Name: Easy 4-Ingredient Banana Bread
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 45 min
Ingredients: 1 box yellow cake mix; 3 eggs; 1/3 cup canola or vegetable oil; 3-4 medium ripe bananas; nonstick cooking spray

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This easy Banana Bread recipe is such a simple way to use up your overripe bananas! It starts with a box of your favorite cake mix and makes the best, most moist dessert quick bread.

Overhead view of pecan banana bread sliced

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This easy Banana Bread recipe is such a simple way to use up your overripe bananas! It starts with a box of your favorite cake mix and makes the best, most moist dessert quick bread.

I cannot count the times I’ve saved bananas with the best intentions of making banana bread.

I walk by the aging bananas day after day, thinking that I really should make a loaf of banana bread. But, dragging out the flour, sugar – measuring out the baking sodas and powders, it just seems like so much well, effort.

So, the story usually ends with me admitting that I’ll never really get around to making the bread and tossing out overripe, occasionally festering, bananas.

That was until I discovered that you can make banana bread that starts with a box of cake mix. Seriously, this is such an easy recipe it’s almost no effort – you just toss everything in a bowl, mix it with your mixer, pour it in the loaf pans, and bake.

Bonus – the recipe makes two loaves so you can eat one and either freeze or share the other. Plus, you can add a variety of mix-ins to create two entirely different loaves of banana bread.

My go-to is to usually make one plain and one with pecans but I’ll share some of my other favorite combinations later in the post.

Why You’ll Love This Classic Banana Bread Recipe (Made the Easy Way!)

This is such a great recipe – you can easily modify it with different cake mixes if don’t have yellow cake mix on hand. Try it with a white cake mix, spice cake mix, or butter pecan cake mix for a uniquely delicious treat.
You get homemade banana bread without any of the fuss that comes with the classic bread recipe!
It’s a great way to use up black bananas – so you don’t have to feel guilty about throwing them away.
This recipe makes a nice, moist banana bread – no dry crumbles here.
You can also bake this in a bundt pan and add a teaspoon of vanilla extract for a fancier, more dessert-like presentation.

sliced loaf of banana bread on a cakestand

What You’ll Need to Make Cake Mix Banana Nut Bread

1 box yellow cake mix
3 eggs
1/3 cup canola or vegetable oil
3-4 medium ripe bananas
nonstick cooking spray

How to Make the Easiest Banana Bread Recipe Ever

Step One

Begin by preheating your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Next, spray two 8×4 loaf bread pans with cooking spray.

Step Two

Place all of the ingredients in a large mixing bowl. (There’s no need to mash the bananas, just break them into 3-4 pieces each and toss them in the bowl.)

cake mix, bananas, and eggs in a mixing bowl

Next, using an electric mixer, blend the ingredients on medium speed for about a minute until everything is combined.

close up of beater over a bowl containing banana bread batter

Step Three

Now, divide the batter evenly between your two greased bread pans.

Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until toothpick or butter knife inserted in center of loaves comes out clean.

For best results, allow the pans to cool for about 15 minutes and then remove the loaves from the pans to finish cooling on a wire rack.

overhead view of two slices of buttered banana bread on a plate

If you cut into the loaves while they are still warm, they are going to crumble a bit. (For easier slicing, you’ll need to allow the bread to cool completely before cutting. This also helps to prevent crumbling.) That being said, I think that warm banana bread with a pat of butter is totally worth having it crumble a bit on my plate! 🙂

Use Mix-Ins to Create Your Favorite Banana Bread Recipe Variation

Because this recipe makes 2 loaves, you can make two different types of Banana Bread from the same batter.

I usually just divide the batter between the two loaf pans and add the ingredients right to the banana bread batter. Just take a wooden spoon and swirl the batter until the mix-ins are evenly distributed.

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread – Mix in 1 cup of semisweet chocolate chips per loaf
Pecans, Almonds, Walnuts – Mix in 1/2 cup per loaf
Maraschino Cherries – 1/4 cup chopped per loaf
Butterscotch Chips – Mix in 1 cup per loaf
Cinnamon-Sugar – Mix 1 tablespoon of sugar and 1 tablespoon of cinnamon per loaf. Sprinkle over the top of the loaf before baking
Blueberries – Mix in 1/2 cup fresh or frozen blueberries per loaf
Coconut – Mix in 1/2 cup shredded coconut per loaf
Hawaiian Banana Bread – add 1/2 cup of coconut per loaf along with 1/2 cup macadamia nuts per loaf
The Elvis – Add 1 cup of peanut butter chips per loaf

I love it when you can make a great thing from simple ingredients. This recipe is the best way to use up that not-so-fresh fruit you have lying around and turn it into a kid-friendly tasty treat or snack. If you’d like to try more cake mix recipes, check out this lemon poppyseed bread, cake mix lemon zucchini bread, or 2-ingredient lemon cake bars.

More Yummy Recipes You Will Love

Easy 4-Ingredient Banana Bread

Print Recipe

This easy Banana Bread recipe is such a simple way to use up your overripe bananas! It starts with a box of your favorite cake mix and makes the best, most moist dessert quick bread.

Prep Time:5 mins

Cook Time:45 mins

Ingredients

1 box yellow cake mix
3 eggs
1/3 cup canola or vegetable oil
3-4 medium ripe bananas
nonstick cooking spray