With its super-moist and buttery texture, banana and brown sugar flavors, soft crumb, and 1,000+ reviews, this is a delicious AND undeniably popular banana bread recipe. You need 4 ripe bananas.
One reader, Michele, says: “Perfectly delish every time! Absolutely foolproof. Nuts, no nuts, smidge more or less of sour cream—no problem… bigger bananas, smaller—no worries, perfect, beyond delicious EVERY time. ★★★★★”
This is my favorite banana bread recipe, one that I’ve cherished for years. It’s one of those classic recipes that you start to know by heart, just like a good pie crust or chocolate chip cookies recipe. This bread comes to mind first when I have leftover spotty bananas on the counter, and it’s the bread that’s on constant rotation in my freezer stash.
It’s one of the most popular recipes I’ve published on this website, out of over 1,200.
One reader, Tricia, says: “I have this recipe on speed dial. LOL. It is so tasty and is always a crowd pleaser. My kids and entire family love it!!! ★★★★★”
Yes, I have this recipe on speed dial too! 😉
I’ve tried dozens of banana bread recipes over the years, and when I baked and originally published this recipe back in 2013, I never looked back.
Why You’ll Love This Banana Bread Recipe Too
- Mega banana flavor (from 2 cups/460g mashed bananas)
- Not overly sweet, so banana flavor shines
- Dense, but still quite tender & soft
- Buttery & stays moist for days
- Straightforward, simple recipe
- Freezes wonderfully
- Excellent plain or with nuts or chocolate chips
This bread uses more mashed bananas than similar recipes. Add 2 whole cups (460g) of mashed banana, which is about 4 large bananas. More banana = more moisture and flavor in the finished loaf.
How to Mash Bananas
Did you know you can use your electric mixer to mash bananas? Break or slice the spotty bananas into large pieces and place in the bowl of your stand mixer—or use a regular mixing bowl and your hand mixer. Begin beating on low, then gradually increase to medium-high speed as the bananas break down into mashed banana. Transfer the bananas to another bowl and use the mixing bowl for the butter and sugar. (No need to clean it—some mashed banana remnants is fine.)
I do this when I mash bananas for banana muffins and banana chocolate chip breakfast cookies too.
Other Banana Bread Ingredients
- Butter: Use softened butter for a soft texture and irresistible butter flavor.
- Brown Sugar: Use all brown sugar in this recipe. In the headnotes for this chocolate chip cookies recipe, I explain that brown sugar yields soft and moist cookies. Well, brown sugar works that same magic in banana bread, too. It also adds wonderful flavor.
- Eggs: Eggs supply cakes, cupcakes, breads, doughs, and cookies their stability and structure, as well as a tender texture. You’ll need 2 large eggs for this.
- Sour Cream or Yogurt: Sour cream or yogurt adds even more moisture to this banana bread. (You can use the 2 interchangeably in most baking recipes.)
For banana nut bread, add 3/4 cup of chopped nuts to the banana bread batter; I like using either pecans or walnuts. If you’re nuts for nuts (LOL), you’ll enjoy the toasty slight crunch nestled inside the soft crumbs. If you’re not a nut person, feel free to leave them out or replace with chocolate chips. For a whole wheat version, try my whole wheat banana bread.
Can I Use Frozen Bananas?
Yes and I do this often. Thaw the frozen bananas at room temperature. Drain off any excess liquid, mash, then use as instructed in the recipe below. See How to Freeze & Thaw Bananas for Baking. Try not to mash too much or else you’ll be left with 2 cups of banana-y liquid; some chunks are great.
Can I Turn This Into a Banana Bundt Cake?
I recommend using my extremely similar, scaled-up recipe for chocolate marble banana Bundt cake instead. You can leave out the chocolate swirl in that recipe.
How to Freeze Banana Bread
Freeze banana bread using these instructions to preserve its fresh flavor and texture for months:
- Cool baked banana bread completely.
- Tightly wrap the loaf or slices (individually or grouped) in 2–3 layers of plastic wrap or aluminum foil.
- Place wrapped banana bread in a large freezer-friendly storage bag or reusable container.
