Easy Egg Free Banana Bread Recipe (It’s No Knead Too!)

This is an easy to make egg free banana bread recipe, which is more like a traditional bread than the banana loaf I have shared with you before.

It is a soft and moist bread that has a natural sweetness from the banana. I love this for breakfast, sliced and toasted, then topped with fresh slices of banana and a drizzle of honey, but it also makes for a snack during the day, warmed through with a spread of salted butter.

Because of the sugar in it (from sugar and the banana) the crust of the banana bread will brown more than usual, but this can be combatted by cooking for longer than suggested at a lower oven temperature!

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Kitchen Bits You’ll Need

The essential kitchen bits you’ll need to make this no-knead banana bread are:

• Measuring cups & spoons
• Mixing bowl
• Whisk
• Metal spoon
• Aluminium foil
• Greaseproof paper
• Loaf tin or Dutch oven

Ingredients You’ll Need

There are just five ingredients needed for this egg free banana bread, and it’s perfect for using up those old brown bananas that are just a little too ripe to eat.

Flour

All-purpose wins the day for me again, but if you have strong white bread flour you could try that!

Yeast

I always use an Italian instant yeast. It works every time without fail, and I like that I can rely on it to do its thing. If you prefer yeast in another form or by another brand, go for it, but do the calculations at your own risk!

Salt

I normally add two teaspoons to my bread dough, but as this is a sweet bread, I knocked that back to just 1 and prayed it was enough for the yeast!

Sugar

I used one third of a cup as half a cup would have been too sweet for me. I also used soft brown sugar, but you can use whatever works for you.

Banana

Go for the bananas that are very ripe but be aware that they are naturally much sweeter and therefore contain more natural sugar, which can also affect the yeast’s activity!

Water

Your water should not be too warm – it’ll offend your yeast and prevent it from working – but you also don’t want it cold either, as the yeast will take longer to become active. I like to stick my finger in my water to check it, and as a guide, it should feel lukewarm – cooler than your finger, but not by much!

Specific Ingredient Amounts

• 3 ½ cups Flour (430g)
• 1 pack Instant yeast (7g)
• 1 tsp Salt 
• ⅓ cup Sugar
• 1 ⅓ cups Warm water
• 1 cup mashed ripe banana (2 bananas for me)

Substitutions To Consider

Flour: If you have a stronger flour, or a non-wheat variety, perhaps try that if you prefer. I have not tested this though.

Sugar: I used soft brown sugar, but you can use whatever is in your pantry that works best for you.

Making The Egg Free Banana Bread Recipe

This is a lot easier than you think, but you do need to attend to the dough every hour to ‘knock it back’. This way, you won’t need to get your hands in there to knead it, which frankly is slimy and gross!

Step 1: Combine the flour, salt, yeast and sugar in a bowl. I like to use a metal whisk to combine it all.

Step 2: Mash the banana so that it is smooth and goopy. This is a great task for the little ones to join in with!

Step 3: Add the water to the bowl of dry ingredients followed quickly by the mashed banana, and then stir until a sticky dough forms.

Step 4: Cover with foil and set aside to rest and prove for one hour. If you have tweaked the amount of sugar, you may want to check the dough every 15 minutes, to make sure the yeast is starting to become active, and the dough is rising.

Step 5: After one hour, it should have almost doubled in size. If it hasn’t you can leave it a little longer. Use the metal spoon to ‘knock it back’ – this is in place of kneading, because that just isn’t my thing.

Step 6: While the dough proves for a second hour, prep the paper for your loaf tin. You can also bake this in a Dutch oven if you prefer a round shape to your banana bread!

Step 7: After the second hour has passed, the dough should have more than doubled in size so use a metal spoon to again knock the banana bread dough back.

The dough can now be poured into the lined loaf tin and covered again – I use the paper this time and set the foil to one side.

Step 8: In theory, the dough will need another hour to prove in the tin, however, if your dough is rising again super fast, you may want to start baking it a little sooner so that you don’t end up with a doughy mess on your table!

About 20 minutes before the third hour is up (so your egg-free banana bread dough has proved for around 2hrs 40 minutes by this point) preheat the oven to 400ºf / 200ºc / gas mark 6.

Step 9: At the 3-hour mark, put the loaf tin into the preheated oven and bake it covered for 30 minutes and then another 10-20 with the paper removed. The total time needed will depend on your oven, the size of your tin etc.

Step 10: Once the banana bread is brown on top and sounds hollow when the base is knocked, the bread is ready and can be set aside to cool.

Things to Note

• Do not be alarmed if the dough overflows your loaf tin in the oven. Mine did, but I had prepared by placing a small tray alongside it to catch the overspill.
• The banana bread dough has sugar in it, so the top crust will try to burn faster than normal plain bread. With this in mind, you may wish to keep the paper cover on for the whole time the banana bread is in the oven.
• Once removed from the oven, I like to remove all the greaseproof paper immediately to prevent it from going soggy. I also use a skewer to pierce the bread in several places to help the steam escape which also helps to maintain that crisp crust on the banana bread!

Serve It With…

I like mine slathered in butter when it’s still warm from the oven. It also tastes very good toasted with peanut butter or chocolate spread. The options are endless, but it works well for a little breakfast treat or an afternoon pick me up!

If you enjoy baking bread, I have a selection of bread recipes that you might enjoy too, many are also no-knead!