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
Hi Sally – is it okay to use a glass loaf pan? Like a pyrex? Will baking time change?
Yes, definitely. Bake time may be slightly longer if using a glass pan, but a toothpick to test for doneness is always the best way to determine!
I’m a pretty good baker, and sadly this did not turn out well at all. There was a weird gummy layer at the bottom of the pan and it was barely sweet. Are used dark brown sugar and I even added a couple of tablespoons of white sugar. I’m thinking maybe my bananas were not overly ripe enough, although they mashed very easily and were very soft and brown spotted on the outside but not totally black. As noted by others I had to cook it almost 25 minutes longer for the insides to be done with the toothpick test, it looked pretty good coming out of the oven and then it kind of deflated when it cooled. I know it’s not my soda and flour because I just made a cake last week which was fine. I’ll try it one more time but I can’t imagine how it will differ because I followed the recipe exactly other than the addition of the little bit of white sugar. Very sad since since so many said how wonderful it was and I love banana bread.
I just made this banana bread. It was the best I’ve ever had. Very moist and not too sweet. Looking forward to having for breakfast. Great tip on mashing the bananas in the blender!
Ummmm this recipe is the BEST. I tried top four upon google search. This is THE recipe. Seriously. No crap. So good. I pull my loaf out before it cools completely turn it upside down and use a glass syringe to inject 1/4 milk and tsp of white sugar heated until dissolved for added moisture too.
I normally do not like banana bread. I went back for seconds on this one after my son and I made it. Will bake again, thank you so much for the recipe.
As I said in a previous comment, my bread was currently in the oven. I took it out a couple hours ago and just tasted it. Perfect. I checked for doneness at 61 minutes and the knife came out clean My banana bread is perfectly moist. I think cooking it on the lower rack and covering with foil after the first 30 minutes was key.
Delicious, can I slice then freeze .?
I’ve had a recipe in the family for years that included 4 bananas as well.. Could not find it. So I made this one. As I’ve always smashed and not blended the ingredients I was excited to try a new recipe! It did not disappoint! I loved using only the brown sugar! It seemed that the bread was more airy/lighter.. Was so delicious!! I did add a topping of sugar/cinnamon/flake salt… Whoa!!!! Can’t wait to try added ingredients! Thank you.. I’m stalking you on Instagram.. Lol.
I took one users advice and added 1/2 tsp garam masala to this recipe. Otherwise I made it as stated. It is in the oven cooking right now. I read some users felt that the bread took much longer to bake than the stated 60-65 min. Perhaps Sally can tell us the size and type of pan she used, e.g., glass, non-stick, silicone…as these can make a difference in bake time.
Delicious!
Outstanding results!
Delicious. Will definitely make again.
Omg this bread was fantastic! I had to leave mine on for about an extra 20 minutes but but it could be that my oven is different. I added chopped walnuts and white chocolate chips. It’s so moist inside. I hate nothing more than dry cake!!!!! Thanks so much for this recipe!
I made it, it was delicious.Thanks from Pakistan.
Made this today and it turned out perfectly!! It’s beautiful as well as delicious!! I highly recommend!
I followed the recipe and used Greek yogurt and added chopped pecans. Amazing!
Thanks for posting!
This recipe is delicious! Would highly recommend. I add raisins instead of nuts and the results are still great.
Going to be trying this recipe today, looking forward to it after seeing all these positive comments. I do have a question however. I have a partner who isn’t a fan of walnuts, I know I can leave them out.. But what about adding a little blueberry in its place?
This is probably the best banana bread I’ve ever made. Using super-ripe bananas is key to rich flavor. I used dark brown sugar, doubled the cinnamon, and added walnuts. The yogurt was a great addition – thanks!
Great recipe! Perfect consistency and smells amazing. The only thing is I needed to cook it for about 20 min longer to get the middle solid (could just be my loaf pan size/oven antics ).
This recipe is simply absolutely delicious Made mine yesterday and it took everything for hubby and I to freeze some for later
Thank you!
quarantines….day 17
Your incredible recipes are so appreciated right now. We made banana bread today and it was incredible! Normally, we would be too busy even think about what to do with “over ripe” bananas and bake with family! Times are changing…many things for the better. We look forward to more baking and bonding. Thanks for sharing.
I found your site by looking for banana bread, glad it did! I added cinnamon vanilla yogurt, a little dark rum and sprinkled sesame seeds on top, it’s great!
I had a lot of Bananas i made this in 1 single and 3 double batches. It turned out 10 loaves of various sizes. I only had Black Cherry yogurt (fruit on bottom kind ) so I used it and they all turned out great. I am on my way to deliver a few of them now. Thanks for a great moist and flavorful bread.
Can I use coconut sugar instead of brown sugar?
Yes. Same amount.
Made this today and it was very moist and full of banana flavor, exactly what I wanted! Definitely keeping this as my go to recipe! However, I personally like my banana bread sweeter so next time i think i’ll add 1/4 cup of sugar for my own preference. I complimented the bread I made today with whipped cinnamon honey butter. Amazing!
I have never baked before and out of stay at home due to the virus desperation I made this. I put walnuts and chocolate bits inside and chocolate covered toffee bits. It the most awesome thing I ever made. Thank you!
I do not like really sweet banana bread – so this recipe is PERFECT! I added in a heaping 3/4 cup of mixed pecans and walnuts – absolutely delicious! Thank you!
I used sour cream and added chocolate chips and the whole family loved it! I will definitely be making this again!
Sally – Perfect recipe, thank you! Rich, moist and sooo delicious. My 5 year old daughter and her 70 old year old grand ma both loved it so much that they finished the loaf in one sitting.
I was tempted to use pumpkin pie spice instead of the cinnamon but decided to make as specified (or at least as close as possible) my first try.
I couldn’t find my loaf pan so I made muffins.
1. Delicious!! Thanks for including that variation.
2. The reeeallly want to stick to the paper muffin liners. The recipe only made about 20 muffins, and the pan has room for 16. So the 2nd batch was only 4 muffins. I tried spraying with cooking spray. I’m not sure if it helped since the last 4 got mixed in.
Hi Steve, I’m so happy you enjoyed this recipe as muffins! I always use grease proof liners which really help with so many things including sticking. You can always make them in your muffin pan and just grease the pan and skip the liners.