Banana bread might be one of your favorite desserts. It’s a great snack to enjoy on the weekend or whenever you feel the need for a sweet treat.
Many people bake it as a way to ensure that bananas don’t go to waste. If you have some that are starting to get a bit too ripe, they’ll be perfect for banana bread.
If you haven’t baked it yourself too often, you might be having a tough time getting it exactly right. Is your bread turning out a bit undercooked?
Keep reading to learn how to fix undercooked banana bread. You’ll learn about many things you can try so you can enjoy it to the fullest.
Banana Bread That’s Not Done in the Middle
There are a few things that could be happening when your banana bread isn’t done in the middle. Cutting into the bread and discovering that it isn’t done baking is a bit frustrating.
Take a deep breath and keep reading. You can figure out what likely went wrong by reading the information below.
Combine this information with what’s going on with your loaf of bread. It should help you to troubleshoot and see where you can make changes to ensure that your next loaf turns out perfectly.
This type of mistake happens to many people, and it might not even be that you did something wrong personally. You’ll learn a bit more about that later.
1 – Not Baking the Bread Long Enough
Perhaps you simply aren’t baking the bread long enough. If you take the bread out too early, it makes sense that it wouldn’t be cooked all the way through.
Make sure that you’re baking the bread for the specific amount of time that the recipe suggests. Typically, you’ll have to bake banana bread for sixty minutes for it to be done.
Sometimes a recipe might ask you to bake the bread for five minutes longer. Just make sure to follow the baking instructions in the recipe that you’re using.
2 – Using the Wrong Temperature Settings
Using the wrong temperature settings can easily cause the banana bread to be uncooked in the middle. You might have set the oven wrong and that’s why the bread didn’t bake right.
Most standard recipes tell you to set the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. You’re supposed to preheat the oven before putting the bread in the oven.
Putting the bread in the oven right away without preheating will make it not bake properly. It likely won’t be done baking by the time sixty minutes have passed.
3 – The Position of the Pan in the Oven
The position of the pan in the oven might not be right. Did you place the bread pan in the middle?
Ideally, you want to put the banana bread in the middle of the oven. Putting it to the right or the left might give you different results.
Also, baking multiple pans of banana bread at once can impact the baking time. It might bake differently if you try to bake two or three pans at once.
4 – The Material of the Bread Pan
Even the material of the bread pan is known to impact baking times. Your bread pan is going to be made out of aluminum, stainless steel, glass, stoneware, or some other common type of material.
Different materials might make the bread take longer to bake than normal. So you might need to adjust the baking time slightly to get the best results.
5 – Weather, Temperature, and Humidity Issues
Many people don’t know that the weather can have an impact on baking times. If it’s raining outside, there could be a slight difference in the baking time.
Humidity can play a role as well. A very humid day might change the amount of time something will take to bake.
If it’s very hot in the kitchen or very cold, that might impact the baking time. These issues usually won’t be a big problem, but it’s still worth mentioning.
6 – The Oven Not Working Properly
Perhaps you’re not doing anything wrong personally. It might be that your oven simply isn’t working as it should.
Sometimes ovens will stop working properly. You might need to test to see if your oven is reaching the right temperature.
There could be many different problems with the oven that are keeping it from working normally. It could be that a specific part needs to be replaced, or something else might be wrong.
If possible, try to get your oven serviced by professionals if you suspect that it isn’t working properly. You might even have a warranty that will allow you to get the repairs done for free, depending on how long you’ve had it.
Checking Your Banana Bread’s Internal Temp
You can check to see if your banana bread is done or not. This is easy to do if you have a thermometer that you can stick in the middle of the bread.
Use a cake thermometer and place it directly in the middle of the banana bread. If the temperature is 205 degrees Fahrenheit, it’s done.
The edges of the bread will be 200 degrees Fahrenheit when they’re done. This is a reliable way to make sure that the banana bread is truly done baking.
It’s always wise to have a cake thermometer in the kitchen when you’re baking. This will come in handy when you’re baking various types of bread and pastries.
Do You Cover Banana Bread When Baking?
It’s best to leave the banana bread uncovered when you start baking it. Covering the bread is something that can help in the last fifteen minutes, though.
Many choose to cover the bread with aluminum foil only for the last fifteen minutes. This is done to keep it from browning too much on top.
Essentially, you don’t want the bread to burn. You’re covering it to allow it to finish baking without getting crispy on top.
There are people who have different approaches, though. Some like to leave the banana bread uncovered the entire time.
