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.
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If I want some dome should an extra 1/2 c of flour do it??
Thanks, the guy at 9k ft.
Jim
Hi Jim, I’d suggest using an additional 1/4 cup of flour (just keep in mind that the cake won’t be quite as moist).
Hi, The recipe looks yummy. I was wondering if this bread/ cake will stay fresh and moist for 3-4 days as I need to carry it with me while traveling. Can we use medium sized eggs? Thanks for your reply in advance. DV
Hi DV, Yes, this should keep okay for 3 – 4 days and medium eggs are fine. Enjoy!
This is a foolproof delicious recipe but I’ve also tweaked it a few times in making it. I usually try to make baked items as healthy as possible, so I substituted Whole Wheat flour for the regular flour, used 1/2 cup of sugar only, and canola instead of butter. I’ve made jumbo muffins as well as the bread loaf, both work great. The recipe yields 5 jumbo muffins.
When ever I make banana bread it rises then at the end it will sink in the center even though it is cooked all the way through. What I’m I doing wrong?
Hi Bill, There are several potential reasons a cake may sink. Because it could be happening due to a variety of factors, I’d suggest skimming this article to see if there’s one issue that resonates with you. Hope it helps you get to the bottom of it!
Love your recipe – and I’m embarrassed to say I forgot to add the butter and it turned out to be the best banana bread I’ve ever made ! I used 3 bananas but did measure them and I used 1 tsp vanilla and 1/2 tsp coconut extract – otherwise followed your recipe and baked it for 45 min.
Very good! I didn’t have any lemon juice, and i don’t think ive ever added it to banana bread but i’m curious to see how it affects the flavor. My daughter and I just made this and it is moist and perfectly sweet. I didn’t measure the bananas, just put in two big ones. The bread is very good hot and slathered with butter, and my daughter said its the best banana bread ever. Thank you!
This was an awesome recipe. It had just the right amount of sweetness. You can also try adding different extracts, such as coconut or almond for flavor. The bread was really moist and had a good taste.
I thought this banana bread was really good. It wasn’t too dense or heavy like some banana bread is. I followed the recipe with the exception of decreasing the sugar slightly, just because I always do that when baking to make myself feel better :-). It was still delicious.
I made this bread at the recommendation of a good friend and it was good. I used salted butter and added chocolate chips because I’m a chocoholic. I found it to be delicious but was lacking in flavor, it was good but I still have my go to that I’ll use instead.
Delicious recipe