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.
Add a Comment
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Your banana bread sounds delicious and I would like to make it. At what speed do you use the electric beater, high, medium to beat the sugar and butter? At what speed (low, medium, high) do you use to beat the eggs, and how long do you beat for each egg, 30 seconds? Thank you for the recipe. I have made several of your recipes and they were really good !!!
Hi Helen, I’d beat the butter and sugar on medium/medium-high and the eggs on medium for about 30 seconds. Hope you enjoy! 🙂
This turned out to be a delicious classic. It’s moist and dense but still light and airy. I’m dairy-free so I used dairy-free butter. I didn’t have unsalted butter so I omitted the salt. I also added dairy-free chocolate chips to the top before baking. I meant to fold them in before but forgot. Will be making again!
Jenn, you never steer me wrong! This recipe is absolutely delicious. I followed the recipe almost to a T with the exception of adding chocolate chips and decreasing sugar to 2/3 cup to offset sweetness of chocolate chips. So so good and a perfect snow storm recipe… we are looking at two feet here!
Delicious, added choco chips and came out beautifully
Felt I should comment, as this is my favourite banana bread recipe. It is the only recipe that turns out great every time I make it. I have had little luck finding a healthier banana bread recipe – would love it if you had a recipe for a healthier version!
Glad you like it, Gem — you may want to give this one a try. Hope you enjoy if you make it!
I love this recipe! But when I tried doubling the recipe and making two loaves, one of them came out uncooked in the middle but very brown on the outside. Any tips on how much time to bake?
Hi Jean, I’m sorry to hear you had a problem doubling this! Were the two loaf pans the same size? Was one of them glass or darker metal?
How would you recommend doubling this recipe?
Hi Sasha, I would double all of the ingredients; if you bake 2 loaves at the same time, they will take a bit longer to cook.
Needs to include What temperature?
Hi James, the bread should be baked at 350°F/175°C. Hope you enjoy!
Soooooooooo gooood. Doing it every day though I wish it was a little crunchier.
This is the best recipe for Banana Bread I have ever used. The addition of lemon and vanilla makes all the difference.
I’ve made this numerous times – perfect.
However, I would now like to make in those mini tinfoil 4.5 x 8.6 pans.
Does anyone know how long to bake? And do you keep the oven temp the same?
Glad you like it! Because the recipe calls for a 9 x 5“ loaf pan, the ones that you’re describing aren’t much smaller. You could divide the batter into two of those pans and it will make two flatter loaves. I’d keep the oven temp the same, but It will also take less time so keep a close eye on them. If you want to make two fuller loaves, I’d suggest making one and a half times the recipe. Hope that helps!
I know you like an update:
Just took out of the oven at 37 min using your recipe divided in half for each mini loaf.
Good to know — thanks for reporting back!