There's no dessert more nostalgic for me than banana bread. Although I love the rich simplicity and zero waste attitude banana bread has, I decided I wanted to combine it with my other love, matcha, to create a beautiful and unique recipe sure to impress. Matcha banana bread is light, fluffy and full of delicate flavours.
If you love green tea, there's no reason you only can enjoy it in a drink. This modern take on a classic favourite is the best way to welcome spring into your kitchen.
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Ingredients and Substitutions
This matcha banana bread is basically just a regular banana bread recipe that has the batter divided and then swirled. The base recipe is loosely based off Best Banana Bread Recipe from The Salty Marshmallow.
This recipe is incredibly customizable and below are some substitutions that can reduce calories or accommodate dietary restrictions.
How can I make this a healthy banana bread? Personally, I'm in the camp that when I want a dessert, I'd rather have less of an amazing recipe than have more of a version I don't like as much. With that being said, the easiest swap you can do to make a healthier banana bread is replacing the butter with applesauce.
Can I use less sugar? Yes, of course! With almost any recipe I recommend that you play with ratios until you reach a final product that you love. All recipes are created with the palate of the chef in mind. One thing to consider is how sugar affects the texture and fluffiness of baked goods. Analytical Answers notes that:
"Adding a small amount of sugar will result in a denser texture, such as bread or rolls, and a larger amount of sugar will give a light fluffy texture, such as for cake and other pastries. Sugar also causes cakes and quick breads to rise while baking, because when sugar is mixed with fat, eggs and other liquid ingredients it creates air bubbles, which then expand in the oven causing the batter to rise."
How can I make banana bread vegan? As mentioned above, you can easily replace the butter with an equal amount of applesauce. If you're not concerned about calories but follow a plant based diet, you can also substitute the butter for any neutral oil. As for the eggs, make a flax egg! This flax egg recipe from Minimalist Baker is a great guideline - she suggests each egg can be replaced with 1 tablespoon of ground flax seeds and 2.5 tablespoons of water. Allow this mixture to sit for about 5 minutes to thicken.
How can I make banana bread with unripe bananas? Short answer, you can't. Slightly less short answer is it's easy to fake a ripe banana by baking a banana in the peel for about 15-20 minutes at 300°F. Here is a full guide to ripening bananas from Culinary Hill.
FAQs
The biggest culprit of a dense banana bread is over mixing. Aim to mash your banana and then mix them together with the wet ingredients and whisking the dry ingredients separately. Mix the wet and dry ingredients as little as possible while still having them combined thoroughly.
Of course! I really love the subtle flavour that matcha powder adds to banana bread, but you're welcome to use this recipe as a base for a really delicious and fluffy classic banana bread.
The best way to test banana bread is to poke a toothpick into the centre of the loaf. The loaf is cooked when the toothpick comes out clean.
For keeping your loaf is moist as possible, wrap it in seran wrap and store in a ziplock bag on the counter for 3 days or in the fridge for 6 days. If it will last that long 😉
Yes! I recommend wrapping it in seran wrap and then placing in a ziplock bag with as much air as possible removed. The best way to do this is to pre-cut the loaf so you can either microwave or toast it without having to remove the entire loaf.
The best way to achieve a great marble is by alternating scoops of the different coloured batters side by side and on top of each other. When the batter is all gone, take a chopstick or the end of a knife and draw a squiggle down the loaf in multiple "S" shapes. After, take the chopstick and make and "S" shape in the opposite direction. Make sure that you only do this a max of 5 swirls or the loaf will be blended instead of swirled.
If you're looking for a way to use up your banana peels beyond just throwing them out, try to make a banana compost tea found at the bottom of my Egg White Oats recipe.
What to Serve with Matcha Banana Bread?
I love to have any kind of sweet loaf either as a dessert with a bit of butter, or served alongside a caffeinated beverage. In the summer, I love a cold brew coffee, and in the winter I love a hearty dalgona matcha latte (pairs perfectly)!
