Along with sourdough starter and the viral dalgona coffee trend, making banana bread has become one of the most popular things to do during the COVID-19 lockdown.
But if you’re finding it hard to find pantry staples such as flour and sugar in your local supermarket, there are other ways to get your banana bread fix.
Here, we compare supermarket banana bread baking mixes and pre-made options to find out which is the best value, which contains the most banana, and more. We also threw into the mix a homemade banana bread baked to our CHOICE home economist Fiona Mair’s recipe.
Banana bread baking mixes
(In order of price, low to high)
*Price per 100g as prepared
Coles Banana Bread Baking Mix
Price per 100g*: $0.54
Number of bananas needed: 2 (approx 250g)
Good to know
Cheapest overall (pre-made or baking mix)
Contains 87% Australian ingredients
White Mill Banana Bread Mix (Aldi)
Price per 100g*: $0.58
Number of bananas needed: 2 (200g)
Good to know
Second-cheapest overall
Contains 91% Australian ingredients
Greens Classic Banana Bread
Price per 100g*: $0.63
Number of bananas needed: 2 (approx 250g)
Good to know
Equal third-cheapest overall
Contains 87% Australian ingredients
White Wings Banana Muffin
Price per 100g*: $0.64
Number of bananas needed: 0
Good to know
Only option that doesn’t need fresh banana
Contains the least amount of banana of all products (5% dried banana)
Contains 90% Australian ingredients
Coles Gluten Free Banana Bread Baking MIx
Price per 100g*: $0.76
Number of bananas needed: 3 (approx 300g)
Good to know
Gluten-free
Contains 63% Australian ingredients
Woolworths Free From Gluten Banana Bread
Price per 100g*: $0.80
Number of bananas needed: 2 (approx 250g)
Good to know
Gluten-free
Contains 63% Australian ingredients
Has the least protein (3.4g/100g)
Has the most saturated fat (12g/100g), which is half the maximum recommended adult daily intake
As prepared, makes the smallest loaf (780g)
Donna Hay Wholesome Banana Bread
Price per 100g*: $0.95
Number of bananas needed: 4 (about 1.5 cups)
Good to know
Most expensive baking mix
Contains 98% Australian ingredients
As prepared, makes the largest loaf at 1250g
Fiona’s banana bread (minus a few slices!).
Homemade banana bread
Price per 100g*: $0.63
Number of bananas needed: 4 (about 2 cups)
Good to know
Equal third-cheapest per 100g overall
Makes the second-largest loaf (970g)
CHOICE home economist Fiona says one of the benefits of homemade banana bread is you can add nuts and control the sweetness.
Pre-made loaf and slices
(In order of price, low to high)
Coles Banana Bread
Price per 100g: $0.76
Percentage of banana: 26%
Good to know
Contains 96% Australian ingredients
Woolworths Banana Loaf Cake
Price per 100g: $0.82
Percentage of banana: 28%
Good to know
Contains 94% Australian ingredients
Of the pre-made options, contained the most amount of banana
The Cake Stall Banana Bread Slices (Aldi)
Price per 100g: $0.90
Percentage of banana: 27%
Good to know
Contains 72% Australian ingredients
Tied for having the least sugar (19.5/100g)
Coles Banana Bread Slices
Price per 100g: $1.00
Percentage of banana: 26%
Good to know
Contains 93% Australian ingredients
Woolworths Banana Bread Slices
Price per 100g: $1.00
Percentage of banana: 27%
Good to know
Contains 95% Australian ingredients
Coles Gluten Free Banana Bread Slices
Price per 100g: $1.56
Percentage of banana: 20.5%
Good to know
Gluten-free
Contains 38% Australian ingredients
Woolworths Free From Gluten Banana Bread
Price per 100g: $1.56
Percentage of banana: 25%
Good to know
Gluten-free
Contains 72% Australian ingredients
Pre-made bars or muffins
(In order of price, low to high)
Coles Banana Muffins (4 Pack)
Price per 100g: $0.80
Percentage of banana: 26%
Good to know
Contains 99% Australian ingredients
Coles Banana Mini Muffins (9 Pack)
Price per 100g: $1.11
Percentage of banana: 25%
Good to know
Contains 95% Australian ingredients
Woolworths Mini Banana Muffins (8 pack)
Price per 100g: $1.16
Percentage of banana: 26%
Good to know
Contains 99% Australian ingredients
Coles Banana Muffin Bars (10 pack)
Price per 100g: $1.19
Percentage of banana: 11%
Good to know
Contains 75% Australian ingredients
Woolworths Banana Muffin Bars (6 pack)
Price per 100g: $1.20
Percentage of banana: 15%
Good to know
Contains 84% Australian ingredients
Soreen 5 Banana Lunchbox Loaves
Price per 100g: $3.33
Percentage of banana: 9%
Good to know
Most expensive overall
Made in the UK (0% Australian ingredients)
Of the pre-made options, contains the least amount of banana
The price we paid for baking mixes ranged from $1.79 (Aldi White Mill) to $7 (Donna Hay), and what you get for this is the dry ingredients (which commonly included wheat or rice flour, sugar, raising agents, cinnamon and flavour).
