This miso banana bread is an easy recipe with an Asian fusion twist on classic banana bread. This easy homemade banana bread is tender, moist, and has a robust savory umami flavor.

This miso banana bread was adapted from my mom’s recipe that she used to make for me almost every month. My mom always advocated that throwing away food was unnecessary and wasteful. And since I didn’t particularly love eating fresh bananas, I would straegically wait to not eat the bananas in the fruit bowl until they were too ripe to eat so she would bake her famous homemade moist banana bread. One of my favorite things about homemade banana bread is that it teaches you how to make a spoiled situation into a delicious solution.

I’m excited to share with you this insanely moist, flavorful, and comforting miso banana bread recipe. The batter takes about 15 minutes to throw together and the bread will stay tender and delicious for days. Serve this bread warm with a smear of butter or drizzle on melted chocolate. This comforting miso banana bread will be the best banana bread you have ever tasted. If you are looking for more baking inspiration, you may also be interested in checking out my browned butter miso chocolate chip cookies, incredibly moist carrot cake, and mini bundt chocolate cakes.

Kitchen Equipment

For this miso banana bread recipe, there is no fancy kitchen equipment required! If you don’t have an electric mixer you can make do with a hand whisk and some elbow power instead.

• Kitchen Scale: a kitchen scale is absolutely NECESSARY if you want to have foolproof bakes. This will ensure you have the exact measurements for all of the ingredients. My little pink kitchen scale is both aesthetic and precise.
• Glass Mixing Bowls: This is one of my main kitchen essentials for almost all of my recipes. They allow me to keep an organized kitchen where everything is measured out and in its own little home. These duralex glass nesting bowls are also really sturdy and dishwasher safe!
• Stand Mixer or Hand Mixer: you can use either a stand mixer or an electric hand mixer to cream the butter together with the ingredients. It may need a lot of elbow power if you decide to do this by hand.
• 5×9 Loaf Pan: This recipe yields enough batter for 2 loaf pans. I like using non-stick Wilton loaf pans or Caraway loaf pan to make sure that the bread does not stick to the pan.

Ingredients

The ingredients for this homemade miso banana bread recipe are mostly pantry staples and can be found at your local grocery store.

• All-Purpose Flour: the flour is the base of the banana bread. It has a strong enough structure to hold all the wet ingredients while also yielding a soft delicious crumb.
• Baking soda: baking soda acts as the rising agent for this loaf.
• Large Eggs: the eggs supply the banana loaf with stability and structure as well as tender crumbs.
• Vanilla Extract: the vanilla adds a hint of warmth and flavor the the banana bread
• Ripe Bananas: you will need brown, ripe bananas for this miso banana bread. As bananas brown, they become sweeter and their starch structure breaks down making them sweeter and easier to mash.
• Unsalted Butter: for best results, use softened room-temperature butter for a soft even texture.
• White Miso: you will need white miso for this recipe. White miso is slightly sweeter than the other types of miso and has the most subtle umami flavor that will elevate the banana bread without overtaking it.
• Brown Sugar: brown sugar contains a bit of molasses in it which yields a more moist and flavorful loaf than regular granulated sugar.
• Walnuts (Optional): for an added crunch I like to add walnuts or pecans to this recipe.

How to Make Miso Banana Bread

This is an easy miso banana bread recipe. You will need to mix it up with either a stand mixer or electric hand mixer, but you can also make it work with a hand whisk.

1. Prepare the oven and pan. Preheat your oven to 325°F or 163°C and place the rack in the center of the oven. Grease your 2 loaf pans with butter and lightly dust with flour.

2. Whisk dry ingredients. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour and baking soda until combined.

3. Whisk eggs, banana, and vanilla. In a separate medium mixing bowl, mash the bananas with a fork. Then whisk together the eggs, mashed banana, and vanilla until combined.

4. Cream the butter. In the bowl of your stand mixer with a paddle attachment or a large mixing bowl with an electric hand mixer, cream the butter, white miso, and brown sugar on medium speed for 5 minutes or until light and fluffy.

5. Add the banana mixture. Turn the mixer down to low and add the banana mixture. Mix until the mixture has thickened about 1-2 minutes.

6. Add the dry mixture. Add in the dry flour mixture and mix on low speed until just combined and there are no more traces of flour left. Do not overmix!

7. Pour, Garnish, Bake. Pour the batter into 2 prepared pans about 2/3 of the way. Slice the extra banana in half lengthwise and place it on top of the batter cut side up. Bake for 70 minutes until golden brown on top or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

8. Chill. Cool the miso banana bread in the pan for 15 minutes before removing it from the pan.

Tips for the Best Miso Banana Bread

• This easy banana bread recipe has a dense amount of wet ingredients. The loaf will not rise as much as traditional banana breads.
• Use ripe bananas. The bananas must have brown spots on the peels. You do not want any bananas with green on the peel. The bananas must be brown so that they will be soft, moist, and sweet. If they are unripe, they will be hard, sour, and very difficult to mash. Moreover, it will yield a drier and not tasty banana bread. To accelerate the process, place them in a paper bag for 1-2 days.
• Use a scale for the flour. Adding too much flour to the miso banana bread will yield a dry and stiff loaf. On the other hand, adding too little flour will make the banana bread be too wet and dense.
• Avoid overmixing the batter. It is important to not mix the batter and develop too much gluten. This could yield a dense, chewy loaf rather than a soft and delicious banana bread. Make sure the wet ingredients are fully combined before adding the dry ingredients. Closely watch as you add the dry ingredients. When you no longer see trails of flour stop mixing.
• If you only want one loaf, then half the recipe. This recipe will yield approximately 2 loaves of miso banana bread. If you only want one loaf, you can either half the recipe or make one loaf and make muffins with the remaining batter.

Storage Instructions

You can store this miso banana bread wrapped in plastic wrap in an airtight container on the counter for up to 3 days. Alternatively, you can store it in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

Frequently Asked Q’s and A’s

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