Banana Bread
This post may contain affiliate links. Read my full disclosure policy.
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
More Quick Bread Recipes You May Like
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.
Add a Comment
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Our family loves this recipe! Whenever I make it, my 5 and 2-year-olds gobble it up. I’ve started adding lemon zest in addition to the lemon juice for an extra lemony flavor, and I cook for about 36-37 minutes instead of the 40-45 min. It’s super moist and a perfect way to use up our over ripe bananas!
Absolutely love this banana bread! So yummy. It’s also very forgiving if you add too many bananas…
I would like to try adding oatmeal to this – do you have any tips?
Hi Krysten, I’ve never put oatmeal in a quick bread, so I can’t say from experience, but I suspect it will work (though the bread will definitely be a bit drier and more dense). I’d replace the flour with an equivalent amount of oats (and I’d suggest keeping the oats to no more than 1/2 cup). Hope that helps — I’d love to hear how it turns out if you make it this way!
Favorite banana bread recipe !!!
What temperature for the oven?
350°F/175°C. Hope you enjoy!
Just put 2 more loaves in the oven. This is a great basic banana bread recipe that comes out perfect every time. The only thing i do different is double the recipe and use half white and half brown sugar. I stop using the mixer when i add the flour and mix by hand to keep the air bubbles out. At the end i fold in a cup of chopped walnuts. Love your recipes and have tried so many. They all come out great. You make me look like i actually know what I’m doing. Thank you
Love this easy recipe. It is moist and tasty. I am not accurate with measuring so I’m surprised it turned out so good. I always add my own touch like raisins and or nuts or some other fruit. It all works out great. Thank you for this great easy recipes
Delicious banana bread that is moist and not too sweet. I added 3/4 cup of toasted walnuts and loved it so much that we ate the entire loaf in less than 2 days. We have loved all of the recipes that we made in your fabulous cookbook! Some of our favorites are Thai Chicken Soup with Rice Noodles, Peruvian Roast Chicken with Green Sauce, Baja Fish Tacos and French Apple Cake. Recently, our friends devoured the Peruvian Chicken meal with your suggested sides and thought it was so good that they ordered your cookbook that very night.
Jenn, thanks for providing such wonderful recipes that are easy to follow, can always be counted on to taste delicious and make us shine. Please publish another!
So glad you like the recipes, Catherine!! I actually am working on another cookbook – you can read more about it here. 💓
Hi Jenn, made this and it was the best banana bread I have ever made. Soft and light but still moist. Can I replace butter with canola oil and if so do I need to reduce portion ?
Thank you
So glad you liked it! Canola oil won’t work here, but a few readers have commented that they’ve successfully used coconut oil with good results. Hope that helps!
I haven’t made banana bread in years, but I found myself with a bunch of overripe bananas. I let them go for several more days, knowing the riper the better, and then tried to decide which of many recipes to use. Then I thought of this website since I’ve never been disappointed with a recipe from Jennifer. This one was no exception. The bread was moist and flavorful–my husband said the best banana bread he has ever eaten. I have enough bananas for another loaf and had planned to try a different recipe for comparison, but why fool around with perfection? The only change I made was to add 1/2 cup of chopped toasted walnuts as I like a little crunch in my banana bread. I cooked it in a convection oven at 325 degrees and ended up taking it out after about 33 minutes as it was nicely browned and a toothpick came out clean. Thanks once again, Jennifer!
I have been making this banana bread for a few years now it is an excellent recipe that’s works every time not too sweet lovely with a strong coffee at any time of the day ….thank you so much for sharing ….
Great recipe as always. Made as directed and added chocolate chips.