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While the ingredients may seem odd, this banana bread recipe is a no-fail favorite that is perfectly moist every single time.
Holly’s Recipe Highlights For Banana Bread
- Flavor: This bread is moist and lightly sweetened with lots of flavor.
- Ingredient tip: This recipe has an odd ingredient which, as you can see from the reviews, works beautifully. Mayonnaise adds moisture, but don’t worry, you can’t taste it.
- Recommended pan: This recipe is baked in an 8×4-inch loaf pan. If your pan is larger (9×5-inch) you’ll need to adjust the cooking time as the loaf will be thinner.
- Bananas: You can peel and freeze bananas when they’re ripe for baking. Thaw them in the fridge or microwave and lightly drain any liquid.
Ingredient Tips for Banana Bread
- Bananas: Use bananas that are very ripe with many black spots because they’ve got more sugars. If your bananas don’t have black spots, follow the tips below to ripen them in the oven quickly.
- Mayonnaise: I replace some of the egg/oil with mayonnaise—which is made of… eggs and oil. You can’t taste the mayonnaise in this recipe and it makes for the best bread. You can use any variety of mayonnaise (I use Hellmann’s) or dressing such as Miracle Whip. No butter is needed in this recipe.
- Add-Ins: You can replace the pecans in this banana bread recipe with walnuts or chocolate chips.
How To Ripen Bananas Quickly
Uh oh! You have beautiful yellow bananas, perfect for a smoothie or banana pudding, but not so much 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: Bake at 300°F for 15-20 minutes. Cool before using in this recipe.
How to Make Banana Bread
Banana Bread with Mayonnaise? I know it may sound a little strange, but it makes a moist banana bread recipe.
- Mash the bananas and mix them with egg and mayonnaise.
- Combine dry ingredients in a second bowl (full recipe below).
- Mix the two just until moist, the batter should be lumpy.
- Pour into a greased pan and bake.
Holly’s Tips for Moist Banana Bread
- The batter should be thick and a bit lumpy; do not add extra liquid or extra bananas. Extra bananas can make the bread too dense.
- As with all quick breads, do not overmix. Use a spoon, not a mixer.
- Do not overcook. Ovens can vary; check your bread at least 10 minutes before the cooking time is up.
- For easy removal, line the loaf pan with parchment paper leaving about 3-inches of paper folded over the top of the pan.
How to Store Banana Bread
Banana bread should last about 3 days, in an airtight container on the counter.
To FREEZE: You can freeze the loaf as a whole or slice it and freeze the slices. To thaw a slice, pop it in the microwave for a few seconds or add it to the lunch box while it’s still frozen, it’ll thaw in plenty of time for lunch.
More Easy Banana Bread Recipes To Try
- Carrot Banana Bread
- Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
- Banana Bread Muffins
- Chocolate Chip Zucchini Banana Bread
- Pecan Coconut Banana Bread Recipe
Did your family love this Banana Bread recipe? Leave us a comment and a rating below!
Easy Banana Bread Recipe
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
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 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, 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
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Bread, Breakfast, Snack
Cuisine American© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
So good & moist. I questioned mayonnaise, but made the bread just right
Was hesitant about adding mayonnaise but WOW it turned out super moist. Added chocolate chips instead. It’s the Best banana bread that I’ve ever made!!
This honestly is the best banana bread!! Super moist, my whole family loves it!! Can I sub light mayo or avocado mayo for the regular mayo??
Thanks so much for the recipe.
I have tried light mayo which works, I have not tried avocado mayo but I do think it would work.
What does mayonnaise do
We use it as a replacement for oil and a portion of the eggs. It also makes the bread very moist and delicious!
Hands down the BEST banana bread I’ve ever tried and I’ve definitely tried many different recipes . I do swap out the mayo for plain Greek yogurt and it’s moist and still delicious and helps with the calories !
Best banana bread ever, made for some of the staff and they loved it.
I found this recipe a couple years ago and if I have any kind of mayo in the fridge this is my go to. It has good flavour, moist, and just dense enough.
If anyone has wondered, I have also tried a flax egg, 1 tbsp of ground flax to 3 tbsps of cold water. It works with vegan mayo and I only know because I regularly cook for family and friends with many allergies and intolerances.
So all that to say, great following the recipe to a T and also swapping for allergy friendly substitutes.
Thanks for a great recipe, I will keep this as one of our favourites.
Thank you for sharing that, Sara!
Wow! I made this recipe, it really is the Best Banana Bread recipe. It’s so moist and warmed up it just melts in your mouth.
Too indulge my chocolate craving I added a cup of miniature chocolate chips.A 10 for my rating. Please share if you have anymore Bread recipes.
Absolutely the best banana bread ever! I have shared it with friends, and they love it too.
Have got to say…this has replaced my BC recipe I have used for over 30 years. Wrapped up two loaves and took them to Germany on a recent trip, our friends loved it! Gotta love Pinterest!!
So easy, so moist, so delicious! Great recipe, everyone loved it!
This is the best recipe!
This has been my go-to banana bread recipe for about 5 yrs now. 5☆ !!!
I love your recipes!!!!!!!!!
I can’t find the oven temp or baking time. it just says ‘and bake.”
Hi Mary, Step 1 says “Preheat the oven to 350°F” and in Step 4, it says to “bake for 60-70 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.” Enjoy the banana bread!
absolutely the best!!
I love this recipe!
I’ve used it so many times over the past few years. I always split it up in small loaves. The bread is about 1 1/2 pounds ea.) I use three round glass Pyrex dishes.
This time making it I didn’t have any nuts so I substituted semi sweet chocolate morsels instead of the nuts So if you’re allergic to nuts, this is a good idea. I will give these to my grown up kids as a take home treat at Christmas and other times.
Can’t say enough good things about this recipe. Just love it!
This is my go-to recipe for banana bread every time. I like to add chocolate and peanut butter chips or even peanut butter. Sometimes, just as is. The mayonnaise is a great idea. Thanks for the easy and amazing recipe, Holly!
Love it!
So moist!!! A must have recipe! I did use miracle whip and it was fine!!