Easy Banana Bread Recipe - Little Sweet Baker (2024)

FAQs

Why does banana bread crack when baking? ›

First, why the crack occurs: Since quick breads and pound cake batters tend to be thick and dense, the exterior bakes first. But as the center of the cake continues to bake, releasing moisture, it rises, pushing through the top crust, and creating a crack.

You Over-Mix the Batter

For soft and tender banana bread, gently stir the wet ingredients into the dry — don't overmix! The more you stir, the more gluten will develop. The result will be a tough, rubbery banana bread. Simply stir until moist, and then do no more.

Yep, the baking soda in a standard banana bread. recipe is what reacts with the banana causing it to. turn black. Using self rising flour not only alleviates.

Spread a nice thick layer of peanut or almond butter on your banana bread and throw a well-deserved layer of sprinkles on top. Hands up for this combo: peanutbutter with raspberry jam… Oh so very yummy. What cheese and what jam/marmelade you pick is up to you.

Your oven may not have been set to the correct temperature. You may not have used the correct pan size. You may not have followed the recipe correctly. For example, you may have added too much liquid, or you may not have added enough of some dry ingredient, and therefore your dough may have had too much moisture.

If you must add an extra banana into your batter, there are ways to prevent the bread from turning mushy. Using a lot of bananas adds excess moisture, and there are two ways to get rid of it. You could either add more flour or increase the baking time.

If so, I would dump out all the flour, remeasure and then add in the correct amount, subtracting a little bit (say a half teaspoon) for the flour you couldn't remove that stuck to the other ingredients. Was it before you baked it?

Over mixing the batter

Whether you choose to make banana bread in a stand mixer or use a simple bowl and spoon, the key to a beautiful, fluffy, moist loaf does not overmix the batter.

Mistaking baking powder for baking soda changes the taste of banana bread. This is a colossal mistake that can drastically change the flavor of your loaf.

If it's not bugs, it's most likely poppy or flax seeds. Some recipes call for coarse ground black pepper.

Why is my banana bread like a brick? ›

Your bananas here were too dry, maybe because they were not so ripe, and they dried out the rest of the batter, making it dense and heavy. In dense and heavy batter, it's hard for your baking powder to make air bubbles (that's why you got a brick).

Banana bread recipes typically ask you to use overripe bananas so that they're easier to mush. This means it's tempting to toss all your bananas into the mix when you're ready to bake, to avoid food waste. But if you add too much of the fruit into your batter, your bread could turn out mushy, heavy, and wet.

Turn the oven on to 350°F, and leave the banana bread in the oven to warm for 45 to 60 minutes. Keeping it wrapped in foil will help to retain its moisture while slowing warming it up to temperature and thawing the bread.

If the dough was too dry it can form a crust too early before it's had time to rise, then when it begins to rise it forms cracks which then burst in odd places when the pressure builds up. Steam is important in this stage of baking of some breads like sourdoughs so it's a good thing to try and use steam.

It's because the heat of the oven causes the top crust to set while the interior of the bread is still rising. In order to make room for the bread to rise higher, the already set crust needs to open, forming a crack.

Low hydration might be a cause, but another typical culprit is flour. If you flour your bread too much, and, especially, if your crust is moist when you flour it, you will end up with a thick dry layer on top. This will not be elastic and will just shatter, creating a web of cracks.

The oven temperature is too high

If the top crust forms and sets before the cake has finished rising, the middle will try to push through the crust as it continues to bake, causing it to crack and possibly dome. Check your oven with an oven thermometer and reduce the temperature accordingly if it is running hot.