With its super-moist and buttery texture, banana and brown sugar flavors, soft crumb, and 1,300+ reviews, this is a delicious AND undeniably popular banana bread recipe. You need 4 medium or 3 large ripe bananas.
I originally published this recipe in 2013 and have since added new photos and a few more success tips. It’s one of the most popular recipes I’ve published on this website, out of over 1,200. This recipe is such a fan favorite, that it deserved a spot in print! You’ll also find this recipe in my cookbook, Sally’s Baking 101.
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.
One reader, Tricia, commented: “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 many years ago, I never looked back.
Why You’ll Love This Banana Bread Recipe Too
- Mega banana flavor
- Not overly sweet, so banana flavor shines
- Dense, but still quite tender & soft
- Buttery & stays moist for days (tastes best on day 2, just like peanut butter chocolate chip zucchini bread)
- Straightforward, simple recipe
- Freezes wonderfully
- Excellent plain or with nuts or chocolate chips—or a swipe of cinnamon butter
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. Or for a chocolate version, try my double chocolate 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 1 and 1/2 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
- Baked Banana Oatmeal
- 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. This recipe is also in my cookbook, Sally’s Baking 101.
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 Greek yogurt or full-fat sour cream, at room temperature
- 1 and 1/2 cups (345g) mashed bananas (about 3–4 ripe bananas)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- optional: 3/4 cup (90g) chopped pecans or walnuts, or 1 cup (180g) semi-sweet chocolate chips
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 9×5-inch loaf pan with nonstick spray. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon together. Set aside.
- In a large bowl using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and brown sugar together on medium-high speed until light and creamy, about 3 minutes. (Here’s a helpful tutorial if you need guidance on how to cream butter and sugar.) With the mixer running on medium speed, add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in the yogurt, vanilla, and mashed bananas until combined.
- Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and beat on low speed just until combined. Do not over-mix. Fold in the nuts/chocolate chips, if using. The batter should be thick.
- Pour and spread the batter into the prepared baking pan. Bake for 60–65 minutes, making sure to loosely cover the pan 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. Cool the bread in the pan set on a cooling rack for 1 hour. Remove the bread from the pan and cool it directly on the rack until ready to slice and serve.
- Store wrapped tightly at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 9×5-inch Loaf Pan | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Silicone Spatula | Cooling Rack
- Update in 2025: With enough reader feedback stating the bread can often be too moist and dense, and therefore not bake properly, my team and I retested the bread multiple times over the past 2 years; we slightly reduced the amount of mashed bananas from 2 cups to 1 and 1/2 cups.
- 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 what is called for in the recipe), 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 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.
Reader Comments and Reviews
I just put my loaf in the oven and the smell is heaven! I make this
banana bread at least once a month and find the flavors just right…
not too complicated and perfect banana taste. The texture is light
and crumbly, not dense. If you find the flavor lacking in something,
you’ve got to try the cream cheese frosting! It’s over the top wonderful!
Hands down the best recipe for perfect moist banana bread. Not under cooked. Not overcooked. Perfect. Love the tinfoil idea. It kept the top from browning too much.
The cinnamon is subtle and amazing.
I just made this recipe & it’s cooling now. I wish I could post a picture because it really is beautiful and the house smells amazing!
Thanks Sally for the wonderful recipe. I’ve become a huge fan of yours over the last couple months & yours is my go to website for anything baking related.
Thanks again
Dan
Best banana bread!!
I have made many banana bread before but this is by far the best… the greek yogurt and brown sugar made a huge difference. It is a 5 star for me.
Dear Sally or anyone else who is a prof baker….can you please help the UK bakers! I tried this recipe and followed it to the letter and it was just too wet and over moist. My feeling is i didn’t add enough flour or 4 ripe bananas in the UK is too much banana!. 1 and 3/4 cups in UK does not =250g. 1 cup = 250G so 1 and 3/4 cups would be roughly 250 + 200 = 450g. I am terrible at maths so if anyone can help me that would be great. As the family love it but it was floppy and wobbly and like pulp
Followed this recipe exactly as written and it turned out perfectly. Moist, great flavor, easy to make! Thank you for sharing!
Wow, this banana bread came out just perfect! I didn’t make any changes, used sour cream and salted butter. Sticking to this recipe in the future. Thanks! 🙂
Love love this recipe the best banana bread I have tasted.
