeze the bananas whole. Frozen ripe bananas keep for months and drop straight into smoothies, oatmeal, or this bread whenever you are ready.
From fridge to table
How to make it
- 01
Heat the oven to 175°C (350°F) and line a loaf tin.
- 02
In one bowl, mash the bananas well with a fork, then stir in the melted butter.
- 03
Mix in the sugar, egg, and vanilla until smooth.
- 04
Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the top and stir in, then fold in the flour just until no dry streaks remain — don't overmix.
- 05
Pour into the tin and bake 50–60 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean. Cool before slicing.
