Banana Bread Lab708 recipes

Banana Bread Lab · Calculator

Design your own banana bread

The sliders start at the typical loaf: the median of 708 recipes for each ingredient, in grams per 100 g of flour. Move any of them within the range that 90% of recipes use (the 5th to the 95th percentile) and the grams update, with where your choice sits among the recipes and what that ingredient does.

This scales ratios; it is not a tested recipe. Each ingredient moves on its own against the flour, and a combination no recipe uses may not bake the way you expect. For the method, pan and oven, follow the real recipes nearest your numbers.

Flour

250 g, about 2 cups, makes one typical loaf.

Start from a recipe

Grams per 100 g of flour

  1. 370 g · 148%about 3 medium bananas

    In the middle: 49% of recipes use more, 50% less.

    The main liquid and much of the sweetness. More banana makes a denser, moister loaf that takes longer to bake through.

  2. 195 g · 78%about 1 cup

    In the middle: 49% of recipes use more, 50% less.

    Keeps the crumb tender and moist and browns the crust. Very ripe bananas let a recipe use less.

  3. 115 g · 45%about 1/2 cup

    In the middle: 50% of recipes use more, 49% less.

    Coats the flour and limits gluten. Oil keeps the loaf soft for days; butter adds flavor and a firmer crumb when cool.

  4. 100 g · 40%about 2 large eggs

    In the middle: 47% of recipes use more, 31% less.

    Sets the structure and adds lift. Fewer eggs give a denser, fudgier slice.

  5. 38 g · 15%about 2 1/2 tbsp

    In the middle: 49% of recipes use more, 50% less.

    Buttermilk, yogurt or sour cream add acid for the baking soda and a finer, moister crumb.

  6. 9 g · 3.5%

    In the middle: 47% of recipes use more, 50% less.

    Baking soda reacts with the acid in banana and brown sugar and deepens browning; too much tastes soapy.

  7. 2.5 g · 1%

    In the middle: 48% of recipes use more, 48% less.

    Sharpens the banana and balances the sugar.

Your banana bread

Your banana bread in grams, with approximate volumes
IngredientGrams
Flour250 gabout 2 cups
Banana370 gabout 3 medium bananas
Sugarwhite sugar, brown sugar, honey and syrups195 gabout 1 cup
Fatbutter, oil and shortening115 gabout 1/2 cup
Eggwhole eggs, yolks and whites100 gabout 2 large eggs
Dairymilk, buttermilk, yogurt and cream38 gabout 2 1/2 tbsp
Leaveningbaking soda and baking powder9 g
Salt2.5 g
Total1,080 g

1,080 g in all from 250 g of flour, counting only the groups above.

Closest real recipe: Crock-Pot Banana Bread (delish.com).

BakeThe median of 641 recipes is 350°F (175°C), most for 45 to 60 minutes at their own size. A bigger or smaller batch, or a different pan, changes the time.

The 3 real recipes nearest your numbers

Measured on banana, sugar, fat, egg, dairy, leavening and salt at once. These are published, tested recipes: follow one for its method, pan and timing, or load its percentages and adjust from there.

  1. 1

    Crock-Pot Banana Bread · delish.com

    banana 142% · sugar 82% · fat 45% · egg 40% · dairy 0% · leavening 3% · salt 0.8%

  2. 2

    Ultimate Sourdough Banana Bread · theclevercarrot.com

    banana 150% · sugar 90% · fat 46% · egg 40% · dairy 25% · leavening 3.6% · salt 0.6%

  3. 3

    Instant Pot Banana Bread · shugarysweets.com

    banana 142% · sugar 92% · fat 45% · egg 40% · dairy 23% · leavening 4.2% · salt 0.8%

How the calculator works

Every recipe is reduced to baker's percentages: grams of each ingredient group per 100 g of flour. The starting point is the median of all 708 recipes for each group separately, so no single recipe is exactly the starting loaf. Grams are your flour weight times each percentage, rounded to the nearest 5 g above 50 g and the nearest gram or half gram below.

“More than 80% of recipes” counts the recipes with strictly less of that ingredient per gram of flour. The nearest recipes are measured on every ingredient at once, each scaled by how much recipes vary on it, so a wide-ranging ingredient does not outweigh a narrow one.

Only the groups listed are counted. Vanilla, spices, mix-ins and toppings are left out unless they have their own slider. Volumes are approximate: flour at 125 g a cup, sugar 200 g, butter or oil 225 g, milk and other liquids 240 g, a large egg 50 g, a medium banana 115 g peeled.