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
This is the QUEEN BEE of all banana bread recipes ever. I’ve been making it for years in every possible variation and it has never come out less than incredible. No bakery banana bread I’ve paid for holds a candle to this one. The internet can go ahead and delete all other banana bread recipes, this should be the only surviving banana bread.
I have made this recipe a lot! It’s delicious! To make it a little healthier: reduce the sugar to 1/4 cup, used golden wheat flour (the whole wheat but tastes light), using cooking olive oil or grape seed (unsaturated fats). Also, I use really ripe bananas! Yum!
I struggle with finding a banana bread recipe that doesn’t end up being too dense and goopy.
This turned out so well and was a lovely, fluffy and moist.
I did not have brown sugar so I used sugar in the raw and it turned out well!
This came out way too dry.
Just noticed that you have two cups written as 250g instead of 500g on your banana bread recipe
Hi Denise, we use the measurement of 125g for 1 cup of AP flour.
LOVE your recipes. You are TRULY AMAZING.
Thanks for sharing your recipes. I never had a
“failed” recipe, since I started using recipes.
Your coconut cake is the “BOMB”!
Hello! Just made this for my family and for some reason it’s come out very dense and the opposite to bread like. I used 4 bananas and everything else was the same. Any help?!
Easy and delicious! I used *Greek Gods – Honey Vanilla Greek Yogurt* because why not right?? So good! I also found one batch will also make 5 dozen mini muffins, bake time 20 min. They dont come off the paper liners very well tho. Any tips
Hi Amanda, the liners you use make a big difference – we always recommend using high quality grease-proof liners for best results. Thank you for giving this recipe a try!
I have just made this – so easy to make and so delicious – a hit with all the family. I would go as far to say that it’s the best banana bread I’ve ever made. I only used 110g of sugar and found this sweet enough. I used Kefir yoghurt so also helping my gut 🙂 I’m in the UK and love that you’ve also given metric measurements. I look forward to exploring your other recipes. Thank you.
Would I be able to use vanilla Greek yogurt?
Hi Megan, yes, that will work in a pinch.
Forgot to add a rating – 5/5, obviously 🙂
I can see why this recipe is so popular, it’s fantastic and now my go-to for banana bread!
The ingredient ratios and instructions are perfect. I use greek yogurt and add pecans. I follow the recipe mostly to the letter, with a couple very small additions – addition of 1/4 teaspoon each of nutmeg and cardamom, and a scant layer of sugar sprinkled on the sides and bottom of the loaf pan after greasing. Gives a nice bit of added carmelization to the outside of the loaf. Thank you!
Could you use a square pan if you do not have a loaf pan?
Hi Jocelyn, You could use a 9-inch square pan. The bake time will be a little shorter, although we are unsure of the exact time needed. Same oven temperature.
What type of plain Greek yogurt (fat free, 2% etc.)?
Hi Karen, you can use any of those.
Is it possible to make this recipe into muffins so its easier to eat and share?
Hi Nita! You can follow this recipe exactly and make it into muffins, or here’s our reader favorite banana muffins recipe.
I have a print out of an earlier version of your recipe that has the exact ingredients except it calls for 2 cups mashed banana instead of 1 1/2 cups. This older version also includes the yogurt/sour cream. What is the difference in how the two versions come out? I’m planning on baking it in advance for a Super Bowl gathering. Thanks!
Hi dsg, see recipe Notes: 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. Both versions include yogurt/sour cream!
I’d love to bake these as mini loaves, is that possible? How much would I need to reduce the baking time?
Thanks!
Hi Alyssa, absolutely. Bake time will vary depending on the exact size of your mini loaves. Keep a close eye on them and use a toothpick to test for doneness.
May i used olive oil instead of butter
Hi Joann, in place of the butter here, you could try solid coconut oil or even a plant-based butter. You need a fat that is solid at room temperature so that it can be creamed together with the sugar.
Made 2 loaves less than 2 weeks ago and making 2 more today. This is soooo good. I made a brown butter brown sugar glaze as well, and it was the best banana bread ive ever had. Don’t tell my mom I said that tho
This recipe is absolutely perfect in every way! Do it exactly as written, or don’t… If you have any instincts for baking like Sally does, you will get this right every time I wish I could post a picture of how perfect our loaves turned out
Best banana bread I’ve ever made. Texture was perfect. First time I ever used yogurt. Thanks for the excellent recipe.
Hey Sally! Big fan of everything you do. We actually say a little prayer to Sally before I put anything in the oven lol.
How long in a 6 cup loaf pan? I have these funky designed ones i want to try out.
Hi Jennifer! A 9×5 inch loaf pan holds about 8 cups of batter, so the bake time for your 6 cup pan will be slightly shorter but we’re not sure of the exact bake time. Keep an eye on it and use a toothpick to test for doneness. Thank you so much for trusting our recipes!
Delicious way to not waste bananas!! I am enjoying it now with a spread of butter (it IS called banana BREAD, right?) and it’s terrific.
What a pleasure …
First try out ..perfect
Already half the loaf devoured by the family.
Thanks!
Hello! Can I substitute the butter with oil instead?
Hi Silvia, in place of the butter here, you could try solid coconut oil or even a plant-based butter. You need a fat that is solid at room temperature so that it can be creamed together with the sugar.
It’s just perfect in every possible way ♥️
Had to bake it for extra 7 minutes tho, but otherwise wise wouldn’t change a thing
Excellent recipe! It is not too sweet.
Added minced pecans, chocolate chips and a small amount of white chips. Made mini bundt cakes with this recipe. As they were cooling, I made a rum & confectioners sugar glaze and dipped top quickly into the glaze. Not too sweet.
Great per usual. I used light tasting olive oil, and King Arthur’s “golden wheat” (light tasting) flour. I also reduced the brown sugar by 1/4th cup, since my bananas were super ripe. I think you could have some fun with this recipe and add the same spices as a pumpkin bread (nutmeg, cloves, etc). Either way, delicious recipe! Thanks!
Sally,
I followed the directions pretty closely and it turned out great! Might add a little more sugar or try apple sauce instead of sour cream for a bit more sweetness. But, it came out moist and delicious. Thanks
I use apple sauce and it’s really moist and not too sweet.
Could I use a 9×13 or 11×7 in a pinch, perhaps?
Hi Fiona, here’s our similar banana cake recipe for a 9×13 pan!
honestly this banana bread brought some deep emotions out of me when i ate a piece (id baked earlier) after a late shift at work – it reminds me of the stuff i had when i lived overseas as a kid – thank you Sally’s Baking !
My go to banana bread recipe. Absolutely perfect!
Can this recipe be doubled? Or should I make 2 separate batches?
Hi Mj! For best results, we recommend making two separate batches rather than doubling.