I tried many banana bread recipe and yours is my favorite (and the whole family as well!). Thank you for sharing this!
I replaced flour with gluten free and it turned out perfect . Loved the moist texture too . Thank you for sharing this recipe .
I have an old family recipe for banana bread that I love but since I love everything Sally does, I thought I would try this one instead. The only Sally recipe I’ve made that didn’t blow me away! It’s pretty similar to my family recipe but we add 3/4 c of white sugar in addition to brown and only 3 bananas. I will stick with that for now but I am going to try the frosting!
Overall a good recipe, but I followed it to the exact gram and it was far too wet. I would remove the sour cream entirely and replace it for more banana. Also, with the temperature and rack position, it needs at least 20 minutes longer to cook all the way through, or it will be slightly underdone. I hope this helps!
I really liked everything about this bread. I do beleive My bananas may have not been ripe enough. Maybe a little sweetness was missing. I will make again with riper bananas.
I’ve tried this recipe a couple times but thought not quite enough cinnamon so today I used about 3/4 tsp. Now it is just perfect! Thank you for this great recipe
Yummy. I love that the recipe uses yogurt. Texture was moist, perfect. My fav banana bread recipe to date.
This banana bread is amazing! Hubby and I dug into it when it was still hot out of the oven. I’ve used the same recipe for a long time and wanted to switch it up… so glad I did! This will be my new go to banana bread recipe.
OMG a total dream!!! perfect if you look for something fluffy, light, moist, ozing pure banana flavour. love the freshness from the yogurt. not very spic-y, but that is a plus for me. one big dilemma: why do you share freezing instructions, when any recipe I have ever tried from your website disappears from our table in less than 24 hours??? my family and friends love you 🙂 and thank you for providing replacement options, so precious for non US bakers 🙂
Just made this and veganized it easily enough. Used vegan butter, egg replacer and coconut yogurt. I was also short of bananas so I increased the coconut yogurt to make up the difference. This is going to be my new go-to! I love a recipe that is flexible.
I need to share that this recipe has now become my weekend therapy 🙂 It is so wonderful when a recipe leads you to the most perfect result. This one truly does that. I’ve now made this bread at least four times and I’m about to make it again. Thank you for taking the time to teach us about not over mixing! I didn’t know this and it’s helped me in all of my baking. Really appreciate this! xo
Perfect! I love the addition of the sour cream and the brown sugar. It’s been a long time since I’ve made banana bread. This will be my new go-to b.b. recipe.
I just finished baking this Amazing recipe! It’s moist and Super Tasty!
Perfect for breakfast Tea. I did not find mine was lacking in taste at all. Maybe the other’s did not use ripe enough bananas? Mine were very ripe! Thank You for this lovely recipe I’ll be making it again!
Love this Banana Bread recipe, but I use 1tsp Penzey’s Pie Spice instead of the 1/2 tsp cinnamon. Made this several times before and when I brought it to work several of my co-workers asked for the recipe. Sally’s recipes are my go-to for baking. Thank you for all you do
I tried this recipe this evening. The banana bread came out light and fluffy like others mentioned but I too felt something was lacking in the taste. Perhaps some extra cinnamon?
This was the best banana bread I ever made, it was very tasty and the cinnamon was a nice touch. I made it for work and my husband was trying to get into it all night, lol I was able to hold him off with a quick batch of brownies so the bread did make it into work
Wow, best banana bread I have ever had!! I used one of my grandkids banana/strawberry yogurts since that was what I had in the house. This will be the only banana bread I make from now on.
Looking forward to trying some of your other recipes.
I made this for the first time yesterday and love it. I only had whole wheat white flour on hand but that was the only alteration. I think banana bread is always better the second day. My husband and I both loved this recipe. The flavour was great and it was moist.
I doubled the cinnamon just because I like extra spice / flavor in things. Also added maple syrup as I LOVE banana pancakes :-). This was delicious and will be using it as my go to banana bread recipe. Thanks Sally!
Moist, delicious, moreish. This recipe works without fail, and I and my friends all LOVE it. Thank you.
Moist and luscious. Definitely a keeper.
Ok, now this is my favorite banana bread recipe! Delicious, fluffy, light…1 did add 1/4 cup more brown sugar & 1 teaspoon of cinnamon instead of a half tsp. I will make this recipe from now on, thank you!!!