The Secret To Better Banana Bread Lies In The Star Ingredient

If you've spent the best years of your life scrubbing the internet breadosphere for baking tips, you know the struggle is real. (Okay, let's be honest, they can't all be the best banana bread ever.) But you can turn down the volume on the r/Breadit chatter, and crank up the flavor of your favorite banana bread recipe without even trying. Because the secret to better banana bread is: ripe bananas. (Promise that's really what it is.) They're your usual bananas — but older!

As the corporate pastry chef for JF Restaurants, Sofia Schlieben, explains it, "Ripe bananas are the only way to get a really banana-y flavor — the riper, the better. As the starches convert to sugars, they create that caramelized banana flavor we all love." But how, exactly, do you decode your bananas so you know you're using ripe ones? Get over your banana hangups because the ugliest ones get the most points. You'll get bangin' ban'essence if you hold out for bananas that are so speckled with brown spots, they're completely covered in them, stem to tip. This mushy, bruised, forbidden fruit is your golden ticket to the sweetest, most flavorful, jaw-droppingly decadent loaf.

Of course, it also boosts the 'nana flav to add — shocker — more bananas. But this takes a little TLC so you don't end up with dense, chewy, or undercooked bread. The easiest way to do it is by putting a banana right on top. Choose your least-ripe fruit, slice it lengthwise, and gently lay it over your unbaked loaf in its pan. Then, once it's out of the oven, Schlieben suggests, "You could also make a rum banana jam to spread on top of a slice of banana bread." Delicious note taken.

When a real banana bread craving hits, there's only one way to quell the hunger: Bake. But if your bananas are brighter than the sun — or worse: green, flavorless, and firm [Breathe] — all hope is not lost. But hold onto your banana peels 'cuz it's about to get real ripe in here.

Happy to ripen off the plant, climacteric bananas make quick work of aging themselves by releasing ethylene gas. But you can always speed things along. Got a day or two? Chuck your bananas into a paper bag where they'll simmer in their gases. Only have the bandwidth for an extra hour? Bake them skin-on at 300 degrees Fahrenheit until they squish under your finger. Want bread-ready bananas in minutes? Nuke 'em. With a few pokes in the skin (like a baked potato), and a minute on high, you'll be seconds away from living your "bread'st" life. And, really, exactly no one would be mad at dreamy oven-baked caramelized bananas somehow finding their way into your recipe.

If you played it too fast and loose with the ripening, you can throw your bananas in the fridge to stop the action (Just ignore the peels which will turn black). You could also peel your bananas and freeze them in a zip top bag where they'll last for months at a time. (But, hello? Who wants to wait that long for banana bread?) When you're ready to bake, just thaw your bananas to room temp, and they'll be ready to star in your next loaf.