Banana Bread
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This banana bread recipe bakes up light and tender, with rich banana flavor and a crisp, golden crust.
If you prefer your banana bread light and tender rather than heavy and dense, this banana bread recipe is for you. Creaming the butter and sugar gives the loaf an almost cake-like crumb, while very ripe bananas provide plenty of banana flavor and moisture. The outside bakes up beautifully golden with a crisp crust that’s especially good against the soft interior.
You can add walnuts or pecans or chocolate chips if you like—see the recipe card notes for the details. And if your bananas aren’t quite ripe enough, I’ve included an easy trick for getting them ready to bake with. If you have leftovers, try a slice lightly toasted; it’s one of my favorite ways to eat it, and it brings that crisp crust right back.
“I feel like I’ve tried every banana bread recipe on the internet and none even comes CLOSE to this one. Usually banana bread is too dense or too sweet for me, and this one is just right.”
What You’ll Need To Make Banana Bread
- All-purpose flour: Spoon it into the measuring cup and level it off rather than scooping directly from the bag; too much flour can make the bread dry and heavy.
- Baking soda and baking powder: Work together to give the banana bread plenty of lift and a light, tender crumb.
- Unsalted butter: Make sure it’s softened so it creams properly with the sugar, incorporating air into the batter and helping create that light texture.
- Very ripe bananas: Provide moisture, natural sweetness, and plenty of banana flavor—the riper, the better. Look for bananas that are heavily spotted or even fully brown. If yours aren’t quite ripe enough, bake them in their peels at 300°F for 15 to 20 minutes, until soft and blackened. Extra-ripe bananas also freeze well; see my post how to freeze bananas for baking for details on freezing and thawing.)
- Fresh lemon juice: Provides acidity to react with the baking soda and help the bread rise; you won’t taste lemon in the finished loaf.
- Vanilla extract: Rounds out and enhances the banana flavor.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
How To Make Banana Bread
Mix the dry ingredients: Whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. This distributes the leaveners evenly, so the loaf rises uniformly.
Cream the butter and sugar: Beat the softened butter and sugar until noticeably lighter in color and fluffy. This step incorporates air into the batter and helps give the banana bread its light, tender crumb.
Add the eggs and bananas: Beat in the eggs, followed by the mashed bananas, lemon juice, and vanilla. The mixture may look a little curdled or separated at this point—don’t worry; that’s normal.
Finish the batter: Add the dry ingredients and mix just until no streaks of flour remain. Avoid overmixing, which can make the bread heavier and tougher. If you’re adding nuts or chocolate chips, gently fold them in now.
Bake: Scrape the batter into the prepared loaf pan and smooth the top. The bread is done when it’s nicely golden and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Let it cool briefly in the pan, then turn it out onto a rack to cool completely.
Variations
If you’re in the mood to mix it up, try marbled banana bread, chocolate banana bread, banana coconut bread, or chai-spiced banana bread.
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 just made Jen’s Banana Bread for the first time and I LOVED it. I followed the recipe exactly as written. It’s easy to make, so moist, and not too sweet. I sliced it and wrapped individual pieces for the freezer. I pull out a piece whenever I’m in the mood and it tastes like I made it that day. I have a guest house that I rent out on Airbnb and welcome my guests with baked goods. This will be my new go-to welcome treat. So easy to have to have it ready to go in the freezer and they think I made it fresh for them.
The best banana bread recipe! Sometimes I throw in some chocolate chips. My kids love eating this as an afternoon snack.
My family loves banana bread and since I was going to see them (all grown!) and had bananas in the freezer I decided it was time for a treat!
The bread was great! I added abt 6 ozs of mini choc chips which is always a crowd pleaser.
I made this banana bread for my three grandchildren when they were coming to our house after school. My Daughter-In-Law is an amazing cook and baker and these kids are not your average kids to please! The banana bread was still a bit warm when I sliced it…… devoured! It’s the perfect amount of sweetness and the perfect texture. I did add a few chopped walnuts into the batter with a few semi sweet chocolate chips across the top. My eldest grandson (8) asked if would make it again as dessert after dinner with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. This recipe is a keeper for sure!
The flavor and texture are great with just the right amount of banana and sugar sensation. I always appreciate the detailed instructions/description in each recipe (for this one, “It will look a little curdled at this point; that’s okay”) It helps me not second guess what I may have just done wrong. I have made this recipe twice and each bake came out with a soft center even though the cake tester came out clean at 40 min. The first time I had used bananas I had previously frozen and thought maybe the consistency of the banana mash affected the bake. The second time I used fresh ripe bananas and had the same result- 40 min bake with clean cake tester, soft center of bread after it had cooled. Next time I will give it the extra 5 minutes.
I have made banana bread for decades. My son loves when I make it for him. So let’s just say that I have been comfortable in my banana bread making abilities.
This recipe knocked me off of my self created throne. What a great recipe! It’s flavorful, it’s moist, it’s soooo good! Thanks for another great recipe, Jen!
This is a delicious classic banana bread recipe, moist and tender, exactly what I’m looking for in banana bread. My only addition is some cinnamon sugar over the top before it bakes, it adds a lot to the crust.
Banana bread searches always yield a recipe that someone says is “so good”. Well this one really is!
I have made it numerous times, customizing with whatever I feel like adding, and it always turns out great. MY favorite way is to add chopped pecans. Husband enjoys mini chocolate chips in the batter. I have doubled the recipe and it keeps well, because when I don’t, it vanishes too quickly.
Thanks for another delicious addition to my recipe collection.
This banana bread is the best ever. I have made it dozens and dozens of time. I’ve even divided the batter into three mini pans so I could share the wealth. Many friends have told me this is the best banana bread I’ve ever had. I agree!!!
Thank you Jennifer for sharing your recipes. It always brightens my day when I see an Email from you in my inbox.
Great Banana Bread….I added chocolate chips and oh my! Love it.