Cake Mix Banana Bread

Cake mix banana bread turns ripe bananas and yellow cake mix into a golden, domed quick loaf with a soft, cakey crumb and minimal effort. Bake until the top is browned and a toothpick comes out clean for an easy banana bread hack.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 1

Total Time 1 5

Servings: 10 servings

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: American

Calories: 320

Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients

Banana bread batter

3 ripe bananas Mash until mostly smooth.
1 can (15.25 oz) yellow cake mix
2 large eggs
0.333 cup vegetable oil or melted butter Use either vegetable oil or melted butter.
0.5 cup water or milk Use either water or milk.
0.5 cup chocolate chips Optional mix-in.
0.5 cup walnuts Optional mix-in.
0.5 cup cinnamon chips Optional mix-in.

Equipment

1 sheet pan

Method

Prep and mix

Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease a 9x5 loaf pan. Keep the pan ready so the batter can go in right away.
Mix the yellow cake mix, mashed ripe bananas, eggs, vegetable oil (or melted butter), and water (or milk) together until smooth and fully combined. Scrape the sides so no dry cake mix remains.
Fold in any optional mix-ins you choose, such as chocolate chips, walnuts, or cinnamon chips. Stop mixing as soon as they’re evenly distributed.

Bake

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top for even doming. Use a spatula to level the surface.
Bake for 55–65 minutes at 350°F until the top is golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. If the top browns too quickly, tent with foil at 40 minutes.

Cool and serve

Cool the banana bread in the pan for 15 minutes before turning it out. Let it finish setting so the crumb holds together when sliced.

Notes

Pro tip: mash bananas thoroughly and fully combine the batter until smooth for a tall, cakey crumb; avoid overmixing after adding mix-ins. Store tightly wrapped in the fridge up to 4 days. Freeze wrapped slices up to 2 months. For a gluten-free swap, use a 1:1 gluten-free yellow cake mix.