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Cake Mix Banana Bread

Cake mix banana bread turns mashed bananas and yellow cake mix into a golden, tall loaf with a soft, cakey crumb and a domed top. It’s an easy banana bread hack that bakes in about an hour with minimal mixing for a simple, no-fuss breakfast or snack.
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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
Calories: 330
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Banana bread base
  • 3 ripe bananas Mashed until mostly smooth.
  • 1 box (15.25 oz) yellow cake mix Use dry yellow cake mix.
  • 2 large eggs Lightly beaten if helpful.
  • 0.3333 cup vegetable oil Or use melted butter.
  • 0.5 cup water Or substitute milk.
Optional mix-ins
  • 0.5 cup chocolate chips Optional.
  • 0.5 cup walnuts Optional.
  • 1 cup cinnamon chips Optional; use the amount you have (stated as 1 cup here).

Equipment

  • 1 sheet pan

Method
 

Prep the pan and oven
  1. Preheat oven to 350°F and grease a 9x5 loaf pan, so the loaf releases cleanly after baking.
Mix the batter
  1. Mix cake mix, mashed bananas, eggs, vegetable oil, and water together in a large bowl until smooth and combined, for a thick but pourable batter.
Add mix-ins
  1. Fold in any mix-ins until evenly dispersed, so every slice has the same texture and flavor.
Bake
  1. Pour batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top, then place in the oven.
  2. Bake for 55–65 minutes until the top is golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean; tent with foil at 40 minutes if the top browns too quickly.
Cool and serve
  1. Cool in the pan 15 minutes before turning out, so the domed loaf sets without collapsing.

Notes

Pro tip: use very ripe, fragrant bananas for a sweeter, more banana-forward crumb. Store covered at room temperature up to 3 days or refrigerate up to 5 days; freeze slices up to 2 months. If you want a slightly lighter bake, swap the vegetable oil for melted butter; it will still produce a soft, cakey texture.