Others choose to cover it with aluminum foil for the last thirty minutes of baking. To keep things simple, it’s wise to just follow the advice on the recipe that you’re following.
What to Do with Undercooked Banana Bread
You don’t have to throw undercooked banana bread out. If you catch that the bread is undercooked right away, it’s fine to just pop it right back into the oven.
Ensure that the oven is still set to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Put it back in the pan if you slipped it out to check it.
Use aluminum foil to protect the bread and keep the edges from burning. You want to do this because the bread might be close to burning on top if it’s been in the oven for quite some time.
Position the pan in the center of the oven when you’re ready. Let it bake for ten or fifteen minutes.
It’s best to check once ten minutes have passed. You don’t want to bake it too much and wind up making it inedible.
To check if the bread is done, you can use the simple toothpick method. Grab a toothpick and stick it in the middle of the bread.
If the toothpick comes out clean, that means the banana bread is done. It’s fine if a few crumbs are stuck to the toothpick.
Otherwise, you could use a cake thermometer. As mentioned earlier, you can check to ensure that the bread reaches a temperature of 205 degrees Fahrenheit in the middle.
Can You Get Sick From Eating Undercooked Banana Bread?
Perhaps you’d like to eat the undercooked banana bread as is. If you didn’t catch that the bread was undercooked right away, it might not be possible to just put it back in the oven.
If you’re worried about getting sick from eating the bread while it’s in this state, it’s better to play it safe and simply not eat it.
If the bread is just slightly undercooked, it’s likely to be be a bit gummy in the middle and okay to eat, but you won’t know for sure.
Some might not enjoy the taste of banana bread when it’s like this. You still might think it’s tasty enough to eat instead of throwing it out, but it depends on your sensibilities.
Now that you’ve learned about what causes banana bread to be undercooked, you can take steps to keep this from happening in the future.
Can You Revive Stale Banana Bread?
The banana bread is going to go stale after several days have passed. Generally, it’s best to eat it within two or three days so that it doesn’t go stale.
However, you can make hard banana bread a bit tastier. Simply wrap a slice of it in a damp paper towel.
Next, microwave the bread for several seconds. You don’t need to microwave it for very long, and it’s not good to microwave it for more than a few seconds since the bread could become rubbery.
This is a good way to revive slightly stale banana bread. If you didn’t wrap the bread well, this can help you to finish it up without having to deal with it being hard and dry.
Can You Freeze Banana Bread?
Did you make too much banana bread? If you have more than you can eat before it goes stale, you might want to try freezing it.
You can choose to freeze banana bread, and it’ll stay good for quite some time. It’s fine to freeze slices, loaves, and even half loaves.
Cover it with aluminum foil and then place it in an airtight plastic bag or container. Write the day that you put it in the freezer on the bag, if possible.
Banana bread can stay good in the freezer for up to four months. After that amount of time has passed, it will likely get freezer burn and will not be tasty any longer.
Is Banana Bread Healthy?
Banana bread isn’t something that you’ll want to eat every day. Well, you might want to eat it daily, but you should exercise moderation.
This is a dessert that should be enjoyed on occasion. It is healthier than many other types of desserts, though.
Banana bread contains many vitamins that your body needs. So it does have nutritional value.
You simply have to work it into your diet. This bread might have a fairly high-calorie content depending on what ingredients you use.
Some people put extra things in it that will add to the calories. Even plain banana bread should be eaten in moderation, though.
Final Thoughts
Making banana bread is something that you might want to do fairly often. If you and your family love the taste of it, it’ll pay to learn how to bake it to perfection.
When your bread turns out undercooked, it’s going to be disheartening. However, you know more about why this occurs now.
Now you can take steps to make sure that it turns out properly. Make sure that you bake it at the right temperature and be sure to bake it for the specific amount of time that it needs.
It’s helpful to check the bread using a cake thermometer to ensure that it’s done in the middle. If you don’t have a thermometer that you can use, it’s fine to check the middle of the bread with a toothpick.
If there are issues with your oven, you can get it checked out and serviced by a professional. There’s a good chance that you simply made a minor mistake, though.
You can even fix undercooked banana bread if you catch it right away. Just put it back in the oven and let it bake for another ten minutes or so.
Sarah is the founder of Baking Kneads, LLC, a blog sharing guides, tips, and recipes for those learning how to bake. Growing up as the daughter of a baker, she spent much of her childhood learning the basics in a local bakery.