Banana Bread
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Say hello to your new favorite banana bread. This easy recipe bakes up with a tender crumb, rich flavor, and an irresistibly crisp crust. It’s a keeper.
On the hunt for the perfect banana bread recipe? Look no further—this is the one. Moist, fragrant, and just the right amount of sweet, it’s phenomenal fresh out of the oven and just as good toasted for breakfast the next day. My family loves it plain, but you can easily add nuts (I’m partial to walnuts) or chocolate chips if that’s your thing.
If you’re in the mood to mix it up, I’ve got plenty of options: marbled banana bread, chocolate banana bread, banana coconut bread, chai-spiced banana bread—and don’t forget banana nut muffins and banana chocolate chip muffins. After all, you can never have too many banana bread recipes!
“Best banana bread I’ve ever made! But it’s dangerous—I steal a slice each time I’m in the kitchen! Next up is Jenn’s pumpkin bread.”
What You’ll Need To Make Banana Bread
- All-purpose flour, baking soda & baking powder: These dry ingredients give the bread structure and lift. For best results with the flour, scoop it into your measuring cup with a spoon and level it off with a knife.
- Unsalted butter, sugar & large eggs: This trio brings richness, sweetness, and structure. The butter should be close to room temperature so that it’s soft enough to blend with the sugar. The eggs help bind everything together.
- Ripe bananas: Provide moisture, natural sweetness, and big banana flavor—the riper, the better. They should be dark yellow with lots of brown spots, or even fully brown. (Pro Tip: To ripen quickly, bake bananas in their peels at 250°F for 15 to 20 minutes until soft and blackened. Extra-ripe bananas freeze well too—just peel and store in a freezer bag until you’re ready to thaw and mash.)
- Lemon & vanilla extract: Lemon juice brightens things up and helps with lift, and vanilla adds a warm finishing note.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Mix the dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Whisk to combine. It’s important to whisk thoroughly; this distributes the leaveners evenly, so the loaf rises uniformly.
Step 2: Cream butter and sugar. In the bowl of an electric hand mixer (or a stand mixer), beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Creaming incorporates air into the batter, which helps the bread bake up light instead of dense.
Step 3: Beat in the eggs. Add the eggs one at a time and beat the mixture well after each addition.
Step 4: Add the bananas and flavorings. Mix in the mashed bananas, lemon juice, and vanilla extract.
Step 5: Mix in the dry ingredients. Add the flour mixture and beat on low speed until just incorporated. Don’t over mix. (Overmixing develops the gluten and can make the bread tough instead of tender.)
Step 6: Bake. Pour the batter from the mixing bowl into the prepared loaf pan, using a rubber spatula to get everything out of the bowl. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until a tester or toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Step 7: Cool and store. Let the bread cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, then turn it out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Banana bread will stay fresh for 2 to 3 days; freeze for longer storage.
Video Tutorial
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Banana Bread
Ingredients
- 1¾ cups all-purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled-off
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
- ¾ cup sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup mashed very ripe bananas, from 2 to 3 large bananas
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, from 1 lemon
- 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Butter and flour a 9 x 5-inch (23 x 13-cm) metal loaf pan.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the mashed bananas, lemon juice and vanilla extract and mix well. It will look a little curdled at this point; that's okay.
- Add the flour mixture and beat on low speed until just incorporated. Do not over mix. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. Let cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
Nutrition Information
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
Comments
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Best banana bread recipe I’ve ever used! I mixed the baking soda and baking powder with the wet ingredients (sounds like baking heresy but recommended by King Arthur Flour for a better rise), and added a generous half cup of toasted walnuts to the batter. I also scattered a handful of nuts on top of the batter.
My new favorite. Loved it!
I’am not a fan of baking , but I was in the mood for Banana Bread because I had over riped bananas. this was not only easy but delicious! I used coconut oil instead of butter and only 1/2 cup sugar and it came out excellent. I did add walnuts. YUM
The best ever and so easy to make. It makes me look like a winning baker!
I chuckled when you said this is your daughter’s favorite recipe. I have a family member that has to eat more simple tasting foods and this recipe won the prize. It is perfect texture and not too wet of a bread. It is very flavorful but not exotic….just plain and simply delicious. It is very good sliced and toasted or put on the griddle with butter. Kids will love it but the adults will too.
Hi I had several over ripe bananas in my freezer (just throw them in with the peel on, they look nasty but don’t take long to thaw and peel). This recipe is delish; for fun I subbed out the butter for coconut oil; and used about 1/4 cup of coconut sugar instead of regular white sugar. Also blitzed some regular oats in my blender and subbed in 3/4 for flour. The end result was lovely, likely a bit more dense due to my changes but still really moist and flavourful. I toasted some walnuts and had them on the side. Don’t get me wrong I love butter, just like to swap some with coconut oil if I think it will work, and it did! Thank you!
Thank you! Another brilliant recipe! So easy to follow with amazing results…I don’t think this loaf will last long!!
Can you use bottle lemon juice instead of fresh? Thanks!!!
Yes, that will work 🙂
what about lemon essential oil? i want to make this but dont have fresh lemon on hand
Hi Kim, I don’t know much about cooking with essential oils, so I’m really not sure– I’m sorry!
My family loves these!! My loaf pan was 9 x 6 so I decided to make muffins instead…baked for exactly 18 minutes…made 17 muffins….will make again soon!
Fantastic. I made this last week and actually ate it in the delivery room right after my baby was born. So delicious and comforting! It’s perfect as is, but I also added chocolate chips to part of the loaf as an extra treat. Yum. Will definitely make it again. Thank you!
What a nice post-delivery snack :). Congratulations on your new arrival!
I am using the same pan in a new oven, but in order to get the inside cooked through, the outside is getting a bit too brown. Should I try a lower temp for a few minutes longer? (I don’t have an oven thermometer). Many thanks Jenn!
Hi Abbie, You could try a slightly lower oven temp and extending the baking time by a few minutes, or you could keep the bread covered for part of the baking time so it doesn’t brown too much before it’s fully baked.
Outstanding!
Double recipe (made gifts and gave away)
Substituted 1/2 Oats, all Coconut Oil
No Sugar
Sprinkled Fresh Cranberries in the middle of batter with a sprinkling of brown sugar
Very Yummy!
Thanks for the tips! I love oats in banana bread, and the coconut oil is a brilliant idea. Also with the sweet banana cutting back or no sugar is an excellent idea.