This easy banana bread recipe uses simple pantry ingredients, takes less than 10 minutes of prep time, and comes out perfectly sweet and moist every time.
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Holly’s Recipe Highlights
- Flavor: Soft, tender, and naturally sweet from ripe bananas with a little extra richness from a secret ingredient.
- Skill Level: Beginner-friendly; no mixer needed.
- Prep Note: Peel and freeze bananas in Ziploc bags when they’re ripe for baking. Drain off any liquid before using.
- Recommended Tools: This easy banana bread is baked in an 8×4-inch loaf pan.
- Serving Suggestion: Slice it warm and serve it with butter, or toast it for breakfast. Slices freeze beautifully for grab-and-go treats that kids will love.
Easy Banana Bread Ingredients
This easy to make banana loaf uses just 7 simple pantry ingredients.
- Bananas: For the sweetest loaf, use very ripe bananas. You’ll need about 1 cup of mashed bananas.
- Mayonnaise: Mayo is made of eggs and oil, making it an easy swap in baked goods, and you can’t taste the mayo, I promise! I use Hellman’s but any variety of mayonnaise will work just fine.
- Add-Ins: You can replace the pecans with walnuts or chocolate chips. Add cinnamon or nutmeg for a warming twist.
How To Ripen Bananas Quickly
Uh oh! You have beautiful yellow bananas, perfect for a smoothie or banana pudding, but not so perfect for baking…
- To ripen in 1-2 days: place them in a brown paper bag (with other ripe fruit if you have any) and seal.
- To ripen immediately: Place directly on the rack in the oven at 300°F for 15-20 minutes. Cool before using.
How to Make Easy Banana Bread
- Mash the bananas and mix them with the egg and mayonnaise.
- Combine dry ingredients in a second mixing bowl.
- Mix the two just until moist, then pour into a greased pan and bake (full recipe below).
Storing, Freezing, and Leftovers
- Let the loaf cool all the way before storing it in an airtight container. It can stay on the counter for about 4 days, or you can refrigerate it to help it last longer.
- Freeze whole or in slices for up to 3 months; wrap tightly to prevent freezer burn.
- Warm a slice in the toaster or microwave until it is slightly heated for a warm, fresh-baked treat!
Cozy Banana Favorites
Did your family love this Banana Bread recipe? Leave a rating and comment below!
Equipment
- 8 x 4-inch Loaf Pan greased
Ingredients
- 3 medium bananas about 1 cup mashed
- ½ cup mayonnaise or dressing
- 1 egg room temperature
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup chopped pecans optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease an 8×4-inch loaf pan and set aside.
- Mash the bananas with a fork. In a medium bowl, combine mashed bananas, mayonnaise, and egg. In a separate large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and pecans if using.
- Combine the wet and dry ingredients and stir just until combined. Note: The mixture will be very thick, but do not overmix.
- Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake for 60-70 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Remove from the pan, and place on a wire rack to cool completely before slicing.
Video
Notes
- To Ripen Bananas Quickly, warm them at 300°F for 15-20 minutes. Cool before using.
- Avoid adding extra bananas; this can make the bread too dense. You should have about 1 cup of mashed bananas; if it’s a little bit over or under, it’s okay in this recipe.
- As with all quick breads, do not overmix. Stir just until incorporated. Batter should be lumpy.
- Check your bread at least 10 minutes before the baking time is up.
- Line the loaf pan with parchment paper, leaving about 3 inches of paper folded over the top of the pan for easy removal.
- To Make Muffins, divide the batter evenly among 12 muffin wells and bake for 14-18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Do not overbake.
Nutrition Information
Calories: 231 | Carbohydrates: 32g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 0.02g | Cholesterol: 18mg | Sodium: 253mg | Potassium: 148mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 16g | Vitamin A: 47IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 10mg | Iron: 1mg
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Bread, Breakfast, Snack
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Followed recipe to a T. Turned out pretty tasty and moist, but a bit sticky-which throws me off, I’ve never had a sticky banana bread. Didn’t overmix or anything. Used light miracle whip, maybe that’s why…
I substituted brown sugar for the white sugar and added 1/2 tbsp of cinnamon. I think it gave it a bit of spicy with the zingy mayo.
Hi Holly,this is the second time trying your Banana Bread recipie.Nevet fails,this time I made 6 loaves.So easy.Some Banana Bread recipies are so complicated,not this one Thanks,used up all my frozen ripe bananas.Aloha from Hawaii.♀️
Stupid questions, not a baker. Will miracle whip work?
Hi Maria, that will work perfectly.
Easy and delicious recipe! My family loves it
I love this recipe I add white choc chips inside and milk chocolate chips on the top and it’s so moist and delicious!
Can you use bananas that were frozen,I freeze them in the peels and thaw them
Hi Cheryl, you can definitely use frozen bananas, just defrost them before adding to the recipe. There may be a little liquid as the defrost, I would discard them instead of adding it to the recipe.
I’m wondering if the mayo used could be the kind with olive oil instead of the usual mayo. Would it likely make a difference?
I haven’t tried it but it should work just fine in this recipe.
I’ve been making banana bread for close to 40 years and can honestly say this is the moistest and easiest EVER!! I left out the pecans and half way through baking sprinkled cinnamon sugar over the top. OMGoodness!!
So happy you loved it Crystal!
I am doing this right now!! Except I put cinnimon sugar on top before baking, let’s hope it turns out good!!
Making this recipe yet again! It’s one of my favourite ways to use up overripe bananas. SWP Employee
Hi Holly,
I’m interested in making this banana bread. Can I omit the sugar and make the recipe with the rest of the ingredients? (i don’t care for to much sweets).
I’ve only tried it as written so I can’t say how it would work out.
I cut the sugar down to half a cup and it turned out good. Not too sweet. I also used unsweetened applesauce instead of Mayo.
Waiting to try
I made this banana bread for the first time and it was delicious. I added walnuts and chocolate chips. Will be my recipe when I make banana bread again.
Soooooo good! The only tweak I have is using 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup brown sugar.
I love how fast and easy this was to make. My 1 1/2 year old makes baking and cooking difficult almost always, so most of my internet searches for foods start with “easy” and they aren’t always the best, unfortunately. However! This one is SUPER delicious, and moist, and I highly recommend it. My 1 1/2 year old agrees. :)
First time making banana bread, came out fluffy and moist. My family loved it! I’ll stick to this recipe from now on
Unfortunately 60 minutes was way too long to bake this loaf in my oven. I baked it at the suggested 350° and followed all the steps exactly. Luckily I set my timer for the shorter recommendation of 60 minutes but it still left the ends of the loaf extremely brown. I think I’ll start checking mine around the 45 minute mark next time.
Easy and delicious! I took this to a get-together with friends and brought home an empty plate! Everyone raved over the flavor and how moist the bread was.
Which mayo do you use Hellman’s or Miracle Whip.
I usually use Hellman’s but either will work.
This was delicious! Made it just like it called for it. Very moist :)
This is a very good recipe. I chose to use chocolate chips instead of nuts. I put 1/2 cup in the batter and 1/4 cup on top while baking. The flavor was delicious and the slight crunchiness on the outer ends of the bread were full of flavor. There are tons of banana bread recipes online and I’m so glad my instincts made me choose this one.
If I wanted to add frozen blueberries?
You can add frozen blueberries to this recipe. Frozen blueberries can sometimes turn the batter a bit purple. I would suggest tossing them with flour before adding to the batter.