- Date the bag and freeze for up to 3–4 months. Thaw wrapped or unwrapped in the refrigerator or at room temperature. All methods work like a charm!
I like to freeze the quick bread in slices because slices thaw much quicker than a whole loaf.
Overall, this is an easy recipe for classic banana bread. The batter takes about 10 minutes to throw together, the bread stays moist for days, and nothing beats the smell of fresh banana bread in the oven. (Except for, maybe, zucchini bread or pumpkin bread… try those next!)
Other Favorite Banana Recipes:
- Banana Cake & Banana Cupcakes
- Cinnamon Swirl Banana Bread
- Banana Cream Pie & Banoffee Pie
- Banana Muffins or Healthier Chocolate Banana Muffins & Blueberry Banana Muffins
- Banana Chocolate Chip Streusel Muffins
- Peanut Butter Banana Muffins
My Favorite Banana Bread
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 65 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours
- Yield: 1 loaf
- Category: Bread
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
With its super-moist and buttery texture, banana and brown sugar flavors, soft crumb, and 1,000+ reviews, this is a delicious AND undeniably popular banana bread recipe. You need 4 large ripe bananas.
Ingredients
- 2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 3/4 cup (150g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1/3 cup (80g) plain yogurt or sour cream, at room temperature
- 2 cups (460g) mashed bananas (about 4 large ripe bananas)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- optional: 3/4 cup (100g) chopped pecans or walnuts
Instructions
- Adjust the oven rack to the lower third position and preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Lowering the oven rack prevents the top of your bread from browning too much, too soon. Grease a metal 9×5-inch loaf pan with nonstick spray. Set aside.
- Whisk the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, beat the butter and brown sugar together on high speed until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. With the mixer running on medium speed, add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Then beat in the yogurt, mashed bananas, and vanilla extract until combined.
- With the mixer running on low speed, slowly beat the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until no flour pockets remain. Do not over-mix. Fold in the nuts, if using.
- Pour and spread the batter into the prepared baking pan. Bake for 60–65 minutes, making sure to loosely cover the bread with aluminum foil halfway through to prevent the top from getting too brown. The bread is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean with only a few small moist crumbs. This may be after 60–65 minutes depending on your oven, so begin checking every 5 minutes around the 60-minute mark.
- Remove bread from the oven and allow the bread to cool in the pan set on a wire rack for 1 hour. Remove bread from the pan and cool bread directly on the wire rack until ready to slice and serve.
- Cover and store banana bread at room temperature for 2 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Banana bread tastes best on day 2 after the flavors have settled together. See post above for freezing instructions.
Notes
- Special Tools (affiliate links):Â 9×5-inch Loaf Pan | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Silicone Spatula | Cooling Rack
- Butter: If needed, you can use salted butter in this recipe with no other changes needed. I’ve also successfully reduced the butter down to 6 Tablespoons (85g) with no issue (just as tasty).
- Brown Sugar: This is not an overly sweet quick bread. If you want a sweeter banana bread, increase to 1 cup (200g) brown sugar. Feel free to replace some or all of the brown sugar with regular white granulated sugar.
- Cream Cheese Frosting: This banana bread also tastes fantastic with cream cheese frosting on top! To make it, beat 4 ounces (112g) of softened cream cheese and 1/4 cup (60g) of softened unsalted butter together on medium speed until smooth. Beat in 1 cup (120g) of confectioners sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract, and a pinch of salt until combined. Spread on cooled loaf.
- Banana Bread Muffins: Use this banana bread recipe to make 15 banana bread muffins. Spoon the batter into a lined or greased muffin pan (fill each to the top with batter) and bake for 5 minutes at 425°F (218°C); then, keeping the muffins in the oven, reduce the oven temperature to 350°F (177°C). Bake for an additional 16–17 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The total bake time for the banana bread muffins is about 21–23 minutes. The initial burst of hot air helps those muffins rise nice and tall! Or try my quick & easy banana muffins.
- Brown Sugar: Feel free to substitute the same amount of regular white granulated sugar or coconut sugar. I do not recommend any liquid sweeteners.
