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.
Comments
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Baking isnt my thing but I had a go at this one. It was easy to follow and I must say it wasnt too bad actually quite a big hit in the house! Will definitely be making another one….might have to invest in a mixer…a handheld one at least 🙂
A very lovely banana bread, gorgeous spread with a bit of butter with morning cuppa. I also freeze slices for my boyfriend to take to work in his packed lunches 👍🏼
One of the best banana bread recipes I’ve ever made! Thank you!
I made this delicious banana bread yesterday afternoon. More than half is already gone and there are only 2 of us. So light and airy! Before I juiced the lemon, I added some of the lemon zest, couldn’t resist. Loving this with our coffee this morning. Perfect Directions! Thank you!!
Just made this recipe and it turned out amazing!!!! I would definitely recommend. Thanks for sharing this. My son & husband loved it!
My family loved this recipe for banana bread! My husband is diabetic so I made the recipe for banana bread on the Splenda artificial sweetener bag. Of course this didn’t even come close to your recipe. Is there an artificial sweetener that would work for diabetics in this recipe? Otherwise, the family will need to eat the entire loaf before he gets home from work, lol!
Glad it was a hit! While I’ve never made this with a sugar substitute, I have read plenty of comments from readers who have said they’ve replaced some or all of the sugar in baked goods with a substitute like Stevia or Splenda and have had good results.) Please LMK how it turns out if you try it!
Jenn, I wanted to let you know that the substitution of Splenda for the sugar in the original recipe turned out well. However, next time I will substitute only half of the sugar with Splenda because we like more of a crust on the bread. I think the use of Splenda made the crust softer. Thank you for providing the information so quickly!
Good to know, Jan — thanks for taking the time to follow up!
Monk fruit sugar, it’s diabetic friendly and helps to regulate blood sugar. It’s a little expensive but worth it as it doesn’t compromise on taste.
I made this into muffins using a 12 tin. 350 for 22 minutes since I filled them up quite a bit. I also made them gluten free using Bobs Red Mill baking flour. They were amazing! Still moist today. They remind me of the ones I used to eat as a kid and I’ve been trying to find that same taste with other recipes with no luck. Thanks Jenn! Will definitely be making again.
Hello, Banana Bread looks good. I will add the lemon juice to Banana Bread. Will taste to see the difference or better taste.
Thanks for suggestion..
Hi Alice, it doesn’t give the bread a lemony flavor. The acidity in the lemon juice reacts with the baking soda to help the bread rise and give it a nice golden color. Hope you enjoy if you make it!
What will happen if I make muffins with this recipe? Do I need to alter it in any way? Love your recipes!
Glad you like the recipes! 🙂
This should work nicely for muffins. I’d keep the oven temp the same and start checking them for doneness at about 18 minutes.
I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve made this recipe, it’s always a winner!
Today I didn’t have any lemons so I subbed 2 tsp of distilled white vinegar. (Recipe calls for 2 tbsps of lemon juice and usually I’d sub half of vinegar but I was worried about it tasting vinegary so I cut back a bit…. I probably could have done 1 tbsp of vinegar and it would have been fine!) Anyway, it worked a treat, I couldn’t taste the vinegar but the banana bread still came out light and moist. Leaving this note here in case it’s useful to anyone else!
Your instinct is correct. I make this banana bread a lot, and multiple times, I’ve used 1 Tbsp white vinegar in place of 2 Tbsp lemon juice. I’ve never tasted any vinegar; the banana bread is as delicious as if I used lemon juice. (Might also have something to do with the chocolate chips that I add, but I’m sure plain is just as good)