Crockpot Banana Bread is delicious. We don't always think of our Crockpot as the best place for baking, but when it comes to banana bread, it is in fact the perfect place to create a delicious and perfectly moist, round loaf of banana bread goodness. Added bonus, it's easy to make.
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Ripe Bananas Only
To get the richest, sweetest taste and best texture use ripe bananas to make banana bread. Look for banana peels that have at least half the peel covered in brown spots. A banana that hasn't ripened properly will be difficult to mash and will lack the lovely sweetness that is needed for your banana bread to taste especially delicious.
How to Ripen Bananas
There are a few tricks and tips for speeding up the ripening process on bananas. Taste of Home does a great job of mapping out our options for taking a banana from green to ripe. Ethylene, a gas found in many fruits and vegetables, is responsible for the ripening process and it helps coax the starches in a banana into sugar. Here's one way to speed up the process, if you add a ripe apple to a brown paper bag with your bananas the ethylene released from that apple will help speed the banana into sweet, ripe perfection.
Storing Ripe Bananas
If your bananas are ripe and ready before you plan to make bread, just peel the bananas, place the fruit in a freezer-safe container like a zip bag and store them in the freezer until you are ready to bake.
Nut or No Nut Options
I like to use walnuts in banana bread, but pecans are a nice alternative. Keep in mind, the flavor will be slightly different. Pecans are a little softer than walnuts and have a sweeter taste. If neither are on hand, you can still make delicious banana bread without any nuts.
How to Remove the Bread
Removing the cooked banana bread out of the stone Crockpot liner isn't hard, but you'll want to be careful handling it. After baking, I lift the stone liner out of the Crockpot, run a knife around the edges of the bread to loosen it a little then place a cooking rack on top of the liner and carefully flip it over - using oven gloves (not pot holders) to protect my hands.
The key is to use one gloved hand to brace the top of the Crockpot as you flip it over. Watch this video for all the details on how to remove your yummy banana bread. You'll also see the wrong way to do it using pot holders. 🙂 Practice it once or twice before you cook the banana bread and I promise you'll get the hang of it.
The bread should fall right out. Since the top of the bread has more a appealing texture than the bottom, I place another cooling rack on top of the bread that was removed and flip it over again.
Use Oven Gloves
The key is to use oven gloves so you can get the best grip possible, even when the Crockpot liner is hot. These are my favorite oven gloves (as you can tell by looking at the well-worn pair I'm wearing in that video), but this is another brand that my husband and I use all the time too, especially for outdoor cooking.
Storing Your Bread
Keeping your banana bread fresh is key to enjoying every single last wedge. This will stay fresh and delicious for 3-4 days after baking. After the first day, I cut the loaf into wedges, wrap in waxed paper and store in the refrigerator. The bread is excellent warm or cold and is easily warmed up in the microwave.
More Baking Recipes
Crockpot Banana Bread is fun to make since it's baked in a non-conventional oven for baking. But here are a few more recipes I think you'll love when you are the mood for baked goodies that include fruit!
Yummy Banana Muffins are another option for using up those ripe bananas. The Best Blueberry Cake is a sweet treat that is easy to make but impressive enough for a holiday or special occasion. And of course No Peel Apple Cake, a fan favorite on the Crinkled Cookbook and one of the most popular recipes on the website since 2019.
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