A LABOR OF LOAF

City kid’s banana-bread biz is rising

This teen’s banana bread has New Yorkers going ape.

Unlike most high-school freshman, Jack Greenleaf spends his weekends mixing, baking and delivering his homemade banana bread in lower Manhattan.

“People love it and just keep ordering more,” said the 14-year-old Battery Park City resident, who has sold 384 loaves since launching his business, Bread & Monkey, last July.

Now he’s joining Brooklyn’s popular outdoor food market, Smorgasburg, as its youngest vendor since its 2011 launch.

“We were excited about seeing a young person with so much talent have a chance to really shine on a big stage,” said Eric Demby, co-founder of the annual Williamsburg foodie fest.

Out of 1,000 applicants, 20 are chosen each year to participate, Demby said.

Greenleaf says nostalgia might be the secret ingredient in his recipe for success.

“I think banana bread reminds people of cooking with their families and brings them back to their childhood, no matter how old they are,” he said.

Plus, he added, “at the grocery store, it’s hard, not warm and inviting like how it should be.”

During the week, Greenleaf racks up orders on his Bread & Monkey Web site, where locals can choose his classic $10 loaf or a $12 chocolate-chip version.

On Saturdays, he hitches a ride from his mom to Costco to stock up on bak- ing soda and powder, flour, butter, eggs, sugar — and, of course, bananas.

“They need to be soft, but can’t be rotten,” Greenleaf said. “Just before rotten is what you want.”

On Sundays, he gets peeling and bakes four loaves at a time, each in a nonstick pan.

“Parchment paper makes the bread fall apart,” he explained. “And I want my bread perfect.”

Finally, he wraps up the treats in plastic, stacks them in the basket of his black bicycle and hits the streets to deliver them.

Since Greenleaf isn’t old enough to drive, he covers only lower Manhattan.

“I want to expand though,” he said.

Greenleaf, who attends the Loyola School on the Upper East Side, has had a love for cooking ever since he can remember.

“The earliest memory I have is of helping my mom mix bowls of cheese and pasta to make mac ’n’ cheese,” he said.

At 10, he per-fected his first dish: chicken tacos with mango-habanero salsa.

This weekend, at Smorgasburg’s opening, Greenleaf is unveiling his first banana-bread french toast, smothered in whip cream, strawberries and white chocolate.

“It’s my most Instagrammable creation yet,” he said.