Super Moist Olive Oil Banana Bread

If you have ever had an olive oil cake you know how deliciously moist they can be. This olive oil banana bread recipe takes the best from an olive oil cake and mixes it with the best of banana bread to create a delicious and moist bread you can have any time of day.

Olive Oil Banana Bread Ingredients

• Olive Oil: Olive oil is used in place of butter in this recipe. I think the olive oil gives it a more moist a delicious flavor than your traditional vegetable oil or canola oil.
• Brown Sugar: I love using light brown sugar in banana bread. I think it pairs really nicely with the bananas but if you don’t have it you can substitute it for granulated sugar or coconut sugar.
• Eggs: This recipe calls for 2 eggs but if you want to swap out the eggs you could use flax eggs instead. To make a flax egg mix 1 tbsp of ground flax seed with 2.5 tbsp of water and let it sit for 5 minutes.
• Bananas: I use about 3 large bananas in this recipe but depending on the size, you want about 2 cups worth of mashed banana. Make sure to use overripe bananas as they are easier to mash and have more of a sweetness to them.
• Cinnamon: I love cinnamon in banana bread but if you aren’t a huge fan you can easily half the amount in the recipe.
• Flour: This recipe uses all-purpose flour to keep the bread nice and light to pair nicely with the heavy bananas and mix-ins. You can try it with another type of flour but I haven’t given it a try yet.

How to Make Dairy-Free Banana Bread

Making banana bread dairy-free is actually fairly simple. Just swap out your butter for olive oil. I also add in a little extra banana than other recipes to give it some extra moisture and sweetness. If you are adding chocolate chips to your banana bread make sure to use dairy-free to keep the bread 100% dairy-free.

Banana Bread Mix-Ins

You can use any type of mix in you want for your banana bread. You can also skip the mix-in if you prefer. Whatever you can, I suggest using 1 cup worth of mix-ins altogether. Here are a few of my favorites.

• Dark Chocolate Chip
• Walnuts
• Pecans
• Shredded coconut
• Dried cranberries

How to Store Banana Bread

To store your banana bread you can keep the bread in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 days or keep it in the fridge for up to a week.

If you want to freeze the bread for later, wrap it in aluminum foil or plastic wrap and store it in the freezer for 2-3 months.

Tips for Moist Banana Bread

• Spoon and level flour. For best results make sure you get the right amount of flour, spoon the flour into your measuring cup and level it off with your spoon or a knife. This will give you the perfect amount of flour.
• Test for doneness. Banana bread bakes for a decent amount of time so you want to make sure it is all the way done before pulling it out of the oven. You can do this with a toothpick or a cake tester. To do the toothpick test, poke it in near the center and if it comes out clean you are good to go!
• Line your pan with parchment paper. To make it really easy to remove the bread from the pan, line it with parchment paper with a little bit of overhang so you can grab the paper to lift it out. Remember to also butter or grease the ends of the pan when the paper doesn’t touch so it doesn’t stick anywhere. You can see how this looks in the video above.

Commonly Asked Questions

• Can I use frozen bananas? Yes! If you have stored your ripe bananas in the fridge this is the perfect time to get them out and use them. If you freeze them whole just pop off the top, place them in a glass safe bowl, and microwave for a few seconds until soft. Then you can just squeeze out the banana. You want it soft enough to be able to mash.
• What is the best loaf pan to use? Any type of 9x5 loaf pan works great here. I have an aluminized steel pan but you can also use glass or ceramic. Each pan conducts heat a little bit differently. Glass and ceramic take longer to heat up but then once they do they will hold their heat longer. If you are using these plans try to remove them from the pan earlier so they don’t over bake. If you want to know more about the difference between these pans this post by Taste of Home goes over each pan type.

Other Recipes You Might Like

If you are looking for more recipes to use your ripe bananas try making these fluffy banana pancakes or this banana blueberry oatmeal.

For other loaf/cake recipes, I love this orange poppyseed cake for a bright twist on a pound cake.