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): 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.
I have made many different banana bread recipes and have finally found my go to! It truly is the best tasting banana bread I have ever had. Thank you for sharing your recipes! I didn’t change a thing, except I had to bake about 15 minutes longer. I think my pan was smaller than recommended.
I loved the recipe. I have already baked it twice and everybody loved it. My only concern is the unbaked center of the bread. The whole bread bakes perfectly but some part of the bread at center remains uncooked every time. Can you suggest something to get it cooked thoroughly? Should I increase the baking time?
Hi Yashika, you’re correct — it sounds like the bread simply needs a few more minutes in the oven to be completely baked through. If you find your edges are browning too much at this point, you can tent them with foil so that they don’t continue to brown while the middle can continue to bake. Glad this bread has been such a hit!
Really good! I made it for school advisory snack
Made this absolutely delicious banana bread today. Left out the nuts and it was still perfect!
If I bake 2 loaves at a time, do I adjust the baking time?
Hi Joni, You can check the bread after 60-65 minutes. A toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf will come out clean when the bread is done. Enjoy!
Loved the bread. Awesome recipe. Thanks.
When you baked this how many did it serve?
Have made this a couple times and my family raves about it! Was wondering though…would this recipe work for mini loaves? And would you need to change anything…bake temp, time, etc? Thanks!!
Hi Tara, we’re unsure exactly how long a mini loaf will take but use a toothpick to test for doneness. A toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf will come out clean when the bread is done. Use the same baking temperature. You can tent with foil if the bread starts getting dark in the oven. Enjoy!
Excellent….love that she gave weight measurements in recipe. Because flour can be tricky. My suggestion is to weigh your flour (grams). I did comparison …weighed one cup of flour and had to remove about a third cup to get it to the amount in grams. This makes a difference. One cup of flour is not as accurate as weight in grams. It can totally effect a recipe in baking.
This is it. The greatest banana bread recipe of all time. My search is over.
…now what do I do with my life?
Banger of a recipe! Turned out great.
This is an amazing recipe <3!
My wife and boys loved the bread. Only bad thing was that the bread didn't rise quite like in your video :'(. I followed instructions and timing as described, but the bread looks flat almost with just a little bump in the middle haha! . Any tips for future batches?
Thanks for putting this up!
Hi Lionel, so happy to hear that you enjoyed this recipe! I recommend making sure that your baking soda is fresh – we find it can lose strength after just 3-4 months. Also be careful to mix just until the batter is combined – over-mixing can lead to squat, dense bread. Hope these tips help for next time!
Thank you so much for a wonderful recipe, the bread came out amazing I took pictures to show but it seems that I can’t include them here .
May blessings
5 star recipe. I have always been known for my banana bread, now it is better! I like the cinnamon and yogurt. My secret ingredient is 2 tsp of vanilla bean paste!! It is a little expensive, but worth it. It is hard to find in stores so order online if you want to take your recipes to the next level. : )
Lori, Thanks for the upgrade tip on this already awesome recipe. Never heard of PASTE! Do you use in same recipe portions to the liquid vanilla extract?
I’m not the person who you asked this question, but yes, you use the same amount that you use of the liquid. however, I do like this baker and double the vanilla in my recipes.
I love this banana bread and mine came out perfect at 350 degrees, 1 hour. Could you please share the nutritional information (sodium, sugar, carbs, calories)?
Hi Barb, thanks so much for giving this banana bread a go! We’re thrilled you enjoyed it. We don’t usually include nutrition information as it can vary between different brands of the same ingredients. Plus, many recipes have ingredient substitutions or optional ingredients listed. However, there are many handy online calculators where you can plug in and customize your exact ingredients/brands. Readers have found this one especially helpful: https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076
Very easy to make and my bread turned out perfectly. I used flax eggs.. 1 tbsp of flax seed powder plus 1/4 cup of water. Added a bit more yogurt than was in the recipe.
Took 30 extra minutes at 375°, and not sweet enough. Would not use this recipe again.
