Bananas are a tricky fruit to buy at the grocery store. If you buy too many, you risk them going bad. Buy too few, and you’re right back to the grocery store to buy more. Buy them while they’re green, and they’re too firm to eat immediately. Wait until they’re yellow and softer, and you may forget they’re in your fruit basket until it’s too late and they’re black. But three-ingredient banana bread is a happy medium to make the most of bananas before they end up in the garbage disposal.

How to Make Three-Ingredient Banana Bread

Ingredients:

• 2 or 3 ripe bananas
• 1 cup of quick oats (or rolled oats)
• 1/2 cup of unsweetened applesauce

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. Grease a loaf pan (4 x 8 inches preferably). (Or, line the pan with parchment paper.)
3. In a large mixing bowl, mash the ripe bananas with a fork until smooth.
4. Add the quick oats and unsweetened applesauce to the mashed bananas. Mix well until combined.
5. Pour the mixture into the prepared loaf pan, and smooth the top with a spatula.
6. Bake for 25-30 minutes. (If poked with a toothpick, it should be clean when pulled out.)
7. Allow the banana bread to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before transferring it to a wire rack to cool completely.

Recognizing When a Banana Is Too Ripe

While Tyler, the Creator rapped, “You’re a bad banana, Mr. Grinch, with the greasy black peel,” that Christmas song isn’t totally accurate as an insult for the Grinch. Black bananas may still be OK to eat. Before assuming a banana is too overripe for a banana bread recipe, unpeel it. If you see mold (fuzzy white, gray or greenish appearance), throw it away. If it smells rotten or is leaking fluid, toss it. If the actual banana is black, dispose of it. But if the banana is just soft and its usual light yellow, it’s OK to use it for this three-ingredient banana recipe.

Easy Ways to Avoid Ruining Three-Ingredient Banana Bread

Although this recipe has minimal ingredients, there are still ways to make this easy snack go wrong.

First, don’t use unripe bananas, which will undoubtedly make the bread dry. If the bananas used for this recipe have lots of brown spots, you’re more likely to get that recognizable sweet flavor and texture.

Second, don’t overmix. Small lumps are OK in the batter, but make sure there’s no visible flour showing when using an electronic mixer or stirring by hand.

Third, follow the measurement instructions to maintain the texture. While unsweetened applesauce may sound contradictory to the sweet banana taste, this time around, the applesauce is used as an egg substitute to mix the ingredients.

Fourth, as with any type of bread or cake, preheat the oven so baked goods can have the correct texture and rise in its predicted manner. And make sure to bake the bread at the requested temperature. If you have an oven that runs hotter or colder than usual, use an oven thermometer to get the temperature just right.

Fifth, don’t be in a hurry to bake the bread. If the toothpick has batter on it, it’s not done. Wait until that toothpick is smooth before removing the three-ingredient banana bread from the oven. While overbaking leads to dry, chewy bread, underbaking makes the bread taste damp instead of moist.

Sixth, allow the bread to cool before moving it to a wire rack. While it may taste amazing when it’s hot out of the oven, not allowing the banana bread to cool will make it crumble. You should be able to cut clean slices.

Storage Options for Three-Ingredient Banana Bread

If you plan to eat your three-ingredient banana bread within a few days, it’s fine to tightly cover the snack in plastic wrap or aluminum foil and leave it out at room temperature. Or, use an airtight container. If the banana bread will be around for longer than four days, still make sure the covering is airtight before refrigerating it. (This helps avoid dry banana bread.) Three-ingredient banana bread should be able to last for approximately one week.

If you’re a light snacker and plan for this banana bread to be around for a while, consider freezing it in that same plastic wrap, aluminum foil or a freezer bag. Frozen banana bread can last for up to three months. If it’s sliced into individual pieces beforehand, that also avoids unthawing the entire banana bread only for half of it to go bad if it’s not eaten in time. There’s no need to microwave each frozen slice. Just leave it out at room temperature or in a refrigerator overnight before you’re ready to eat it again. If thawing it out sounds too long for a banana bread craving, microwave the slice for a maximum of 20 seconds or heat it in the oven at 350°F for 10-15 minutes.

Three-Ingredient Banana Bread Is an All-Day Meal

Bananas are loaded with potassium, along with fiber, vitamin B6 and vitamin C. And baking a banana doesn’t remove most of the essential vitamins and minerals. In fact, a plain banana is only 105 calories. One slice of three-ingredient banana bread is approximately 196 calories. You can eat it on its own or with other variations.

For breakfast, add a tablespoon of margarine, along with a few slices of strawberries or apples (for fiber). If you’re a coffee drinker, a cup of Joe with this filling trio will help you avoid the vending machines or the junk cabinet in your home.

For lunch, opt for cream cheese to make the bread slightly tangy. Or, add a tablespoon of peanut butter or almond butter if you want more protein. If the latter two flavors sound especially appealing with banana bread, you could also make it into a smoothie. Blend dairy milk or plant-based milk, peanut butter or almond butter, and another banana with a few cubes of ice. (Need a smoothie hack? Another way to make sure banana smoothies are nice and cold is to peel ripe bananas as soon as you buy them. Make sure the peel is bright yellow instead of green to avoid that bland banana taste. Then, sit each unpeeled banana sideways in a freezer bag in the same pattern as a one-row package of hot dogs. This is so the bananas don’t stick together. Lay them flat in the freezer. When you’re ready, remove one full frozen banana and blend per usual.)

As a dinner dessert, eat the three-ingredient banana bread with Nutella, honey or maple syrup. If you’re really in a sweet-tooth mood, heat a mug of hot cocoa too.

Enjoy this sweet treat in moderation, and don’t forget to switch it up and eat plain bananas again too.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the secret to moist banana bread?

While other ingredients such as sour cream, yogurt, canola or vegetable oil, and brown sugar can help keep banana bread moist, overripe bananas are the way to go with three-ingredient banana bread.

What is the number one mistake when making banana bread?

Overmixing the batter can result in tough, chewy bread. Mix it enough just so it can combine. A few ways to avoid this include using the low speed on a stand mixer, or mixing the bread batter by hand with a spatula, whisk or wooden spoon.

What’s in Chrissy Teigen‘s banana bread? 

She uses far more than three ingredients, most of which are found in traditional banana bread. But she also includes vanilla instant pudding, shredded coconut and dark chocolate in her recipe found in Cravings: Hungry For More.