This banana bread is moist and delicious - it's flavored with Chinese Five Spice so it has a deep, rich flavor.

Why You’ll Love this Banana Bread Recipe
What's not to love about banana bread? It's so easy to make and is absolutely delicious. This quick bread can be made without a mixer. All you need to do is mash the bananas and then everything else is a quick stir!
The flavor is amazing and it smells wonderful while baking. The five spice powder takes it from good banana bread to great banana bread.
Chinese five spice is an aromatic and delicious spice blend from China and Vietnam - typically used as a rub for meat. But because it's so heavy on the cloves and cinnamon, it tastes great in baked goods as well!
Ingredients for Chinese Five Spice Bread
The key to this recipe is really ripe bananas. Your bananas should have splotches of black or brown on them and be almost mushy. The riper the banana, the sweeter the bread will be!
Here's what you'll need for this recipe.
- ⅓ cup butter
- 3 very ripe bananas
- 2 teaspoons Chinese Five Spice Powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ¾ cup sugar
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
How to Make this Recipe
This recipe is assembled in just a few minutes! The bake time is what takes awhile - and that's all hands-off time.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 4x8 inch loaf pan.
- Melt the butter in a microwave in a large bowl.
- Add the bananas and mash with a fork till they are broken down and fully combined with the butter.
- Then add the five spice powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar. Stir to combine.
- Add the egg and vanilla and stir to combine.
- Then add the flour and stir just till fully combined.
- Pour the batter into the loaf pan and bake for 50 minutes till 1 hour or until cooked through. Use a wooden skewer to crumb test.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 20 minutes before removing and slicing.

More Baked Goods with Great Spice Blends
We love an unusual spice blend in our baked goods. From Yemeni blends like Hawaij to Togarashi from Japan, unique spice blends can flavor cakes, cookies, and breads.
- Hot and Spicy Togarashi Merengues
- Ras el Hanout Buttermilk Loaf Cake with Rose Icing
- Hawaij Coffee Donuts
Tips for Making this Banana Bread
- You can make your own Chinese Five Spice powder (makes your kitchen smell great!) or you can buy it online, we recommend the five spice blend from Frontier.
- Use really ripe bananas for this bread - they taste the best!
I hope you love this five spice banana bread as much as we do! Let us know if you make it - tag @thishealthytable on Instagram.
If you love quick bread recipes like this one, be sure to check out our persimmon bread as well!
Five Spice Banana Bread

This banana bread is moist, delicious, and well spiced.
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup butter
- 3 very ripe bananas
- 2 teaspoons Chinese Five Spice Powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ¾ cup sugar
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 4x8 inch loaf pan.
- Melt the butter in a microwave in a large bowl.
- Add the bananas and mash with a fork till they are broken down and fully combined with the butter.
- Then add the five spice powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar. Stir to combine.
- Add the egg and vanilla and stir to combine.
- Then add the flour and stir just till fully combined.
- Pour the batter into the loaf pan and bake for 50 minutes till 1 hour or until cooked through. Use a wooden skewer to crumb test.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 20 minutes before removing and slicing.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
6Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 369Total Fat: 11gSaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 58mgSodium: 656mgCarbohydrates: 63gFiber: 3gSugar: 32gProtein: 5g
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Yuki
Thursday 3rd of February 2022
Hi! I’d love to try this recipe, but can I do it by using oil instead of butter?
Yuki
Friday 4th of February 2022
@Emily, Thank you for the advice!
Emily
Friday 4th of February 2022
I've never tried using oil instead of butter - because it's quite a large amount of butter I wouldn't necessarily recommend it for this recipe. Hope this helps!