Once we added the cost of the additional ingredients required*, like eggs, butter and bananas, we paid $4.86 for the Aldi mix while Donna Hay’s set us back $11.90.
Of course, each recipe makes a different-size loaf, so for a fair comparison, we’ve calculated the cost of each product per 100g.
The Coles packet mix banana bread was the cheapest, at $0.54 per 100g, while Donna Hay’s cost nearly twice as much at $0.95 per 100g.
*As per Woolworths online shopping site in April 2020.
Pre-made banana bread products
The cheapest pre-made supermarket option was Coles Banana Bread loaf at $0.76/100g, while the most expensive was Soreen 5 Banana Lunchbox loaf at $3.33/100g. That’s $1.77/100g more than even the second-most expensive pre-made options (tied), Coles Gluten Free Banana Bread slices and Woolworths Free From Gluten Banana Bread.
Homemade banana bread
Making banana bread from scratch may not be as convenient as buying a mix or pre-made bread, but it tied with Greens Baking Mix as the third-cheapest overall option at $0.63/100g. A pretty good option, if you’re prepared to put in a little extra elbow grease.
Text-only accessible version
Price per 100g (as prepared)
Coles Banana Bread Baking Mix $0.54
White Mill Banana Bread Mix $0.58
Greens Classic Banana Bread baking mix $0.63
Homemade banana bread (Fiona’s recipe) $0.63
White Wings Banana Muffin baking mix $0.64
Coles Gluten Free Banana Bread Baking Mix $0.76
Coles Banana Bread $0.76
Woolworths Free From Banana Bread baking mix $0.8
Coles Banana Muffins 4 Pack $0.8
Woolworths Banana Loaf Cake $0.82
The Cake Stall Banana Bread Slices $0.9
Donna Hay Wholesome Banana Bread baking mix $0.95
Woolworths Banana Bread Slices $1.00
Coles Banana Bread Slices $1.00
Coles Banana Mini Muffins 9 Pack $1.11
Woolworths Mini banana muffins (8 pack) $1.16
Coles Banana Muffin Bars (10 pack) $1.19
Woolworths Banana muffin bars (6 pack) $1.2
Woolworths Free From Gluten Banana Bread $1.56
Coles Gluten Free Banana Bread Slices (5 pack) $1.56
Soreen 5 Banana Lunchbox Loaf $3.33
Quickest to make
With no preparation or baking required, the pre-baked options are obviously the most convenient of the lot for those of us short on time.
Admittedly the packet mixes have an (ever-so-slight) edge over Fiona’s homemade recipe for convenience. To make them you simply add a few extra ingredients (usually eggs, butter or oil, milk and mashed bananas), mix and bake.
Fiona’s recipe requires you to cream the butter and sugar before mixing in the other ingredients and baking, which adds 1 to 2 minutes to the prep time. And of course you also have to measure out the flour, sugar, bicarb and cinnamon.
