Elise Christian April 17, 2026

Britain loves banana bread – soft, sweet, and endlessly comforting, it’s the kind of simple pleasure that never really goes out of fashion. What began as a simple way to use up overripe bananas has become a firm favourite in kitchens across the country.

Here at Rest Less, we’re big banana bread fans, and it’s not unusual for a loaf to make it into the office.

So, if you’ve got a spare hour and a couple of ripe bananas, why not give it a go? We’ve provided our own recipe below. But you can get as creative with it as you like, depending on what you have in your cupboards.

Banana Bread Recipe

Prep: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 30 minutes

Serves: 8-10 people

Ingredients

  • 140g soft butter
  • 140g light soft brown sugar
  • 2 large eggs, beaten
  • 140g self-raising flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp nutmeg
  • ½ tsp cinnamon
  • 2 very ripe bananas, mashed
  • 85g chopped walnuts

Method

  1. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees/Gas mark 4.
  2. Grease a 2lb loaf tin with butter and line with baking paper.
  3. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and brown sugar.
  4. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and baking powder.
  5. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture a little at a time, folding it in as you go.
  6. Mash the bananas and add to the bowl, mixing well and making sure there are no lumps.
  7. Mix in the walnuts.
  8. Once the mixture is a thick – yet still runny – consistency, pour it into the loaf tin and bake for 30 minutes, or until the skewer comes out clean.
  9. Allow to cool in the tin for at least 10 minutes. You can then transfer the loaf to a wire rack to continue cooling. Tip: If you don’t have a wire rack, you could take a wire shelf out of your oven and use that instead (just make sure it’s cool first).

Additional optional ingredients (to be added at the same stage as the walnuts in this recipe) include: sultanas, raisins, flaked almonds, chocolate chips or chunks, desiccated coconut, and banana chips.

Elise Christian

Elise Christian is Lifestyle Editor at Rest Less. She joined Rest Less in 2018 after achieving a first class Master’s Degree in Journalism from the University of Kent, and writes across a range of lifestyle topics such as mental health, home and garden, and fashion and beauty. Prior to this, she worked as a freelance writer for small businesses and also spent a year training to be a midwife. Elise spends her spare time going to the gym, reading trashy romance novels, and hanging out with loved ones. She also loves animals, and has a fascination with sharks and tornadoes.

* Links with an * by them are affiliate links which help Rest Less stay free to use as they can result in a payment or benefit to us. You can read more on how we make money here.

Join the discussion

Read our full commenting terms and guidelines