Big Loafin': The Quick Breads and Stress-Free Snacking Cakes to Make Right Now

Do you remember the first time you made banana bread? How surprisingly easy it was to turn bananas past their prime into something utterly delicious? And to think, all it took was dumping some ingredients in a bowl, giving it a good stir, and loading it into a loaf pan before putting it into the oven. It's nothing short of kitchen magic.

But your loaf pan can do so much more than whip bananas into shape. In fact, it's your stress-free ticket to all of the savory quick breads and snacking cakes your heart desires. Sure, a birthday cake might get you more likes on Instagram, but who is whipping that up on a random Tuesday? The unfussy nature of loaf cakes and breads mean they're the perfect thing to make for last-minute bake sales, gifts for friends, or just because. This is why when the first inkling of fall hits the air, and the idea of turning on the oven doesn't immediately make us sweat, the loaf pan is the first thing we reach for to ring in the season.

Here, we've rounded up a few of our favorite recipes, best-kept loaf secrets, and our favorite loaf pans for the occasion. Join us in bringing Big Loafin' energy back to our kitchens.

The 5 Recipes to Make Right Now

For the Fall 2023 issue of Allrecipes magazine, Senior Editor Mary Andino curated five loaf cakes and breads that will inspire you to turn on your oven. "Let’s ease into [the season] with homestyle loaves: humble stir-together quick breads, a savory stunner, some fall-flavor essentials, and a recipe to use up all that late-summer zucchini," she writes.

• Downeast Maine Pumpkin Bread: This is a quintessential fall recipe. And with an incredible 4.8-star rating with almost 8,000 reviews, our readers clearly agree.
• Amazing Apple Bread: Turn your fall apples into delicious bread with minimal ingredients and fuss. Any apples will do here, but Granny Smith or Honeycrisp are the best.
• Pull-Apart Onion, Blue Cheese, and Bacon Bread: Most loaf breads and cakes tend to sit on the sweeter side of things, but not this one. This snacking bread packs in all of the savory bits of fall with blue cheese and bacon.
• Zucchini Bread: If your CSA or garden is still bursting with zucchini, there's no better way to use it up than with this sweet bread. Make a loaf or two and freeze it for later!
• Lemon Loaf Cake: This lemon cake is the perfect balance between sweet and tart. Take it from community member MommaBean3, who said: "Oh this was fantastic! I made the recipe as is and wouldn’t change a thing!"

Good, Better, Best

Is there such a thing as too many banana bread recipes? No, absolutely not. But that answer certainly doesn't help when you have a couple of overripe bananas on your counter waiting to be used up and you just can't decide which recipe to make. So we did the work for you. Allrecipes tested out two of our most popular quick bread recipes—banana bread and zucchini bread—and found the best of the best.

• I Tried Our 5 Most Popular Banana Bread Recipes and There Was One Clear Winner: Grace Elkus described the overall winner as "pleasantly sweet with lovely caramel-like notes and just the right amount of banana flavor." What a dream!
• I Tried 5 Popular Zucchini Bread Recipes and Found My New Favorite: Grace Elkus tested our top zucchini bread recipes and said that the winner is everything she's been searching for. "This zucchini bread is truly spectacular, and all my taste-testers agreed," she writes.

Simple Upgrades for Perfect Loaves

The beauty of loaf cakes and quick bread is that they should be ridiculously easy to make. You're not making a birthday cake; you're not going to decorate it with Swiss meringue buttercream. You just need your loaf pan, a solid recipe, and maybe a couple of smart tips and embellishments (like below!) to make something special.

• Candied Lemon Peel: A great option for leveling up your copycat Starbucks lemon loaf.
• This Simple Step Will Make Your Cocoa Powder Taste Surprisingly Richer: If you're making a chocolate loaf, this smart technique is essential.
• My Grandma's Trick for Picture-Perfect Cracks in Loaf Cakes: If you want your loaf cakes and breads to look Instagram-worthy, all you need is some extra butter. And a knife!
• The #1 Mistake to Avoid When Making Loaf Cakes: It's hard to mess up a loaf cake, but it's possible.

An Essential Tool for Making Every Kind of Loaf

Loafin' around at home only requires one essential tool: a loaf pan. Our product tester tried the top options out there—from the more decorative to the practical—and found a few favorites.

• The 10 Best Loaf Pans For Every Baker, Tested by Allrecipes