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.
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, 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
- 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
- 1 and 1/2 cups (345g) mashed bananas (about 4 medium or 3 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
- 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 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.
Reader Comments and Reviews
Best banana bread I’ve ever made. I might have eaten the entire loaf by myself in two days. 🙂 I made the recipe exactly, adding pecans and chocolate chips. I did have one unusual thing happen with this recipe, in that the banana bread rose by quite a bit out of my standard loaf pan, which has never happened before. I bake in a large countertop oven and had to cover the top with foil to keep it from burning. Next time, I’ll bake it in a shallower dish or make muffins. I’m still trying to figure out what combination of ingredients caused the extra leavening, which, of course, made for a super moist and fluffy banana bread. I’m surprised some folks say it is too dense for them — maybe it’s because I bake by weight rather than volume, so I used the exact amount of banana and other ingredients. Anyway, I’d give this one six stars if I could.
Made it with slightly less available banana and it was delicious. Will use this recipe again!
can I use half whole wheat flour and half AP flour in this recipe?
Hi Laura, the bread will be denser/heavier if you use a combination of whole wheat + AP flour, or you might enjoy our whole wheat banana bread recipe instead.
made this into muffins and added chocolate chips to the batter before baking. they turned out wonderful! my mom tried them, and said they were very moist. one reason that I made this recipe is because my friend made them and brought me one for lunch once to try. once I tried one, I was hooked! I had to make them for myself. the rest is history.
overall, 8/10 ❤
Please provide the nutritional value with nuts.
Thank you
Hi William, 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
Can I use margarine instead of unsalted butter?
Hi Ajayla, margarine has a higher water content than butter and won’t cream with the sugar like butter does. We don’t think it would be a good swap.
Good morning! Would bread flour work instead of all-purpose?
Hi Leslie, we don’t recommend bread flour, it would yield a dense and chewy banana bread. It’s best to stick with all purpose for banana bread!
I tried this recipe and after about 20 minutes of baking, noticed some bubbly pockets started appearing on the sides of the cake. I have tried different recipes of banana bread over the years but this has never happened. I followed the recipe to the letter. Any idea what could have gone wrong ? I appreciate your feedback
Hi Patricia, how to did the loaf turn out for you? We haven’t experienced that before, but perhaps it was smaller pockets of butter that were melting as the bread baked. Did the butter seem to cream properly with the sugar?
I concluded that it may have been brown sugar lumps that were creating these bubbles. I did notice some brown sugar/butter lumps in the batter before baking.
The bread itself ended up for the most part ok on the inside. Those pockets on the edges became crispy which is why I think it probably was brown sugar. After a few days I felt the bread was a little dry, but that may be because I over baked it. Banana bread is always tricky IMO. Thank you for your help!
I tried the banana bread recipe and everyone loved it. It came out nice and very moist. Mary D.
Just made this recipe using the muffin instructions. Delicious. Amazing moist crumb. Will share with my daughters and friends I love.
Thank you for writing updates!!! I was trying to figure out why my family thought they were to dry! They loved the previously super moist loaf haha.
The reduced butter, was that also a 2025 change to the recipe?
Again, so appreciate the update notes!!!!! You are my go to recipe person!!!
Can this recipe be doubled?
Hi Fatima, for best results, we recommend making two separate batches rather than doubling.
I was on what appeared to be a futile mission to find a fool proof banana bread recipe. I have had many flops, and was feeling so disappointed. I made this today, for the second time, after making it in January, and pleased to report it came out perfect both times! Thank you so much for a great recipe that even I can get right!
This was delicious! The only problem I had was the sides and bottom getting a bit too hard. I baked for 60 minutes, should I try 55? Thanks!
Hi Jill, yes, you can try a shorter bake time. Always use bake times as a guide and keep an eye on your banana bread in the oven!
I do enjoy your recipes. Question: Can I substitute sour cream for milk? Please advise how much so I won’t ruin this delicious banana recipe. Thank You.
Hi Maria, you can use buttermilk (not regular milk) instead of yogurt or sour cream (same amount), but the batter will be on the thinner side and, as a result, the baked bread will end up a little squat without as much rise. We recommend sticking to the recipe for best results.
Delicious bread
Has become an absolute staple in my family. So moist and flavorful. My husband asks for this made in a 9×9 as his birthday cake topped with cream cheese frosting. Always get the best compliments on it, and I eagerly share the recipe whenever asked 🙂
This bread is wonderful. I used vanilla bean paste instead of regular vanilla, left out the nuts as my daughter doesn’t care for them and added 3/4 cup butterscotch chips instead. I also used your note that 6 Tbs. of butter will work fine, and it does. I didn’t add the cream cheese frosting since the butterscotch chips are sweet.
Hi
Im from Australia. When you say baking soda do you mean bicarbonate of soda or baking powder. Im thing you mean Bi-carb. Just double checking.
Hi Elizabeth, I believe our baking soda is what you would call Bi-carb.
i only had one egg on hand when i made this and it still turned out perfect!!!
I used sour cream. Keeper of a recipe. Didn’t change a thing. Always enjoy this website.
I just made this yesterday. I used Greek yogurt, 1/2 whole grain flour and accidentally left out the sugar. It was still amazing.
I love all of your recipes and they are a huge hit every single time. I’m going to try this recipe today. No doubt it will be delicious. Thank you for sharing your talent!
Thanks for the recipe. It was amazing.
How can I get a better banana flavor? The bananas seem ripe enough and I’ve even heated them in the oven for 5-7 minutes to try to help. Any suggestions?
Hi SandyzCatz, were your bananas ripe enough? Spotty bananas are key to the bread’s taste—it isn’t overly sweet, so that the banana flavor can really shine though. Thank you for giving this a try!
I freeze my bananas! When you unfreeze them they’ll look ugly (skin is black, banana is all soft) but this is how you get the most flavor.
EXCELLENT BANANA BREAD! Big banana flavor. My absolute favorite banana bread. The changes I made were to decreased the brown sugar to 1/3 cup, and added 1 Tablespoon molasses. Increased cinnamon to 1 tablespoon plus added 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg. Used greek protein low cal. yogurt, And added a total of 1 1/4 cup walnut halves. Thank you Sally for all your yummy recipes.