Kona Inn Banana Bread

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A super delicious Banana Bread made with just seven easy pantry ingredients. It's a great use for ripe bananas! This loaf has an oh-so tender crumb, and a nice golden crunchy top. We love banana bread in Hawaii and hope you do, too! ^_^

Banana bread is a thing in Hawaii.

You buy it, bake it, gift it, get gifted it. And best of all, you enjoy it. A lot ^_^

All the old school local cookbooks feature at least one banana bread recipe. Some even have two. Or three!

Maybe It's Jenny posted a banana bread recipe she came across on Facebook. It was a picture of a recipe for "Kona Inn Banana Bread" from a local cookbook. Everyone was raving about it, so she made it. And hers looked really good, especially with that deep golden crust, so I also made it!

I adapted the recipe a little, reducing the sugar from 2 cups to 1.5 cups. It is super onolicious and the right amount of sweetness for us.

I like how it is so tender and moist, and very homey type feel. It's not a fluffy cake loaf, but more of a dense (in a very good way) loaf. Make it. You'll love it.

Ingredients

Here's what you'll need:

Butter
Sugar
Bananas - Make sure they are very, very ripe!
Eggs
All-purpose flour
Salt
Baking soda

See recipe card below for exact measurements.

Instructions

Let's get cooking!

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar until well combined.

Add the mashed bananas and eggs.

Add the sifted flour, salt, and baking soda to the bowl. Blend the dry ingredients into the creamed mixture until everything is evenly mixed (do not over mix).

Pour the batter into two greased 9x5-inch loaf pans.

Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 1 hour.

A few notes:

Poke a toothpick into the center of the loaf to see if it's cooked - the toothpick should come out clean.

The bread might take more or less time to cook depending on your oven, and the type and size of loaf pan you use. We used mini loaf pans (more on that below), so I cooked it for a little less time.

Let the banana bread cool for about 30 minutes before cutting into loaf. A still warm loaf that can cut nicely is bliss! Even better if you time the baking for a good afternoon snack ^_^

What Size Loaf Pans To Use?

This recipes makes enough for two 9-inch by 5-inch loaf pans. If you're making this recipe for family and friends, you can also bake the banana bread in nice disposable pans. It's pretty and simple for gifting!

I purchased a five-pack of mini loaf pans (pictured above) from The Compleat Kitchen in Kahala Mall. This store is a Honolulu classic, we've purchased kitchen and home supplies from them for well over two decades. They're located right next door to Carousel Candyland (where you can pick up chocolate covered gummy bears after heheh).

These disposable loaf pans are 6-inches by 2.6-inches. I also found them online here. The recipe was perfect for 3 of these mini pans. It is a super cute size.

Top Tip

This recipe calls for 1 cup of butter which equals 2 sticks of butter.

Use the butter wrapper paper to grease the pans. You can use one butter wrapper paper for each pan since you'll need two sticks of butter. That way you don't waste any extra butter ^_^

FAQ

Can you use salted butter?

Yes! I would just omit the salt in the recipe if you use already salted butter. No need for excess salt.

Do you like chocolate?

Add chocolate chips! Or even better, get a good dark chocolate baking bar and slice chunks or shards of chocolate and mix that into the batter.

Walnuts and pecans!

You can also add nuts! Toasted and chopped walnuts or pecans are a great addition.

Can you freeze banana bread?

Yes, banana bread freezes very well.

Left the loaf cool completely. Then remove it from the pan. Wrap it securely with plastic wrap. I like to wrap it with two layers of plastic wrap. Then place the banana bread in a zip top bag to make it extra secure.

You can also freeze individual slices the same way! Makes a great snack you can have ready in the freezer. I warm it up in the toaster oven.

No stand mixer or no hand mixer?

It's ok! No special equipment is needed for this recipe. A stand or hand mixer will make things easier and faster but creaming the sugar and eggs with just a wooden spoon will give you a good workout. The banana bread will taste extra rewarding ^_^

Looking for other local banana recipes?

Try making Banana Lumpia and Banana Tapioca!