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📖 Recipe
Matcha Banana Bread
Equipment
- Loaf Pan
- Mixing Bowls
Ingredients
- ¼ pound butter 1 stick
- 3 ripe banana, mashed about 1 ½ - 2 cups
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour 256g
- ¾ cup white sugar 150g
- 1 teaspoon baking soda 4.8g
- ½ teaspoon salt 3g
- 2 tablespoons matcha powder 12g
- 1 banana halved, for topping (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a metal loaf pan with nonstick spray, butter or shortening. Set aside.
- Add the butter to a microwave safe bowl and microwave on high until melted. Add the bananas the same bowl and mix until combined. Add in the vanilla and eggs and stir until the egg yolk is fully combined.
- In a seperate large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking soda, salt) and stir to combine.
- Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and stir until just combined. Be sure to not overmix. Divide the batter into two equal bowls, add the matcha powder to one and stir until the color is uniform.
- Alternate scoops of each batter in the loaf pan. Swirl the batters together to get a beautiful marbling. Place the halved banana on the top of the loaf cut side up.
- Bake the loaf for 55-65 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. I like to add a bit of cooking spray for the last 10 minutes of baking to crisp up the edges and crust - but this is optional.
- For best texture, allow to cool on a wire rack until cooled completely. Store covered for up to 3 days on the counter or 6 days in the fridge.
Bintu | Budget Delicious
What a tasty idea! I love banana bread and I love matcha so the two of them together sounds like a winning combination to me!
Maritime Glutton
It's subtle but so delicious! I hope you love it!
Shanna
I am so excited to try this. I have never tried a matcha banana bread before.
Maritime Glutton
It's such a fun twist! Can't wait to hear how you like it.
Pam Greer
I never thought of using matcha this way! What a great idea!
Maritime Glutton
Thank you so much, Pam! It's a fun way to get a mini caffeine kick!
Michelle
So delicious with a morning cup of coffee and the swirls of green matcha are gorgeous.
Maritime Glutton
Thank you Michelle!
Andrea
I love banana bread and I love trying other flavors with it. This matcha banana bread is now on my "to bake" list.
Maritime Glutton
I love to hear that, Andrea! Let me know how it turns out 🙂
Chichi | Air Fryer Yum
This looks delicious and healthy. I never thought to add matcha to my banana bread. Yum!
Maritime Glutton
Thank you Chichi! I’m so glad you liked it.
Beth
Yum! My daughter and I loved this recipe! I never thought of banana and matcha going together, but so incredibly delicious! Making this again soon!
Maritime Glutton
So glad you both loved it, Beth!
Tania
This was delicious and easy to make! I will definitely be making this again. I love that you added matcha! ❤️
Thank you!
Maritime Glutton
Thank you, Tania! Glad you liked it 🙂
Sara Welch
Enjoyed this over the weekend and it does not disappoint! Such a light and fluffy bread that hits the spot; exactly what I needed to cure my sweet tooth!
Maritime Glutton
I’m so glad you liked it!
Kelly
If I only have 2 ripe bananas will it mess up the recipe?
Lauren
Hi Kelly! If you only have 2 bananas total, it won't come out right. But if you have 1 unripe banana and 2 ripe bananas, just bake the banana in it's peel until the peel is brown - this will get the banana close to an organically ripened banana 🙂
kelly
Thank you so much!
Lauren
You're so welcome 🙂 I hope it turned out great!
Matt Bernstein
I think I understand now why there are not many banana/matcha muffin/bread recipes. Banana overpowers the matcha - if you really are looking for the taste of matcha, I think. you're gonna be disappointed. I thought from reading the recipe, it didn't make a lot of sense - not enough wet ingredients. The batter is too tough and then when you add the matcha powder in one half of the batter, it just gets gloopier. Sorry, but didn't care for this at all.
Lauren
Thanks for your feedback Matt! I'm curious if there was some measurements that were off as the base recipe is heavily inspired from The Joy of Cooking which is a fan favourite recipe. The matcha is very subtle - it's partially for colour but there is a subtle taste too. Hopefully there will be some other recipes on the site you'll like more. Cheers!