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Cake Mix Banana Bread

Cake mix banana bread is a quick banana loaf with a golden, surprisingly fluffy dome and a soft, cakey crumb made with yellow cake mix. This no-fuss banana bread hack bakes up from a simple batter in one loaf pan.
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Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes
Servings: 10 servings
Course: Breakfast, Snack
Cuisine: American
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Banana bread batter
  • 3 ripe bananas
  • 1 can (15.25 oz) yellow cake mix
  • 2 large eggs
  • 0.333 cup vegetable oil or melted butter
  • 0.5 cup water or milk
  • 0.5 cup chocolate chips, walnuts, or cinnamon chips Optional mix-ins

Equipment

  • 1 sheet pan
  • 1 cast iron skillet
  • 1 Dutch oven

Method
 

Prep
  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F, then grease a 9x5 loaf pan so the loaf releases cleanly.
Mix the batter
  1. Mix the yellow cake mix, mashed ripe bananas, eggs, oil (or melted butter), and water (or milk) together in a large bowl until smooth and fully combined.
Add mix-ins
  1. Fold in any optional mix-ins until evenly distributed with no dry streaks left in the batter.
Bake
  1. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and smooth the top so it bakes up evenly.
Bake until golden
  1. Bake for 55–65 minutes at 350°F until the top is golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Prevent over-browning
  1. If the top browns too quickly, tent with foil at 40 minutes so it continues baking through without getting too dark.
Cool
  1. Cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then turn out to finish cooling for better sliceable texture.

Notes

For best texture, use very ripe bananas with visible speckling and mash until mostly smooth—lumps are fine but large chunks can make the crumb uneven. Store the cooled loaf wrapped in foil or in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days; freeze sliced portions for up to 2 months (thaw overnight in the fridge). For a lighter option, replace the vegetable oil with an equal amount of unsweetened applesauce for a slightly moister, less rich crumb.