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
More Quick Bread Recipes You May Like
Banana Bread
With big banana flavor, this bread is perfect for snacking, gifting, or enjoying with a cup of coffee.
Ingredients
- 1¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 stick (½ cup) unsalted butter, softened
- ¾ cup sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup mashed very ripe bananas, from 2-3 large bananas
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, from 1 lemon
- 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter and flour 9x5-inch 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.
- Freezer-Friendly Instructions: The bread can be frozen for up to 3 months. After it is completely cooled, wrap it securely in aluminum foil, freezer wrap or place in a freezer bag. Thaw overnight on the countertop before serving.
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (12 servings)
- Serving size: 1 slice
- Calories: 208
- Fat: 9 g
- Saturated fat: 5 g
- Carbohydrates: 30 g
- Sugar: 14 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 3 g
- Sodium: 394 mg
- Cholesterol: 51 mg
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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This was great! I actually had three really brown bananas. I read a few reviews and tried mashing the bananas first and popping them in the freezer and later using them. That really released all of the sugars making this a really good banana bread, however it makes your banana bread SLIGHTLY darker in color. I also didn’t have lemon juice so I used 5% acidity distilled white vinegar. Turned out well!
can i use cake flour?
Hi Jackie, This banana bread is so light as is, that I wouldn’t really recommend it. If that’s all you have though, you could use it but I would increase the amount of flour by a few tablespoons.
Just made it! I had two bananas on my counter. I halved the recipe. To make my banana bread, I always mash my bananas first, pop them in the freezer in the morning and when I go to use them I just defrost them by putting a hot bowl of water underneath the banana bowl. Makes the bananas much better. This recipe was delicious; finished the same night.
Thanks Jenn!
Does it have to have lemon juice? I don’t usually have that on hand, but want to make this… Like now. LOL. I love your pumpkin bread and pumpkin corn muffins… Which I’ve made in the past week.
Melissa, You won’t taste the lemon juice; it just reacts with the baking soda to help the bread rise. You can try baking the bread without it, but it may be a little heavier/flatter.
This banana bread is easy, moist, flavorful and fantastic. I’m making it (2 loaves) for the second time today. I add more walnuts but that’s the only change. It’s perfect as is but we love walnuts.
Every recipe I have tried has been excellent. Banana Bread no exception. Best resource yet.
First, I love your site and your recipes! I’ve made the pumpkin bread multiple times to rave reviews. I’m an experienced baker, and I’ve double checked all the ingredients and amounts I used (made exactly as written) but within 10 minutes of being in the oven its overflowed the 9×4 pan (at least 1/2 c of batter) and collapsed in the middle. I feel like it rose too quickly but I don’t know why. Any thoughts? I’m definitely willing to try again based on my success with your other recipes. Thanks!
Hi Amy, So sorry you had trouble with the bread. The recipe calls for a 9×5 pan. You mentioned your pan is 9×4, which might explain the problem — although, that is an odd size for a loaf pan. Did you mean to write 8×4? If you used an 8×4, which is a typical size, the batter would definitely overflow.
Thank you, Jenn! My pan was a 9×5 (sorry for the typo). I also forgot to mention I live in Denver (one mile above sea level), so I wonder if my leavening agents don’t need quite as much boost (things tend to rise and fall more quickly here). It was moist and delicious regardless of how it looked; I’ll just have try it again!! 🙂
Ahh, yes — Denver is likely the problem 🙂
I love your recipes and really want to try this banana bread but I’m getting confused with how many grams are actually in a cup. I’ve searched the net but the answer varies wildly. Could you possibly give the recipe with grams as well as cups please for your UK fans. Also, would it work if I used half whole wheat flour? Thank you!
Hi Shirley, I added metric units to the recipe for you. In the top right corner of the recipe, there is a button that allows you to choose cup or metric measures. Hope that helps. I have recently started adding metric measurements to my recipes but am still going back through the archives and updating older recipes. If you come across any others that you’d like to try, let me know and I’ll bump them to the top of my list 🙂
Oh, and I think half whole wheat flour would work, but it won’t be nearly as delicate — maybe try it as is first, then experiment?
I tried the recipe today (exactly as you wrote it) and just WOW!!
So light and moist, a real keeper! Thank you for sharing!
Thank you, you are so kind to spare the time to do that. Yes we have lots of banana bread recipes in the UK I could have used but with the amazing reviews this one has how could I not try it! 🙂
This bread was amaaazzing. So light and moist and banana-eeeee! It really doesn’t need anything added to it but I wanted a little bit of crunch on top. I had no nuts so i added a generous sprinkling of hemp hearts on top. It turned out great!! Highly recommend trying this bread if you are looking for a keeper! 🙂
I am officially in awe of Jenn Segal. 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. I will be keeping this recipe forever! Can’t wait to try all the other recipes on this site!