- No Sour Cream or Yogurt? Feel free to use 1/3 cup mashed banana (in addition to the 2 cups), unsweetened applesauce, or even canned pumpkin puree.
- Frozen Bananas: You can use frozen bananas here. Thaw the frozen bananas. Drain off any excess liquid, mash, then use as instructed in the recipe. See How to Freeze & Thaw Bananas for Baking. Try not to mash too much or else you’ll be left with 2 cups of banana-y liquid; some chunks are great.
- Chocolate Chips: I love this bread with chocolate chips, too. Feel free to add 1 cup of your favorite chocolate chips. No need to leave out the nuts if you add the chocolate chips. Chocolate chips and nuts are both optional.
- Can I Turn This Into Banana Bundt Cake? There isn’t enough batter. I recommend using my extremely similar, scaled-up recipe for chocolate marble banana Bundt cake instead. You can leave out the chocolate swirl in that recipe.
This is my son’s favorite banana bread (mine as well!). As soon as he eats one loaf, he’s asking for me to make again! I add in Enjoy Life brand chocolate chips and frost with Sally’s cream cheese frosting. Absolutely divine!
I LOVE this recipe. I had a lot of ripe bananas and was looking for ways to use them. The only ingredient I lacked was cinnamon but it still turned out wonderfully. The smell of it baking was just heavenly. Thank you for sharing this!
Hi Sally!Just reiterating what your other subscribers have already commented.This banana bread is the best thing happening to us in our self isolation!!I had not baked a banana bread since my teen years but some over ripe bananas on the shelf got me to search a recipe and I am so glad I chose yours.Tastes awesome, looks amazing and totally fool proof.I followed your recipe to the tee and added the chopped walnuts and yoghurt.Going for a second slice with no regrets!!
I am notoriously bad at baking but I can say with confidence that this recipe is fool proof and turned out delicious! Thank you for sharing
Made this today – haven’t cut into it yet but it smells divine! The hous3 smelled sooo good when it was baking!
This banana bread is the best banana bread ever I’ve had …. I followed all measurements except I used only 2 bananas and just Chocolate chips and it’s turned out so delicious…. 10/10 for sure . It tasted extra good the day after . Thankyou sally !
Very moist & delicious! Oops I think I commented where it was suppose to be a reply previously.
My granddaughter & I made this recipe this afternoon & it turned out delicious! The whole house smells wonderful too! I did not have any yogurt so we used sour cream & am very pleased with the moistness & flavor. I moved recently so unfortunately most of my stuff is still packed including my mother’s recipe for banana bread which might rival yours, 🙂 lol. Her recipe always comes out moist & not at all dry so when I saw your recipe online I knew I had to try it. Thanks for sharing with us & may God bless you in these difficult times of social distancing.
Outstanding recipe and very ease
I made this recipe with my 5yo son this morning. It was easy and came out perfect. My son wanted to make sure I let Sally know that he gives it two thumbs up. Very good recipe!
It’s in the oven as we speak – the aroma in the whole smells of deliciousness Can’t hardly wait to have a slice before bedtime Thank you for sharing the recipe .
Jamie
Made this today and it was delicious but not sure the texture was right – it was more moist than a crumbly texture – what did I do wrong?
Hi Sally; your website is my most trusted source when I am in search of a baking recipe! 🙂 Do you have a recommendation for bake time if making this recipe into 2 mini-loaves?
Thanks so much, Lauren! Bake them at 350F. The bake time depends on the dimensions of the loaves. Keep a close eye on them and use a toothpick to test for doneness.
Truly the best recipe! We just made it and it turned out so perfectly! Thank you so much. Looking forward to making more of these recipes
Added chocolate chips since chocolate is one of the food groups in my family. It was perfect.
For almost 50 years, my go-to banana bread was Betty Crocker’s banana nut bread. Easy and delicious! BUT…a few years ago I developed some intestinal dysfunction that means I can no longer eat nuts; and without the nuts, that banana bread was too plain. I’ve been searching and baking and trying to find a really great banana bread, and yours is IT! My husband loves it too. It’s probably even more delicious with nuts, but I am thrilled to find a recipe that I can make without nuts that is so wonderfully tasty and moist! Thank you!
