Banana Cornbread

Our easy banana cornbread with cornmeal recipe is a sweet and savory side dish made with buttermilk from scratch. You’ll love this easy ripe banana recipe baked in the oven or slow cooker.

Cornbread with mashed bananas brings a whole new level of moisture and tenderness with an added bit of sweet to this classic Southern dish. Using buttermilk instead of milk keeps it savory for the perfect blend of flavors. Served with dinner or for breakfast with honey, this is delish.

If you have only used up your browned nanners into yellow cake mix banana bread you are in for a real treat with this one. You do want them to be overripe meaning that the skins are brown all over but not black. It is a fine balance really.

We have baked this Southern favorite so many ways to make it more fun like we do our Jiffy Cornbread in Cast Iron Skillet, and no this is a whole new fun way to bake it with a bit of sweetness that the kiddos will really love.

How brown should bananas be to bake with them?

As for the bananas they need to be rather brown, but not so much that they have turned black (that takes it too far). If you aren’t ready to use them and they are at this point, put them in a bowl in the fridge to give you a few more days to use them. I use this tip for all of our ripe banana recipes, and there are a lot!!

Ingredient Notes

For the dry ingredients we are going to start out with cornmeal and flour, the measurements are a 1:1 ratio. Reason why you don’t just use meal is that it would be very dense and not a great texture, rather gritty.

For the latter, all purpose flour is what is used. You can find other flour substitutions here if you wanted it altered but if so the bake time may need to be adjusted.

Baking powder is added to help it rise. Always check the sell by date first before starting out because if it is expired it won’t work properly.

Buttermilk makes it moist and is a lot thicker than milk. If you don’t have any you can make it with milk and a bit of lemon juice set on the counter for 5 minutes though which is handy.

Butter should be melted, unsalted and cooled a bit before added. You can use a plant based dairy free alternative if necessary.

Your eggs are best added at room temperature and whisked slightly to help with the fluffiness too. And if you want them spicy like our Jiffy Corn Muffins with Sour Cream add some diced jalapenos.

This Southern Dish Often Made with Buttermilk and Cornmeal is made in a 9×9 inch size pan. 8×8 works too and occasionally I have even used a pie pan if I want it to come out round. If made into muffins you would obviously use a muffin tin instead. With any of them you would want to spray with non stick spray so it slides out easily.

Banana Cornbread Made with Jiffy (Option)

If you just wanted to use the little blue box and add a slightly sweet banana flavor you could do that too!! All you do is replace the egg with 1 ripe banana that is mashed. Keep in mind that the end result will be more dense and won’t rise as much but a wonderful way to make it egg-free and tweak it from the original.

Substitutions and Variations

For a Dairy Free Cornbread version you can find vegan based and dried egg substitutes from bob’s red mill. Dairy can be substituted with things like almond milk + lemon juice set for 10 minutes = buttermilk substitute too. If you didn’t want to use your oven you could make Crockpot Cornbread.

Of course you can make this without the fruit at all, most do. If less liquid is added you can form and bake into Cornbread Cookies actually too. There is a reason to add it though beyond just to say you tried it. Let’s go over a few reasons why they add magic to recipes;

What makes cornbread not fall apart?

There are two components to prevent this from happening. #1 You want to add fat into the batter so it stays together well and is as moist as possible. That is why buttermilk is better than milk. #2 you do not want to over-bake it! Take out as soon as your toothpick comes out with moist crumbs attached NOT dry.

Banana Cornbread Muffins (Option)

You can make Cornmeal Muffins with this same batter. I do like to use cupcake liners so they are easier to serve up and remove from the pan. Timing will change to about 18 minutes which obviously is a lot less than a whole loaf or pan full that needs to be sliced.

What do mashed bananas do to a recipe?

Mashed bananas add moisture to baked goods, making them soft and tender. This is particularly useful in sweet breads and cakes, where a moist and tender texture is desired.

They are naturally sweet, and when mashed, they can act as a natural sweetener in recipes. This can reduce the need for additional sugar in baked goods. Keep in mind that the sweetness of bananas varies, so you may need to adjust the amount of sugar in your recipe accordingly.

Common recipes include sweet bread, muffins, banana pancakes, cake, and smoothies. When using, consider the desired effect you want to achieve and adjust the quantity accordingly. Experimenting with the amount can help you fine-tune the texture and flavor of your dishes to your liking.