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 and 1/2 cups (345g) mashed bananas (about 3–4 ripe bananas)
- 1/3 cup (80g) plain Greek yogurt or full-fat sour cream, at room temperature
- 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 mashed bananas, yogurt/sour cream, and vanilla 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 place it directly on the rack to cool completely before slicing and serving.
- 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
Can I bake this in a Dutch oven? If so are there any changes I need to make for the recipe to work? I have enough bananas to make 2 regular loaves but want to try it in the Dutch oven.
Hi Joe, we have not tested it but highly recommend sticking with a loaf pan here.
Hi Sally as always I loved this recipie too.
I just wanted to ask a friend of mine asked me to make it totally without sugar. Can I totally skip brown sugar in the recipie and let other ingredients remain as it is?? Possible?
Stay blessed
Not real sweet. I would add more sugar and more cinnamon. Took about 75 minutes.
This is, hands-down, the best banana bread I have ever made (and I have been cooking for over 50 years). Definitely weigh the ingredients. It makes a world of difference, especially since bananas vary in size so much.
Can this be baked in a dutch oven?
Hi Joe, we have not tested it but highly recommend sticking with a loaf pan here.
Delicious! It’s not overly sweet. I used coconut oil in place of butter. YUM!!!
Can I add a streusel topping? Would I need to change anything or would it be fine? Or maybe brown or normal sugar on top? I want something more than just the plain top
Hi Taft, you could definitely add a streusel topping if you would like!
Hi Sally my banana bread I made was still raw after65 min I am sure I followed the recipe as per instructions what did I do wrong
Hi Tom, happy to help troubleshoot! If you’re finding the center of the bread is under-baked, try a minute or two longer in the oven next time. If you notice the edges of the loaf baking before the center, you can loosely cover the top with aluminum foil to prevent the edges from over browning. What type of pan are you using? The bake time may be a few minutes longer for a glass pan. Do you use an oven thermometer? Many ovens run a little (or a lot!) off, so we always recommend using an in-oven thermometer to ensure you’re baking at the correct temperature.
I love this recipe! I’ve been making it weekly for a month. I recently doubled it and made it a two layer cake. My husband made a cream cheese peanut butter frosting with PB powder and it was sooo good!
Hello! I’m excited to make this recipe but I don’t have a stand mixer, just a hand mixer. Can I make this without the paddle attachment?
Hi Erin, yes, absolutely! You can use your hand mixer with the standard beater attachments.
I tend to be a tweaker and because of that rarely leave reviews, but you have cured me of that habit. I think it started with this banana bread.
How long time do you vook nanana bread? Could’nt find it in the recipe.
See step 5! Bake for 60–65 minutes.
This is ALMOST as good as my Grandma Mary’s. (This is the highest praise) Moist, sweet without being sugary. The only critism is it could use a TOUCH more spice
hi sally! can mangoes be used in place of bananas? it’s mango season and i have an abundance of them…trying to find other ways to make use out of them. ty 🙂
Hi Sonny, mashed mango doesn’t have the same consistency of mashed banana, so we don’t recommend that swap here. Bananas are best.
I had made this in 2024, and then again in June 2026. Today I was reading directly from this site and didn’t notice that the amount of bananas had been changed. I make notes when I make a recipe, so when I went to write my notes this time, I noticed the difference in the amount of banana. So I’ve made it both ways, with good results.
I previously had a hard time with banana bread before with it not being done in the middle, so I was researching using a Pullman Pan. I saw a comment on Reddit about someone using a Pullman Pan, using this recipe! There were a couple of comments on the thread about Sally’s 1recipes being the best. Knowing that being true, I decided to follow their advice.
Saying that, the bread came out fantastic (using the 345 grams of banana). The crumb was fine, and moist, being cooked consistently throughout. I’ll be making this in my 9 in x 4 in x 4 in Pullman Pan from now on. No making muffins instead of the banana bread. Thanks Sally!
I just made this bread. It smells delicious and looks good, but mine overflowed while baking, causing a burnt mess in the bottom of my oven. I measured the top inside of the loaf pan and its 9×5. What might have gone wrong? I used 4 normal size bananas. Perhaps a it too much.
Hi Berna! Did you measure the mashed bananas? You need 1 and 1/2 cups (345g) for this recipe. If you used more, that could be the problem!
This is one of my favorite recipes ever! I have made it multiple times and it turns out amazing each time! It is so moist, flavorful, and delicious!
Can this recipe be doubled
For best results, we recommend making two separate batches rather than doubling.
Can I use this recipe for mini bread pans as well? Say 6×3 size? Just wondering how to do that. Thanks
Hi Ellen, you can absolutely use this recipe to make smaller loaves. Yield and bake time will vary depending on the exact size of your mini loaf pans. Fill your pans about half way and use a toothpick to test for doneness. Enjoy!
Do you adjust the temperature for a fan oven or is the Celsius temp already adjusted?
Hi Laura, all of the recipes on this site are written for conventional settings. Convection ovens are fantastic for cooking and roasting. If you have the choice, we recommend conventional settings when baking cakes, breads, etc. The flow of air from convection heat can cause baked goods to rise and bake unevenly and it also pulls moisture out of the oven. If you do use convection settings for baking, lower your temperature by 25 degrees F and keep in mind that things may still take less time to bake.
Love this recipe so much!! I’d like to make it a tad bit sweeter. How much more brown sugar can I add without affecting the final product?
Hi Mary, we’re so glad you enjoyed it! This is already a pretty moist cake, so we fear that adding more sugar would make it difficult to bake through properly. You could add some vanilla icing on top, though, for added sweetness!
Would you be able to sub while wheat or oat flour?
Hi SueEllen, for whole wheat flour, here is our whole wheat banana bread recipe. We do not have a banana bread recipe that uses oat flour at this time.
I made this today and it turned out beautifully, I made it gluten free ,it was moist and fluffy. Only change the butter for oil.
Give it a go you won’t be sorry
I came across this recipe today and just made it. I like that it’s not too sweet but I do like a more dense banana bread. Do you have a more dense recipe. Thank you
Another five star recipe from Sally! Moist, buttery, not too sweet, and of course, it has a great banana taste. I put chocolate chips in mine–not many, maybe 1/3 cup of mini semisweet chips. Cooked about 70 minutes.
I did 6 mini muffins with the batter first (my 6 yo prefers muffins but she ended up loving the bread too!). I actually like these muffins a bit more than Sally’s usual banana muffin recipe, I may use this more often if I have the time to cream the butter and sugar.
Just made this and it came out perfectly! I can always rely on Sally’s Baking Addiction for the best recipes because they ALWAYS turn out great! We used walnuts and chocolate chips in ours and they’re so delicious – this is definitely going to be saved as my go-to recipe for banana bread.
It was amazing
This recipe was so easy and came out fantastic! Would highly recommend trying.
Just made this banana bread and I’m very happy with the result! Made it without any optionals (choco chips etc.) and it turned out so tasty. Will definitely be saving and making it again.
Can I freeze this cake ?
Sure can, Vanessa! See the section in the post above called “How to Freeze Banana Bread.”
Just made this and it was delish! Only change was I used a 6×9 smallish pan. Cooking time was a bit shorter, I kept an eye on it. So yummy!