You can’t go wrong with an Ina Garten Banana bread recipe. They are tried and tested, with thousands of reviews online, and it will be easy to recreate at home.
The biggest challenge will be choosing which recipe to use.
For that reason I compiled a list of Ina Garten banana bread recipes for you to explore, from original Ina Garten banana bread recipes to some inspired by her style.
Another alternative, if you’re looking for a savoury but slightly sweet snack, you could consider a zucchini bread by Ina Garten.
Ina Garten’s zucchini bread is very similar to her banana bread. It is still amazingly moreish but the addition of zucchini instead of ripe bananas keeps the sweetness down.
We’re eager to get started with these amazing recipes, but we’re also aware that many people are often intimidated when it comes to starting new recipes.
So, we’ve started this list with a version of Ina Garten’s banana bread that is a cinch to follow, and a treat to eat!
Simplifying the whole process down to a few key steps and ingredients, this recipe will help you avoid making banana bread that is too soggy or mushy.
Your banana bread texture will be dense and rich, while still being spongy and fluffy to boot.
The trick to this recipe is to use bananas that are over-ripened for your recipe. That might seem totally against when it’s best to eat bananas fresh but trust us on this one.
The best banana bread dishes are the ones with the strongest flavor. And the strongest bananas are the ones that are plenty ripened!
Banana bread has been a staple recipe in places where the fruit grows for decades if not centuries. So there are going to be a lot of variations on this classic dish.
The thing that we particularly love about this next recipe is the cream cheese frosting that this dish includes.
It’s a sweet, pungent flavor that balances well against the soft and spongy flavors of the banana bread underneath. It’s more like cake than bread, at this point!
Then again, isn’t that true for pretty much every banana bread recipe, Ina Garten’s included?
If you’re worried that this recipe might not be the same as Ina Garten’s own legendary banana bread recipe, don’t be.
Not only can you make minor adjustments to get the texture exactly like hers, but it’s from older recipes like this one that she also gets some of her inspiration.
It’s why there are so many that try and replicate it at home, and why it’s in 3 of Garten’s home cooking books!
This copycat recipe stays faithful to Garten’s original old-fashioned recipe, while also staying incredibly easy to make. No extra equipment or exotic ingredients are needed to make this dish.
Just your ingredients list, a baking tin, and a little baking paper, and that is it!
Plus, you can even switch around the kinds of flour that you use for different effects on this banana bread. Want to try whole-grain flour instead of the classic all-white?
Sure thing! Want to get some extra height out of your dough? Substitute your flour for self-raising flour instead.
Just make sure that you’ve got a tall enough tin for that last option. You don’t want your dough spilling out and going to waste as it cooks!
Everyone who loves baking banana bread will probably know about the distinct texture that this sweet baking dish has.
Spongy and soft, there’s a pleasure to biting into a good slice of banana bread and chewing that you don’t get from other bread dishes or even cakes for that matter.
This texture makes it the perfect recipe for also making amazing muffins out of, too!
Making that muffin version of this recipe is as simple as separating your single banana bread loaf, or 8 banana muffins, and substituting your baking tin and paper with cupcake liners and cupcake tins.
And that’s it! That’s all you need to change for making this bread into amazing muffins! These will be the perfect dessert to bring to a party or grill-out!
What we love about this particular recipe it is the unique crust texture that you can get out of this dish, if you time it right.
If you’re looking to get that balance between a fluffy inside, and a tougher crust, don’t overwork or mix your banana bread batter.
Doing that is the quickest to make a tough, dense loaf. Then again, maybe that’s the texture that you’re looking for.
And, of course, you should try and get your bananas as ripe as possible before adding them to this mixture.
If you’re looking for a way to speed things up, you can always place your bananas in a paper bag. That should brown them up very nicely!
Banana bread might be famous for its spongy texture, but it’s incredible what a change to the flavor profile a little crispiness and thickness to the crust makes an iconic dessert loaf!
Ina Garten’s banana bread loaf isn’t popular just because it is tasty (even if that’s a big part of why we love it). It’s a surprisingly healthy sweet recipe too!
Being low in calories and fat, while having all this great flavor to it, this recipe is head and shoulders above many other fan-favorite desserts.
This recipe also offers a ton of different ways to enjoy this dessert. You can either serve it with a little cream, a dollop of butter, or, for our personal favorite, a dollop of ice cream for good measure!
Alternatively, it makes the perfect treat for an afternoon tea party!
As we said, Barefoot Contessa and Ina Garten’s banana bread is legendary. So we shouldn’t be surprised that so many bakers want to try their hand at making it themselves!
What we love about a good baking recipe (this one included) is how you can customize your ingredients depending on your needs or available items.
If you’re looking for a final banana bread that has a little more tanginess to it, so to speak, then you can use buttermilk in your batter.
If you’re looking for something a little more mellow, then good old-fashioned cream will do the trick amazingly!
We’ve already gushed about a recipe or two that use cream cheese frosting in tasty ways on your banana bread mix. However, this one might just be our favorite yet!
Unlike banana bread, which needs to be mixed and beaten just the right amount for the right fluffy texture, the frosting and be beaten to plenty of different degrees, depending on what exactly you’re looking for in your frosting.
Do you want something that has a grainier, yet still light texture to it? Then only beat it for a few minutes. Want some that are both dense and smooth?
Well, you know what you have to do. Beat that vanilla, cream cheese, and butter for longer!
Sometimes, you want to try and bake a banana bread recipe, but you only have one or two bananas spare, and no time to grab another bunch.
That doesn’t mean that banana bread is off the table, so to speak. It just means finding a recipe that can make the most of what little you have.
And luckily for you, this next banana bread recipe does just that!
For that little extra sweetness, we recommend adding little extra chocolate chips or pecan into the batter, for an explosion of flavor that you won’t soon forget!
Of course, it’s also totally possible to have the exact opposite problem, especially with a fruit that seems to ripen and rot as quickly as bananas can at times.
Sometimes, you’ve got a bunch of 5 or 6 bananas that need to be used, and used fast at that!
All those moist and overly ripe bananas are going to be a tricky batter to make fluffy, so this may be a little trickier for new bakers.
If you can bake this one, however, you can bake just about any banana bread!
Final Notes
So, there you have it!
Ina Garten might have a pretty prestigious reputation when it comes to her baking recipes.
But they’re also amazingly simple to replicate in your kitchen, with the right ingredients and recipe guide to follow, at least.
After all, Garten wouldn’t be a renowned baker without knowing how to make iconic recipes simple and easy for anyone to replicate!
So, what are you waiting for? Grab a spoon, and those ripening bananas, and get cooking!
I'm Barbara Hunt, the founder of WomenChefs.org. Being a mom of two, I understand the challenges of meal planning and the monotony it can bring.
That's why I created WomenChefs.org, a platform dedicated to showcasing the skills and delicious dishes crafted by amazing women. My goal is to provide a space where women can find delectable recipes that tantalize their taste buds and ignite their senses.
I hope you'll join me in exploring WomenChefs.org and discovering your next favorite recipe. Let's embrace culinary diversity and try something new together!
