Kona Banana Bread Recipe

Today’s Best Recipe is Easy Kona Banana Bread. It’s a copycat banana bread from Kona Inn.

This is a delicious banana bread recipe I got from a co-worker named Lyndsay years ago.

About Kona Inn:

Located on the water in Kona, Hawaii, the restaurant Kona Inn has humble beginnings as a 1920s hotel with 20 rooms that was a favorite amount Marlin fisherman. It was popular and booked to capacity more than not. 

Since the 1920s the Kona Inn has grown to be a highly regarded seafood restaurant. The hotel is gone, and Kona Inn now dedicates itself to dinner and drinks. 

This Kona Banana Bread recipe is a nod to the warm banana bread the inn served to overnight guests.

Why I love this recipe for Kona Banana Bread

There are a lot of banana bread recipes. I think this is among the great recipes.

It’s a fantastic banana bread recipe with flavor and texture harmony and is one of my favorite quick bread.

Banana bread is a great recipe for overripe bananas or those with lots of brown spots.

This bread is loaded with bananas, three to be exact.

I encourage you to keep them until they are overripe for bread with a pronounced banana flavor.

Beyond the incredible flavor is the texture–tender, moist-nutty is optional.

This recipe makes one loaf.

Because we can’t just eat one slice at a time, I typically double the recipe and make two loaves.

Banana Bread Ingredients: 

Makes 1 20-ounce loaf.

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup unsalted butter

3 bananas, ripe and mashed

2 eggs, well beaten

1 1/4 cups cake flour (or you can use all-purpose flour, but it won’t be as “cake-like” in texture)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

 

How to Make Easy Kona Banana Bread:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Grease and flour an 8x4x3-inch loaf pan. (Tip after greasing, spray the pan with nonstick cooking spray before flouring. This will take care of any crevices.)
3. Stir together the flour, salt, and baking soda in a bowl.
4. Cream the shortening and sugar together in a separate large bowl, and add mashed banana, eggs, and (optional) nuts.
5. Add the combined dry ingredients to the banana mixture and stir only until the batter is thoroughly blended.
6. Pour into the prepared bread pan and bake for 50-60 minutes, or until a skewer or wooden pick inserted in the center of the bread comes out clean or with only a few moist crumbs.
7. Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then turn out on a rack and let cool completely.
8. Store wrap tightly with plastic wrap once the bread is at room temperature.

Variations:

Try adding 1/2 cup of chocolate chips to step 4.

Make Hawaiian banana nut bread by adding 1 cup of chopped walnuts to the batter.

I think bananas and nuts are the perfect combination.

Serve warm with ice cream.

Banana Tips:

The best way to mash Bananas is with a fork or potato masher.

For this recipe, I prefer overripe bananas.

My husband thinks they belong in the compost, but those brown, spotted bananas are perfect for this recipe.

If they are black and mushy, that may be a bit overripe.

I get it, they fade fast, and that may not be the day you want to make banana bread.

No worries, put the bananas in the freezer (I place them in a resealable baggie first).

When ready to bake, remove the bananas about 30 minutes before starting.

You can snip the top of the peel off and squeeze out the squishy and oh-so-flavorful banana.

If that sounds a little overboard for you, you can place the bananas, in their skin, on a baking sheet lined with foil or parchment (they might leak).

Bake at 300 degrees F. for 30-45 minutes until soft and brown.

Use in the recipe!

This recipe appears in Julee Morrison’s The How To Cookbook for Teens

Help your teenager discover the joy of cooking and becoming self-sufficient.

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• Teen-friendly foods―Your teen will discover 100 recipes to please their teenage palate, including Nachos, Sloppy Joes, Easy Shrimp Scampi, Mustard and Maple-Glazed Chicken.
• Cooking fundamentals―For teens just starting out, this cookbook teaches all the basics, like cooking techniques, prepping the kitchen, and tips on reading a recipe.
• Built for trial and error―This kids’ cookbook encourages teen chefs to explore. Each recipe includes space to write down new ingredients; teens can experiment with flavors and textures and learn what worked (and what didn’t!).

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