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Classic One-Bowl Banana Bread with Easy Toasted Walnuts

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This classic one-bowl banana bread with toasted walnuts is dense, tender, and packed with nutty crunch. It’s the perfect comfort food that stays moist for days and tastes like it came from a real bakery.

Ingredients

Scale
  • 3 ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 ½ cups or 340g)
  • ½ cup (113g) unsalted butter, melted
  • ¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
  • 2 large eggs, room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 ½ cups (190g) all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup (120g) walnut halves or pieces

Instructions

  1. Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Position the rack in the center. Grease a 9×5-inch loaf pan with butter or non-stick spray, then line with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on the long sides.
  2. Toast the walnuts: Place the walnut halves or pieces in a dry skillet over medium heat. Cook, stirring frequently, for 3-5 minutes until fragrant and slightly darkened. Transfer to a plate to cool completely, then roughly chop.
  3. Mash the bananas: In your large mixing bowl, mash the ripe bananas with a fork or potato masher until mostly smooth with a few small lumps. Aim for about 1 ½ cups of mashed banana.
  4. Add the wet ingredients: To the mashed bananas, add the melted (and slightly cooled) butter, granulated sugar, eggs, and vanilla extract. Whisk until smooth and well combined.
  5. Add the dry ingredients: Sprinkle the flour, baking soda, and salt over the wet mixture. Use a spatula or wooden spoon to fold everything together gently. Stir just until no streaks of flour remain — about 10 to 12 strokes.
  6. Fold in the walnuts: Reserve about 2 tablespoons of the chopped toasted walnuts for topping. Gently fold the rest into the batter.
  7. Pour and top: Scrape the batter into your prepared loaf pan and spread it evenly. Sprinkle the reserved walnuts on top, pressing them gently into the batter.
  8. Bake: Place the pan in the preheated oven and bake for 55 to 65 minutes. The bread is done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs. If the top is browning too quickly after 40 minutes, loosely tent with aluminum foil.
  9. Cool: Let the bread cool in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Then use the parchment paper overhang to lift it out and transfer to the rack to cool completely for at least an hour.

Notes

Don’t skip toasting the walnuts; it keeps them crunchy. Use a kitchen scale for accurate flour measurement. Let bananas get very ripe (black skins) for best flavor. Room temperature eggs prevent butter from seizing. Don’t overmix the batter. Test for doneness at 50 minutes. The bread tastes even better on day two.

Nutrition

Keywords: banana bread, toasted walnuts, one-bowl, easy, classic, comfort food, breakfast, snack

Find it online: https://vexifood.com/classic-one-bowl-banana-bread-with-easy-toasted-walnuts/