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
You may have overtaxed it. I noticed this too the first time I made it, but the second time I made it, I was careful to not overmix. And wow did it turn out so yummy!
Thank you Sally for teaching amazing recipes i enjoy everything & I have tried most of your cakes all have come perfectly from the first try ❤❤ I want to send you a picture of each i have taken let me know how could I send.
I am from Sri Lanka hope you know my country.
Thank you very much for teaching ❤
Ayesha
This is the best banana bread ever! I’ve tried many recipes and this is the best! I added pecan nuts and chocolate chips and it didn’t even last 2 days! My family and friends love it! Thank you!
Fantastic recipe! Your quick breads are all to die for.
Question about technique. With this recipe and with the cinnamon swirl bread I seem to get a bit of sinkage. Not in the middle but it’s almost like a little moat. The center rises and the sides rise but there’s sinkage closer to the edges. Any idea what could be causing that? Flavor and texture is great! It’s just not the prettiest loaf 🙂
Hi Lyssa, my apologies on the delay. I’m just seeing your question now. Large quick breads tend usually bake up with a large crack in the center– it’s the air escaping from the bread as it bakes. For the sides, they’ll always be a bit lower because they don’t rise above the edge (only the center does). I hope I’m understanding your question and answering it well!
No worries! Thanks for the response. I did a little additional research and tried only greasing 1/2-1 in up the side of the loaf pan, rather than the entire side, and that’s solved my issue on the last two loaves. Just made your harvest bread and it’s the prettiest loaf yet! Baking and freezing for neighbor gifts for the holidays. Thanks!
I used olive oil instead of butter ! And it’s fine…
Thanks for this perfect recipe !!
Best banana bread ever!! I have tried multiple recipes for banana bread but none turned out as good as this one. Would highly recommend!
I made this wonderfully easy recipe last night. I put the batter in four small muffin tins sprayed with baking spray, then I sprinkled a tablespoon of raw sugar on top of each for crunch. After the first 5 minutes at 425°, I turned the oven down to 350° and baked for 20 minutes, checked them and gave them 5-10 more minutes (for a total of 30-35 minutes). They came out with a beautifully high crown (finally) and tasted delicious, tender and moist. Thank you for that temperature tip. My quick breads have NEVER risen so high before!! This recipe will be my go-to from now on!
This banana bread was a bit too moist, it jiggled when I poked it with a knife. It had too much liquid or not enough dry ingredients, I am not sure how to correct it. We prefer a bread with more of a crust on top. Anyway, we are still eating it so it is not bad!
I’ve tried a number of receipies for banana bread over the years and all of them were so-so and msny resulted in an over-baked or very under-baked breads with little yummy factor. This recipe is indeed the BEST BANANA BREAD RECIPE! I’m probably on my 6th or 7th loaf since I retiring 6 months ago. I will never use any other recipe for banana bread again.
It came out perfect and tastes divine.
This recipe is absolutely Devine! And so nice and moist!
It was a hit with the whole family!
Will always make this recipe from now on!
Flavour is good, but mine is dense as well. I let it cool down completely (because that’s a mistake I used to make in the past) , but it’s not fluffy. I don’t know why…
Oh well. It’s going in the tummy anyways 😉 nomnomnom
Best banana bread recipe ever! Simple,moist and absolutely delicious!
Absolute perfection!
I’m allergic to bananas and couldn’t try it but my family loved it. Ran out of yogurt so used five bananas.
Mine is sitting on the rack cooling right now. I did sneak a taste from a piece of the top, and if the rest of it is anything like that little piece… Then I have absolutely died and gone to heaven! Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge. I’ve made a few of your baking recipes now and so far, all are SOOO good. I’m becoming the go-to baker in the family! Next up is the German chocolate and red velvet recipes ☺️
I have made this banana bread for the second time this week now! (Only discovered the recipe last week having never tried let alone made banana bread). Walnuts are a must if you ask me! And my boyfriend got some of his friends trying it and it is partly by his request I have made another (who am I trying to kid, i didn’t need an excuse)! I also sent the link to my mum and she made it yesterday for her and my dad and it got a thumbs up there too!
My new favorite banana bread recipe, I also add peanut butter chips instead of chocolate because bananas and peanut butter are delicious together! Yum
I replaced the flour with gluten-free flour, and you’d never know the difference! It came out delicious.
Me too! I used gluten free flour and coconut sugar and it’s delicious!!
I do not have 4 bananas what can i use in addition
Hi Virginia, You can mash up the bananas you have then add enough unsweetened applesauce or canned pumpkin puree to yield 2 cups total. Or try this banana muffins recipe which calls for 3 large bananas.
This recipe is AWESOME! I did exactly what the recipe said and it turned out amazing, thank you so much for this!
“Your” Favorite Banana Bread Recipe has now become *my*favorite banana bread recipe.
This mounded into a large, beautiful, moist loaf of banana bread after I added 3/4 cups of chopped walnuts to the batter & a few decorate halves on top. Baked for a total of 70 minutes as the center wasn’t quite set at 60-65 minutes.
Turned out wonderful! I’ll be making this again & again.
I made this yesterday and I added chocolate chips instead of nuts. It’s already GONE. So moist so good. In my oven it took 52 minutes. Thank you for this recipe. I’m keeping it !
Hello. My banana bread came out fabulous I love it it was easy to make and the color was beautiful
Could I substitute full fat buttermilk for yogurt, and if so at what ratio would you suggest? I normally make recipes as written but my bananas are about to go bad and I do not have yogurt, sour cream, or applesauce, but I do have buttermilk since I just did a double batch of your chocolate peanut butter cupcakes this weekend!
Hi Robyn, You can (same amount), but for best texture–and so the bread isn’t too wet– I recommend the sour cream/yogurt. If you try it let us know how it turns out!
Followed recipe as written and it turned out great!
Hi Sally, Thank you so much for this amazing recipe!! Every bite had so much flavour and was definitely one of the best that I’ve ever tasted. Had a small problem though, mine didn’t rise that much and wasn’t that cakey. The colour was less brown too(even after using light brown sugar). Did this happen because I substituted baking powder instead of baking soda? Or was it because the temperature was too low? ( I used the recommended temp for 1 hour)
Hi Chanuli, Baking powder and baking soda are both leaveners, however they are chemically different and cannot be substituted for each other. For the best results stick to baking soda here.
Best banana bread I’ve made yet!! It was so moist. I made the cream cheese frosting to go with it and it was gone as soon as I finished frosting it!! Definitely making it this way from now on.
RIQUÍSIMO, ESPONJOSO Y MUY DUAVESITO,!!!GRACIAS DEFINITIVAMENTE ME QIEDO CON TU RECETA GRACIAS POR COMPARTIR CON NOSOTROS HEMOSA DIOS TE I ♥!!!!!
Very moist! All in all a very good banana bread recipe. I will make it again but I will add a little more sugar to suit my particular taste. I used mini loaf pans, so I had to reduce cook time by approximately 20 minutes. Thank you for the recipe.