Secret Ingredient SUPER MOIST Banana Bread

The BEST banana bread recipe made incredibly moist by adding a secret ingredient! It may seem odd but once you’ve made it this way, you’ll never make it without it again!

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I have tried dozens of banana bread recipes through the years looking for THE BEST one. To me, that means, tons of flavor, tender texture and above all else, it must be super moist.

I mean, so moist that you don’t have to slather it with butter and you don’t have to pop it in the microwave before it’s worth eating.

I will always enjoy warm banana bread and love butter on just about anything but truly great banana bread shouldn’t require either to be delicious.

I’ve tried almost every recipe out there that calls itself “The Best!” or has “moist” in the name and some have come close but none have hit the mark I was after.

So I got to thinking… remember how my cornbread world got rocked earlier in the year when my buddy, Amanda used mayo in my recipe instead of sour cream??

Whoa, don’t freak out! Just stay with me… stay with me… I know it seems unorthodox, if not downright wrong, but y’all, I am telling you, this is it. This is the secret to SUPER MOIST banana bread. That stays moist.

As I’m typing this, I’m eating a slice that’s 4 days old, that’s been stored in a NOT airtight cake stand, and it tastes, smells and feels exactly like it did the day I baked it. Not one crumb has fallen off.

I can’t tell you why mayonnaise is the miracle cure (seriously, it’s just eggs, oil and a nip of vinegar... maybe because the fat is emulsified??). All I can tell you is that THIS is the best banana bread I’ve ever eaten in my entire life and I will never make it any other way.

And that’s exactly how I feel about my new favorite cornbread recipe. It’s my old favorite cornbread recipe made with mayonnaise instead of sour cream. I will never make another cornbread recipe. EVER.

I’ll be honest, until Amanda screwed around and put mayo in my cornbread recipe, I’d never wanted to try any baked goods made with mayonnaise. I’ve heard of chocolate mayonnaise cake my whole life but the idea of it conjures up thoughts of eggy pound cake or scrambled egg sandwiches or… I don’t know… some really fat lady stirring egg salad with curlers in her hair (I know, I’m weird… she also has a cigarette hanging out her mouth but I wasn’t going to mention that).

Just trust me.

TRUST ME.

You will love this recipe. The flavor is incredible (not even a hint of mayo taste) and like I said, it is so moist and it stays moist.

NOTES ON MAKING SECRET INGREDIENT SUPER MOIST BANANA BREAD:

• I only use Duke’s Mayonnaise but I’m sure any quality, traditional mayo will work (Hellmann’s, Kraft, Blue Plate, etc). Just don’t use Miracle Whip or anything sweet and tangy like it.
• It’s an optional step but I highly recommend sifting your flour, baking soda and salt together. I’ve made banana bread one too many times that had little white nuggets in it from clumps of flour and/or baking soda. If you’re going to add nuts, don’t worry about it because any little white spots will just look like a chunk of pecan or walnut.
• Speaking of, you can absolutely add chopped nuts to this! Add 1/2 cup or so when you mix in the flour. Husbands HATES nuts in anything sweet (yes, it is sad) so I don’t put them in mine, but I love pecans in banana bread.

• I know warm banana bread, fresh from the oven, is the stuff of dreams but IF you can, try to resist getting into this until it’s completely cool – and let it cool in the pan. It will be EVEN MORE moist if you can let it cool in the pan. Remember, this banana bread doesn’t have to be warm to be moist and delicious – it’s going to be fresh-from-the-oven soft and tender for daaaaays.
• Use 3 large or 4 small bananas. Just don’t use too many. Too much banana will yield dense bread and you’ll have a hard time getting it to cook through. I actually measured to see how much 3 large overripe bananas would yield and it was right at 1 1/2 cups. If you’re unsure, just mash them up and measure.
• Don’t use a whisk to stir in the flour and only stir it long enough to combine it into the wet ingredients. Stirring develops the gluten in the flour which will create air pockets in quick breads like this and make it tough.
• It’s also important to pour the batter into the pan as soon as it’s ready then bake it immediately. Overworking the batter will develop gluten and so will leaving it wet for too long before baking.

Recipe for Secret Ingredient SUPER MOIST Banana Bread

I love this recipe so much I used it to make pumpkin bread and apple bread! Check out my recipes for Perfect Pumpkin Bread and Apple Pie Bread too!

Secret Ingredient SUPER MOIST Banana Bread

Author: Mandy Rivers | South Your Mouth

Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 1 HourTotal time: 1 H & 10 M

The BEST banana bread recipe made incredibly moist by adding a secret ingredient! It may seem odd but once you’ve made it this way, you’ll never make it without it again!

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup butter, at room temp
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 3 large overripe bananas (1 1/2 cups mashed)
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-inch loaf pan; set aside.
2. Whisk butter, sugar, mayo, vanilla and eggs until well combined.
3. Add bananas to a separate bowl then mash using the back of a fork (small lumps are OK but we’re looking for a pretty wet mash).
4. Whisk mashed bananas into batter.
5. OPTIONAL STEP: Sift flour, salt and baking soda together. Sometimes I get little white nuggets of flour and/or baking soda in the bread if I don’t sift it but it’s completely optional.
6. Stir in flour, salt and baking soda until just combined (don't overmix).
7. Pour batter into prepared pan then bake at 350 degrees for 55-65 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
8. Cool banana bread completely in the pan before turning out.

Notes

• Any quality, traditional mayo will work (Duke’s, Hellmann’s, Kraft, Blue Plate, etc). Don’t use Miracle Whip or anything sweet and tangy like it.
• You can add chopped pecans or walnuts to this if you’d like! Add 1/2 cup or so when you mix in the flour. 
• Letting the banana bread cool in the pan helps it stay moist so try to be patient and let it cool before slicing into it.
• Don’t use a whisk to stir in the flour and only stir it long enough to combine it into the wet ingredients. Stirring develops the gluten in the flour which will create air pockets in quick breads like this and make it tough.
• Pour the batter into the pan as soon as it’s ready then bake it immediately. The longer the batter sits wet, the more gluten develops which will also make the bread tough.

https://www.southyourmouth.com/2021/09/secret-ingredient-super-moist-banana.html

Images and text © South Your Mouth LLC 2021

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