Mine is baking as I type. I am extremely excited to try it because it’s my first try a making banana bread and this recipe seems to be getting great reviews. Staying inside has awakened my inner baker.
I have made this recipe so many times I’ve lost count. It is THAT good. Of course as we are in times where there is lack of baking ingredients, but there are so many different things you can use to substitute in the recipe as you can see from previous reviews. I’ve made my own buttermilk instead of using yogurt last time I made this bread. And today the only yogurt I had was a kids vanilla Gogurt stick. Just under a 1/3 of a cup and made no difference in taste. Still absolutely amazing! Love you and your recipes Sally. They are keeping us all from going crazy at the moment.
I don’t have any plain yogurt or sour cream. I only have vanilla Greek yogurt. Would that be too sweet to substitute? Or could I just use an extra banana instead of the yogurt?
Hi Diana! Yes, see recipe note.
Omg Sally, I am in hog heaven since I found your blog and recipe. Made banana bread yesterday and it over the top. I can’t wait to share as a little treat for my friends.I have printed so many recipes and I can’t wait to start baking. Thank you thank you thank you. I love baking and you are a dream come true. I love all your hints about what to do and what not to do. Keep up the good work. We love it.
Made this today and it was amazing! I was out of brown sugar so I I used 3/4 the amount in maple syrup instead. I suppose one could add less liquid/more flour to compensate but it came out moist & delicious as is AND kept the wonderful brown color. Thank you for the recipe!!
I had some bananas that started to go brown and the first thought was a banana bread but I never even tasted (since I am in England) and it looks like I choose the perfect recipe ( I am always after the 5 * reviews). It is now in the oven for more than 30 min …I am so anxious to try it .. Hope it will be as good as yours .
No words to describe this recipe. I only bake banana bread just to get rid of banana left overs and my kids eat them for dessert with ice cream (Am not particularly fond of eating them myself though) But this Recipe is just heavenly. I used sour cream coz I ran out of yogurt… moist and just the right sweetness… thank you!
Love this recipe—I make this bread about every 6 weeks. Always turns out perfect and I usually make a double batch. Occasionally, I’ll substitute canned pumpkin for half of the bananas in the recipe. It’s delicious with almonds, pecans, walnuts, or raisins stirred in. I have yet to try the cream cheese frosting, but it looks wonderful. I am an experienced baker and find your website to be both inspiring and accurate. Thank you 🙂
My first time making banana bread. We loved it. Very moist. The recipe is easy to follow. I used sour cream and it was fine. I am waiting for my second loaf to come out of the oven at this moment. This time I used yogurt instead of sour cream. I will update you after we have it for dessert tonight. I am making sour cream frosting to finish it.
The reviews are all correct! This is truly the very best banana bread EVER! Thank you so much for the fantastic recipe! Just what we wanted right now and more!
I’m off to check out the rest of your site!
Best wishes!
Thank you so much for this recipe! I made this Banana Bread last week and it turned out perfect! I did have to substitute with home-made sour cream but it worked beautifully!
I think I might try the monthly challenge next!
Delicious!
I added chocolate chips instead of nuts. Just what was needed while staying at home!!
This is the best banana bread I have made! I stuck to the recipe and added about 1/3 cup of chopped dates in with the 3/4 cup chopped walnuts. My husband and I are in banana bread heaven at the moment. Thank you for sharing this recipe! We will keep using it again and again.
I have tried MANY banana bread recipes.. and this one by FAR takes the cake!!! I used 2 unsweetened apple sauce individual containers (the single serve ones) instead of eggs. I also used finely chopped walnuts. and WOW. Talk about perfection! Definitely adding this recipe to my book.
PS: I never take the time to leave comments on recipes either.. but I feel compelled to for this one. Kudos to you Sally!
Title is indeed appropriate. Can’t share the photo but it turned out delicious. I used half a cup of rolled oats to convince myself it’d be perfect. Reduced sugar to 2/3 and butter to 80g.