I’m going to try this recipe this afternoon. I haven’t got flour and baking soda. I’m just going to use self raising flour, after all it’s just the same as the plain flour/baking powder combination (it’s literally the recipe for SR flour). I’ll be using sour cream. Hope it isn’t a flop but I always adjust as I go. If I see it isn’t the right consistency in the mixing bowl, I’ll add something. 177 degrees celsius is a really weird temperature though. The standard is 180 so I am going to go with what I know. I am expecting a slightly longer bake time judging by the comments. Ok I’m off to the kitchen now 🙂
Found this recipe this afternoon, read all the negative comments and failures but decided to give it a go anyway. The only changes I made were by using sour cream instead of yogurt and by adding a cupful of golden raisins. I was also out of walnuts so used crushed pecans instead. The results were phenomenal! I couldn’t believe how beautifully it rose and was impressed that the fruit was evenly distributed and hadn’t sunk to the bottom! Next time, I’m going to add the zest of an orange and add some candied orange peel along with my golden raisins. This is one of the most flavorsome tea breads I have ever made and I’m so glad that I ignored the negative comments!!! Thank you for my latest addiction…
This recipe is so NOT SWEET that I checked to make sure I read the sugar right. Would never make this again!
I’ve made this recipe twice this week, for the first time.
The result is a truly delicious bread/cake that is very moist.
It will now be my go-to banana bread recipe
My family enjoyed this so much we are making it again! We used blueberry yogurt instead of plain yogurt and it was very delicious
I’ve made this recipe multiple times and never had any problem with it. In fact I just made another loaf tonight. I find that the baking time varies a little depending on how much moisture is in the bananas, but the result is always great. I wonder if the people who didn’t get a rise also didn’t use sour cream or yogurt. I assume that’s the acidic ingredient that reacts with the baking soda.
If you follow the instructions and don’t overmix the batter, it should turn out perfectly.
I’m surprised to see so many disappointed comments.
I made this tonight and it’s actually the best recipe I’ve tried.
I used sour cream instead of yogurt.
One hour in the oven was perfect.
Very dense, more like cake. Probably wouldn’t make again.
I agree. I made this and its very dense/cakey, almost like too much flower. Followed recipe to a T.
Just the best recipe for me. I’ve been using this for maybe years!
Love this recipe! If you have a gas oven, no need to cover the top with foil to stop the browning, it will only extend the baking time. Thank you, Sally!
I made this today but had no vanilla or cinnamon so used vanilla yogurt. Also couldn’t find loaf pan so used Bundt pan. Cook time went to 55 min and was done perfectly. Did deflate a bit though.
Normally 350 for the temp and 60-65 minutes would work. But this recipe called for a little longer. Maybe 15-20 minutes longer. I did not use the yogurt until the recipe.
This is probably the best banana bread recipe I’ve tried so far and really moist. I did not use walnuts, I used chocolate chips instead and I plan on using this for French toast soon. Very yummy.
This is the best banana bread recipe ever and I have tried tons of recipes. I’ve made it several times now without the glaze, added chopped dates and walnuts and it’s turned out perfect. Thanks!
I couldn’t find my family recipe card and my bananas were ripe and ready, so I took to the internet to find something similar. This one fit the bill, and I’ve been happy with SBA recipes in the past. My banana bread turned out great, but it took 80 minutes to be fully done inside. I could tell it was going to need more time, when I saw how much batter was in my loaf pan. Not a big deal at all, and I foiled the bread at 40 minutes and let it cook for another 30. It was still too runny with a knife test so I popped the foil back on and let it cook for another 10 and it was perfect. All the folks getting upset about the cook time need to chill out. It’s just banana bread. Foil it and cook it a little longer.
I followed the recipe exactly and it came out perfectly. For moist and flavorful!
Totally flopped! I should have known that this needed baking powder too.
Great recepie after so many different ones i tried and all failed.
This one is perfect for me i can even play and change it a bit (1st time even used actimel instead of yogurt but added less butter – btw i used veg oil) .
The most important is to watch the batter consistency… should not be too liquid adjust by adding a bit more flour (and sugar). I had to use spoon to fill in the formes , it not pouring (btw with second portion i made cupcakes)
The other little chage … i have added 1 t. spoon baking powder and 0.5 of bicorbanade soda.
Thanks …
FINALLY.. found a great banana bread recipe. I didn’t change anything and mine came out perfect. I baked mine in a PC four slot, mini muffin loaf stone for 40 minutes. I also used four bananas. I used a stand mixer and stopped beating the batter before all the flour was incorporated. I finished incorporating the flour when I put in the nuts. This bread is perfect to add chips or a sugar topping as it is not “cake” sweet.