The White Wings product takes just 18–20 minutes in the oven (understandable, given muffins are quicker to cook than loaves). The Greens, Coles Gluten Free and Aldi baking mixes need almost double that with 45–55 minutes in the oven. Woolies’ gluten-free option takes a little bit longer (50–55mins) while the others (including Fiona’s) take 55–60 mins to bake.
One of the best things about making banana bread, other than getting to eat it, is using up overripe bananas. If you have a glut of these, then Fiona’s homemade recipe or the Donna Hay baking mix are your best options as they both require four bananas.
The White Wings banana muffin baking mix contains 5% dried banana and you’re not required to add fresh banana to the mixture.
Of the 13 pre-made options, nine contain 25% or more banana, with Woolworths Banana Loaf Cake containing the most (28%).
Sugar content
Coles Banana Muffin Bars (10 pack), Donna Hay Baking Mix, Woolworths Banana Muffin Bars (6 pack) and Coles Gluten Free Baking Mix all list sugar as the first ingredient.
Coles Banana Muffin Bars had the most sugar (as prepared), at 32g/100g. The Soreen and Aldi pre-made options had the least (19.5g/100g).
Sodium content
Donna Hay had the least amount of sodium (151mg/100g) while Woolworths’ gluten-free baking mix had the most (482mg/100g).
NHMRC say foods with less than 400mg sodium per 100g are good, and less than 120mg per 100g is best. All of the options we looked at were higher than 120mg/100g, with six products over the 400mg per 100g recommendation.
Text-only accessible version
Which baking mix uses up the most bananas?
Or, pick your mix based on how many you have
Donna Hay Wholesome Banana Bread = 4 bananas
Homemade banana bread = 4 bananas
Coles Gluten Free Banana Bread = 3 bananas
Woolworths Free From Gluten Banana Bread = 2 bananas
Coles Banana Bread = 2 bananas
Greens Classic Banana Bread = 2 bananas
White Mill Banana Bread (Aldi) = 2 bananas
White Wings Banana Muffin = 0 bananas
Kilojoules in banana bread
NHMRC recommends a limit of 600kJ per serve for discretionary foods such as banana bread.
When we looked at the kilojoules per serve (as prepared) we found 17 out of 20 supermarket options exceeded this, with five products containing more than double the recommended amount per serve:
The Cake Stall Banana Bread Slices (1420kJ)
Coles Banana Bread slices (1430kJ)
Woolworths Banana Bread slices (1460kJ)
Coles Banana Muffins (1570kJ)
Donna Hay baking mix (1580kJ)
The serving sizes ranged from 100 to 125g.
The products that did fall under the recommended guidelines – Woolworths Mini banana muffins 8 Pack (576kJ), Soreen 5 Banana Lunchbox Loaves (413kJ) and Coles Banana Mini Muffins 9 Pack (524kJ) – had smaller serving sizes of between 30 and 40g.
Gluten-free
Of the products we looked at, the following are gluten free.
Woolworths Free From Gluten Banana Bread Baking Mix
Woolworths Free From Gluten Banana Bread Slices
Coles Gluten Free Banana Bread Baking MIx
Coles Gluten Free Banana Bread Slices
Our taste testers hard at work in the CHOICE kitchen lab.
Banana bread taste test
In 2017, we compared banana bread made in our kitchen lab from Donna Hay and Adriano Zumbo’s packet mixes with banana bread from White Wings, Lighthouse and Coles brand packet mixes, as well as Coles’ pre-baked banana bread and a homemade banana bread from CHOICE home economist Fiona Mair.
Fifty CHOICE staffers munched their way through all seven samples in a blind tasting then, in true Masterchef style, voted for their favourite.
While many of the products tested have since either altered their ingredients list or are no longer available, it’s interesting to note that Fiona’s homemade banana bread was a convincing winner at the time, receiving 42% of the votes.
(Donna Hay’s bread came in a distant second with 24% of the votes, while Adriano Zumbo’s bread was least popular with just 4% of the votes.)
