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Dominique Ansel’s Banana Bread

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Dominique Ansel’s Banana Bread is rich and flavorful, with a perfect crumb. If you take banana bread seriously, this is the loaf for you.

Sliced loaf of Dominique Ansel's banana bread

Okay, I’ll admit, when my friend Amber first insisted I make this recipe, I was dubious. There’s a lot of butter.

Like, a lot a lot.

I am here to tell you it’s worth every single solitary calorie. This is some fantastic quick bread.

I’ve had some really great banana bread in my time, as evidenced by my recipes for Triple Berry Banana Bread, Rum Coconut Banana Bread, Bourbon Banana Bread, and even Make Ahead Banana Bread Coffee Cake.

But I am here to tell you that my husband is beyond obsessed. He’s asked me to make it three times in the last two weeks, and since I often fancy it up with a crackly cinnamon-sugar top (an addition I highly recommend), he just can’t get enough.

Slices of banana bread, ready to serve

You know what no one wants? Scalped banana bread.

Do you know what I have? Three loaves of it.

Why? He can’t stop cutting the top off and eating it. So, coming soon, you may see a muffin top recipe that’s a riff on this one, just for people like Eric that can’t get enough of caramel-crunchy quick bread topping.

Banana bread ingredients in bowls

WHO IS DOMINIQUE ANSEL?

He’s the genius behind the Cronut. If you’ve never had one, it’s a donut made from croissant dough.

It’s usually filled with some type of cream or jelly – I’ve had key lime curd and vanilla bean before – and it put his bakery on the map in New York City.

Dominique Ansel's banana bread recipe, sliced and ready to serve

So I knew going in that this recipe would be pretty phenomenal.

When Amber told me about it, I knew it had to be pretty major, she normally isn’t a huge fan of banana bread. But when she said she couldn’t stop making this one with her boys, I knew I had to try it, and share it with you.

Banana bread batter in a loaf pan, ready to bake

WHAT MAKES THIS BANANA BREAD SPECIAL?

The added butter and eggs, plus an extra banana compared to the usual recipes, makes for an all-around richer quick bread. It would easily stand up to grilling, like pound cake, and even topping with ice cream, if you want to go crazy.

Sliced loaf of Dominique Ansel's banana bread, ready to serve

Even if you don’t have bananas going brown right now, I implore you to toss them in the microwave and get this bread going.

Slices of Dominique Ansel's banana bread

HOW DO YOU RIPEN BANANAS FASTER?

There are three ways to do it.

  1. Use a brown paper bag. Closing it tightly over the bananas will allow the ripening process to quicken because you’re trapping the ethylene gas bananas emit as they ripen. It will speed up the entire process if it has nowhere to escape.
  2. Bake them, unpeeled, in the oven on a cookie sheet. Use a 300°F degree oven, and bake them for 15-30 minutes, just until the skins of the bananas turn black. Allow them to cool, then mash and use as normal.
  3. Microwave them (this is the quickest option). Poke the banana all over with a fork, then place on a paper towel and zap for 30 seconds at a time until your banana reaches the desired tenderness. I would not do multiple bananas at a time, as the heating can be inconsistent.

Slices of Dominique Ansel's banana bread, drizzled with honey

Now you have no excuses. Grab some bananas, and make this bread right now. I swear you won’t regret it, and I want to hear what you think of it, so please make sure to tag me on social #mybakingaddiction or come back and leave a comment.

Close-up shot of freshly-baked banana bread from Dominique Ansel's recipe

Dominique Ansel's banana bread recipe, sliced and ready to serve

Dominique Ansel's Banana Bread

Yield: 1 10x5-inch loaf
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 25 minutes

Dominique Ansel’s Banana Bread is rich and flavorful, with a perfect crumb. If you take banana bread seriously, this is the loaf for you.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups sugar
  • 2 cups flour
  • ¾ teaspoon baking soda
  • ¾ teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 3 eggs
  • 4 overripe bananas, mashed
  • 14 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus more for greasing pan

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Grease a 10" x 5" x 3 ½" loaf pan and set aside. 
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, flour, baking soda, nutmeg, salt and baking powder.
  3. In a separate large bowl, beat the eggs and combine with the mashed bananas. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and mix together until just combined. Stir in the melted butter until fully incorporated.
  4. Pour the batter into prepared pan and bake until golden brown and a cake tester inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean, about 1 hour and 10 minutes. Allow to cool for 20 minutes before slicing.

Notes

I like to add a crunchy cinnamon-sugar topping to this bread. To do this, mix together 3 parts sugar and 1 part cinnamon (by volume) and sprinkle generously over the batter before baking.

Recipe from Dominique Ansel.

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Did you make this recipe?

Tag me on social! I want to see what you made! @jamiemba

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Karen Obermiller

Sunday 18th of June 2023

9x13 cake pan!!! much more crunch :-)

Jamie

Monday 19th of June 2023

I never would have thought of that! Thanks for stopping by! Happy baking - Jamie

Miriam

Thursday 28th of July 2022

This recipe makes great banana bread. Do it! I didn’t have the size pan called for and used a standard 9 1/2 x 5 1/2 inch aluminum loaf pan instead. Cut all ingredients back by 1/4 and used 2 eggs + 1 egg white. Bread rose all the way to the top of the pan with no overflow. Baked 1 hr, 5 min, just to the point the bread pulled away from the sides of the pan. Moist and delish. Yum!

Jamie

Tuesday 2nd of August 2022

So glad you loved the bread, Miriam! Thanks so much for stopping by and sharing your feedback. Happy baking! Jamie

Maryann Fiel

Thursday 23rd of September 2021

Can you do this in a Bundt Pan?

Shani

Tuesday 20th of September 2022

@Jamie, I’ve made it in a bundt pan with no problems.

Jamie

Thursday 23rd of September 2021

Hi Maryann- I have not tried this recipe in a bundt pan, but I think it would be fine - the bake time will probably change, so you'll want to keep your eyes on it. Enjoy!

Dale

Wednesday 14th of July 2021

Hi Jamie,

With 2 sticks of butter, I removed 2 Tbsp from the 2nd stick to get 14 Tbsp (according to the wrapper's tick marks). However, when I microwaved this amount, then spooned 14 Tbsp into the egg-banana mixture, there was a lot of melted butter left over (even after I greased the pan). Question - should all, or only "measured" 14 Tbsp, of the melted butter go into the mixture?

Thanx for sharing this lovely recipe.

Jamie

Wednesday 14th of July 2021

Hi Dale- You'll measure the butter before melting and yes, all 14 tablespoons goes into the bread. Hope this helps! -Jamie

Christine

Friday 14th of May 2021

Sooooo delicious and so easy to make. Thank you for the recipe. 14 tablespoons might sound like a lot. But we use two sticks of butter for cookies, so no guilt at all!!

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