Banana Bread Lab708 recipes
← Banana Bread Lab

What goes into banana bread

The main ingredient list of all 708 recipes, with names merged so one choice counts once: unsalted and salted butter are butter, light and dark brown sugar are brown sugar, kosher and table salt are salt. Different flours stay apart. Frosting, glaze and other extras are counted on their own at the end.

In short

  • Most banana bread recipes use butter (63%); 33% use oil, and 5% use both.
  • For sugar, 48% use white sugar alone, 22% brown sugar alone, and 16% white and brown sugar together.
  • For leavening, 38% use baking soda alone, 35% baking soda and baking powder together, and 23% baking powder alone.
  • For dairy, 43% use no dairy, 15% milk alone, and 13% sour cream alone.
  • 48% add spice, 30% chocolate and 28% nuts; 15% add none of these.

The main choices

Each block sorts every recipe into one group by a single decision. Amounts are the median among recipes in that group, scaled to 250 g of flour, the size of a typical loaf. The recipe named under each group is the one in it closest to the typical loaf on every ingredient.

Butter, oil or both

Each recipe counted once, by the fats in its main ingredient list.

Margarine and vegan butter count as butter (3 recipes). Oil includes coconut oil (5%) and olive oil (1%).

White, brown or a syrup

Each recipe counted once, by the sweeteners in its main ingredient list.

  • White sugar only

    median 198 g sugar · closest to typical: Banana Chocolate Chip Bread (thefirstyearblog.com)

    48%341 recipes

  • Brown sugar only

    median 165 g sugar · closest to typical: Ultimate Sourdough Banana Bread (theclevercarrot.com)

    22%162 recipes

  • White and brown sugar

    median 219 g sugar · closest to typical: Instant Pot Banana Bread (shugarysweets.com)

    16%114 recipes

  • With honey or maple syrup

    median 174 g sugar · closest to typical: Healthy Banana Bread (chefsavvy.com)

    12%87 recipes

  • Everything else

    <1%4 recipes

Coconut sugar counts as brown (1%). "With honey or maple syrup" means any liquid sweetener (honey, maple syrup, other syrup and corn syrup), with or without dry sugar. Coarse and cinnamon sugar are usually sprinkled on top, so they do not count here.

Baking soda, baking powder or both

Each recipe counted once, by what it relies on to rise.

  • Baking soda only

    median 7 g baking soda and powder · closest to typical: Ultimate Sourdough Banana Bread (theclevercarrot.com)

    38%275 recipes

  • Baking soda and baking powder

    median 11 g baking soda and powder · closest to typical: Instant Pot Banana Bread (shugarysweets.com)

    35%252 recipes

  • Baking powder only

    median 9 g baking soda and powder · closest to typical: Chocolate Chip Banana Bread (bakerbettie.com)

    23%167 recipes

  • Everything else

    1%14 recipes

Which dairy

Each recipe counted once, by the dairy in its main ingredient list. Butter is counted with the fats.

Yogurt includes Greek yogurt (8%). Evaporated milk counts as milk.

Whole eggs, yolks or whites

Each recipe counted once, by the parts of the egg it uses.

A large egg is about 50 g out of the shell, a yolk about 18 g, a white about 32 g.

Which flour

Each recipe counted once, by the flours it combines.

Add-ins

Share of recipes that add at least one of each. A recipe can add several, so the shares do not sum to 100%. 15% add none of these.

  • Spice48%

    cinnamon 45% · nutmeg 9% · ginger 3%

  • Chocolate30%

    chocolate chips or chunks 21% · bar chocolate 8%

  • Nuts28%

    walnuts 15% · pecans 5% · nuts 2%

  • Fruit17%

    blueberries 3% · raisins 2% · pumpkin 2%

  • Coconut, candy or chips7%

    shredded coconut 3% · chocolate hazelnut spread 1%

How often each ingredient appears

Share of the 708 recipes that list it at least once, for every ingredient in 5% or more of them. The median amount is among recipes that use it and give a weighable amount, scaled to 250 g of flour; for a flour, it is that flour's share of all the flour in the recipe.

  1. Banana98%

    697 recipes · median 369 g

  2. Eggs93%

    660 recipes · median 101 g (about 2 large eggs)

  3. All-purpose flour84%

    599 recipes · median: all of the flour

  4. Salt82%

    584 recipes · median 3 g

  5. Baking soda74%

    527 recipes · median 6 g

  6. Vanilla72%

    513 recipes · median 6 g

  7. Granulated sugar65%

    463 recipes · median 163 g

  8. Butter62%

    445 recipes · median 114 g

  9. Baking powder59%

    419 recipes · median 6 g

  10. Cinnamon45%

    322 recipes · median 2.6 g

  11. Brown sugar41%

    296 recipes · median 141 g

  12. Vegetable oil26%

    190 recipes · median 91 g

  13. Chocolate chips or chunks21%

    152 recipes · median 170 g

  14. Milk17%

    126 recipes · median 79 g

  15. Walnuts15%

    109 recipes · median 68 g

  16. Sour cream14%

    104 recipes · median 82 g

  17. Cocoa powder10%

    77 recipes · median 50 g

  18. Nutmeg9%

    65 recipes · median 0.8 g

  19. Bar chocolate8%

    62 recipes · median 112 g

  20. Greek yogurt8%

    62 recipes · median 108 g

  21. Whole wheat flour8%

    59 recipes · median: all of the flour

  22. Buttermilk6%

    48 recipes · median 92 g

  23. Honey5%

    41 recipes · median 88 g

  24. Pecans5%

    39 recipes · median 88 g

  25. Yogurt5%

    39 recipes · median 101 g

  26. Coconut oil5%

    36 recipes · median 85 g

Toppings and extras

17% of recipes (122 of 708) list something beyond the main recipe: a frosting, glaze, filling, crumb topping, a boiling bath or a sprinkle on top. None of it is counted above. The most common extra ingredients, as a share of all recipes:

  • Powdered sugar6% (43)
  • Butter3% (26)

How the ingredients are counted

A recipe uses an ingredient when any line of its main ingredient list names it. Names are merged by the words in them, so “1 cup unsalted butter, softened” and “salted butter” are both butter, and a line that offers a choice (“walnuts or pecans”) counts as the first one named. Canola, vegetable and other neutral oils are one oil; coconut and olive oil are listed on their own.

Lines only for greasing the pan are left out (1 of them). Lines for brushing, sprinkling or serving, and lines that belong to a frosting, glaze, filling or topping, count as extras.

Amounts come from the grams on each recipe page: printed by the source, or converted from cups and spoons with standard densities. Scaling them to 250 g of flour lets a small recipe and a double batch line up. Percentages are rounded down.