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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I am a great cook ! I am a horrible baker !!! Since finding your website nobody is secretly throwing away my baked goods. Yippee. Thank you!!! I tried the banana bread in a loaf pan exactly as written. Perfect. Today, JUMBO Muffins. Exactly as written. Used pan with paper liners(sprayed). Baked up perfectly in my oven for 28 minutes.
This is my go to banana bread recipe and like Jen I never know how the consumption of bananas will turn out from week to week.
I have made this with a mixer and a whisk when I’m lazy and it turns out the same. I make muffins and keep them in the freezer. Sometimes I throw in a handful of oatmeal so they are a bit heartier for breakfast or toasted pecan as well as chocolate chips.
My favorite though is I just used the muffin top pan I have had for years and hadn’t used. OMG! So good to toast these babies in the toaster!
Just one more of Jen’s recipes that is always a winner.
If you read this and haven’t purchased her book you should. It has so many interesting stories and makes a person not so interested in cooking a bit more enthusiastic!
I have made this banana bread several times and it gets rave reviews every time. Next time I make it, I plan on adding chopped pecans.
Only banana bread I will make! I have tried the coconut one as well and they are both so yummy and irresistible. Very easy directions. Thank you chef Jennifer!
I’ve made a few of Jenn’s bread recipes and each has come out great, as did this version of banana bread. Like others, I often end up with overripe bananas and I freeze them whole. They defrost in no time at all. For this recipe, I needed three whole bananas to yield one cup. I didn’t have fresh lemons, so I substituted lemon juice. I also added one quarter cup each of chopped walnuts and mini chocolate chips. The bread is moist and delicious. I’ve cut it into slices and frozen them and that has worked well too. Question: The recipe says to use melted butter, cooled, but the directions and photo seem to indicate using softened butter. I melted the butter and cooled it, but when I added each egg, I could not beat until light and fluffy as one would in a cookie recipe. Regardless, it came out great.
I would like to use mini bunt pans to make individual loaves. Any idea on the bake time?
Additionally how long does this bread last and what’s the best way to store it
Hi Penelope, I haven’t made these in mini bundt pans, but I would start checking them at 18 – 20 minutes. And they should keep nicely for 3 – 4 days in an airtight container or just covered with foil. Hope you enjoy!
Great recipe, thank you! I made it vegan using a vegan margarine and Egg Replacer. I added 2 tbsp. Tofutti sour cream and the results were perfect! Definitely a hit!
Hi Jenn-
We adore this banana bread recipe- turns out perfect every time! My 10 yr old wanted to ask you if it would be possible to modify the recipe to make a bundt cake, as she’s craving bundt cake;)
Hi Mindy, glad you like this! I think you could bake this in a bundt pan; just make sure to grease it very thoroughly so it doesn’t stick. Also, I think you’ll need to make 1.5 times the recipe to have enough batter. Baking time should be an hour give or take, but keep a close eye on it!
I tried making Banana Bread the other night and your recipe was the perfect guide. The bread came out so good !! It did take over an hour for it to completely cook but it was well worth the time. Thanks for the recipe, can’t wait to try out your other recipes.
This recipe has turned out consistently good each time I have made it. It is moist, flavorful and has an evenly browned crust. It is great just the way the recipe is written. For a higher calorie treat, I have added s crumble to the top and a drizzle of brown sugar glaze. It gies extremely well with the banana bread and I have received raves and requests for the recipe. You can’t go wrong with this banana bread!