This preference for homemade echoes the current opinion of CHOICE staff. When asked which is the tastiest banana bread, 81% of staff polled said homemade is better than store-bought or bread made from a mix.
Comments included:
“It’s so easy to make and a good way to use up bananas that are getting on a bit.”
“I can adapt it to what I have available (e.g. amount of ripe bananas) and other ingredients (e.g. nuts).”
“I find baking mixes add unwanted ingredients, or I might want to source a recipe that caters for a dietary preference. I also like the challenge of homemade recipes.”
How to make banana bread
CHOICE home economist Fiona Mair, shares her recipe.
Ingredients
125g butter, softened
1 cup (175g) brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups mashed banana (approx. 4 small)
1¾ cup (225g) self-raising flour, sifted
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Method
Preheat oven to 160°C (325°F) and grease and line a 21cm x 14cm (2 litre capacity) loaf tin.
Place the butter, sugar and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat for 1–2 minutes or until pale and creamy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. This can be done by hand if you don’t have an electric mixer
Add the eggs and beat well to combine. Then add the banana, flour, bicarbonate of soda, and cinnamon, stir to combine.
Spoon into prepared tin and bake for 55–60 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
Cool in the tin for 20 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack. Cut into slices to serve.
Marianna worked at CHOICE from 2017–2022, writing and editing content on a range of different consumer issues as both a content editor and commissioning editor.
She's conducted in-house taste tests for non-alcoholic wines, uncovered which is the best reusable water bottle, looked at the amount of sweet ingredients in infant foods, and analysed the contents of chocolate variety boxes to find out which are best for caramel lovers, fruit-goo fans and more.
She previously worked for a range of publications in both Australia and the UK including the BBC's Radio Times, The Guardian, The Sun, The Sunday Telegraph and Cosmopolitan.
You can find her on LinkedIn.
Marianna worked at CHOICE from 2017–2022, writing and editing content on a range of different consumer issues as both a content editor and commissioning editor.
She's conducted in-house taste tests for non-alcoholic wines, uncovered which is the best reusable water bottle, looked at the amount of sweet ingredients in infant foods, and analysed the contents of chocolate variety boxes to find out which are best for caramel lovers, fruit-goo fans and more.
She previously worked for a range of publications in both Australia and the UK including the BBC's Radio Times, The Guardian, The Sun, The Sunday Telegraph and Cosmopolitan.
You can find her on LinkedIn.
Rachel Clemons is an award-winning journalist who worked at CHOICE from 2004–2022.
During her time at CHOICE her core focus was on food and nutrition, from reviewing breakfast cereals and fast food to dispelling myths about the benefits of detox kits and gourmet salt or translating confusing food labels – with the occasional taste test thrown in for good measure.
Prior to CHOICE she lived overseas, working predominantly in hospitality when she wasn't travelling and eating her way through various cuisines. She holds a Master of Science in Nutrition from King's College London (where she also researched and wrote for CHOICE's UK sister organisation, Which?), and a Bachelor of Science, Health Sciences from the University of Adelaide.
In 2017 she won the Dietitians Association of Australia's Nutrition Journalism Award and she's currently on the Steering Committee as a Parent Member of Parents' Voice.
You can find her on Twitter and LinkedIn.
Rachel Clemons is an award-winning journalist who worked at CHOICE from 2004–2022.
During her time at CHOICE her core focus was on food and nutrition, from reviewing breakfast cereals and fast food to dispelling myths about the benefits of detox kits and gourmet salt or translating confusing food labels – with the occasional taste test thrown in for good measure.
Prior to CHOICE she lived overseas, working predominantly in hospitality when she wasn't travelling and eating her way through various cuisines. She holds a Master of Science in Nutrition from King's College London (where she also researched and wrote for CHOICE's UK sister organisation, Which?), and a Bachelor of Science, Health Sciences from the University of Adelaide.
In 2017 she won the Dietitians Association of Australia's Nutrition Journalism Award and she's currently on the Steering Committee as a Parent Member of Parents' Voice.
You can find her on Twitter and LinkedIn.
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