This banana bread recipe is moist, tender, and packed with rich banana flavor. It’s a great way to use up ripe bananas for breakfast, snacks, or the freezer.
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Holly’s Recipe Highlights
- Flavor: Sweet with brown sugar, cinnamon, and rich banana flavor, baking up soft and tender with a melt-in-your-mouth crumb.
- Budget Tip: This recipe is perfect for using up those overripe bananas so they don’t go to waste.
- Time-Saving Tip: No time to bake and your bananas are turning brown? Unpeel and freeze 4 at a time in a Ziploc bag for easy baking later!
- Freezing: This banana loaf freezes beautifully. Wrap the whole loaf or wrap individual slices for a quick grab-and-go snack.
Banana Basics
- Bananas: Use very ripe bananas with plenty of brown spots for the best sweetness. If using frozen, squeeze out any extra liquid before mixing. How many bananas in a cup? There are about 3 medium bananas in a cup. So for this recipe, you will want about 4 medium ripe bananas.
- Flour: This recipe uses all-purpose flour as the base. You can replace up to ⅔ cup of it with whole wheat flour. Spoon and level the flour for a light, fluffy banana bread.
- Butter: Use unsalted butter in this recipe. If you have salted butter, skip the salt. You can replace some of the butter with oil for an extra moist crumb.
- Sugar: Sugar gives this banana bread its sweet flavor and soft texture, so don’t skip, swap, or reduce it.
Banana Bread Variations
One of the best parts about banana bread is once you’ve got the hang of it there are so many ways to customize it!
- Add nutmeg or swap pumpkin pie spice instead of cinnamon.
- To make it into a banana nut bread, add toasted nuts such as walnuts or pecans.
- Top the loaf with pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds.
- Add mini chocolate chips, raisins, or shredded coconut.
How to Make Banana Bread
It’s easy to make the best banana bread with just a few simple steps!
- Whisk together dry ingredients (full recipe below).
- Cream butter and sugar. Add bananas, eggs, and vanilla.
- Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients. Combine.
- Bake until a toothpick comes out clean.
How to Store Banana Bread
- For best results, keep moist banana bread in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.
- Freeze loaves or slices by tightly wrapping them in plastic wrap or storing them in an airtight container for up to 4 months.
- Warm slices quickly in the microwave or pop them in the toaster for a soft, cozy bite.
Ripe Banana Recipes
Did you enjoy this Banana Bread recipe? Leave us a rating and comment below!
Ingredients
- 1⅓ cups mashed bananas about 4 small bananas
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened, or vegetable oil
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease and flour (or line with parchment paper) a loaf pan.
- Mash the bananas with a fork to make 1 ⅓ cups mashed banana.
- In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside.
- In a separate medium bowl, add butter, brown sugar, and sugar. Mix with a hand mixer on medium speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, and the vanilla, and mix well. Stir in mashed bananas.
- Add the dry ingredients to the banana mixture and stir just until combined, do not overmix.
- Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake for 45 to 60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Do not overbake.
- Cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Remove from the pan and cool completely on a wire rack.
Video
Notes
To ripen bananas quickly: Bake in a 350°F oven for 15 minutes or until the peels turn black. Cool completely before using.
Be sure to measure the flour correctly by spooning it into a measuring cup, not scooping it with the measuring cup.
Do not overbake. Ovens can vary; be sure to check your bread at least 10 minutes early. Remove from the pan to cool completely.
Leftovers will keep at room temperature in an airtight container for 4 days. It will also keep in the refrigerator, but wrap it tightly.
This is also great for freezing. Wrap and keep in freezer for 4 months.
Nutrition Information
Calories: 221 | Carbohydrates: 33g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 48mg | Sodium: 269mg | Potassium: 104mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 15g | Vitamin A: 287IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 17mg | Iron: 1mg
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Bread, Breakfast, Dessert
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Really enjoyed your recipe, what I liked the how it came out moist will be enjoying many times thank you
I love it very much!! Very Tasty and Moisty! ❤️
This is the best banana bread ever. It’s so moist and the only recipe I’ll ever use. I used olive oil instead of butter.
So good and easy
Made this gluten free with Cup4Cup multi-purpose flour, butter and added pecans. I don’t like cinnamon in my banana bread, so I left that out. It was very moist and so yummy! I will definitely be using this recipe again! Thank for sharing!
This recipe came out perfect, I will definitely be making this again.
Hi! I’m so excited to try this recipe. In the event I make muffins instead of the bread, what temperature do you recommend and how long should I bake them for?? Thanks in advance!
I bake these banana bread muffins at 350°F for 18 to 20 minutes.
The banana bread turned out really moist and not super sweet. I tripled the recipe and added extra banana. Everybody loved it. In fact they want me to make some more. I ended up putting it in a bunt cake pan.
This bread is SO good!! I make muffins with it too now and both are ALWAYS a hit! Thank you so much
How can I make this work if I only have self rising flour?
I have never tried this recipe with self-rising flour so I can’t say for sure but it should work fine.
I am going to make your banana bread, but I wanted to know how to convert the recipe to be used in the air fryer?
Hi Mary, I have never tried this recipe in the air fryer so I can’t say for sure. If you do attempt it, I would love to hear how it turns out for you!
Oh my gosh! So delicious. This banana bread turned out amazing SWP Employee
So good!!
Awesome, best recipe site.
Best banana bread I’ve ever made!!!
Followed recipe, added black cherries, it is delicious. Holds its shape well & is moist with a nice rise.
Definitely will be keeping this recipe in my file.
Excellent taste, texture and very moist
Made it today. It is so delicious and moist. Will be my favorite go to recipe.
The recipe was easy to follow. The bread was delicious. Instead of a loaf, I made banana muffins.
Delicious ! It came out so good on the first try. It truly was super easy to do . I highly recommend if you are a beginner , to try it :)