With its super-moist and buttery texture, banana and brown sugar flavors, soft crumb, and 1,300+ reviews, this is a delicious AND undeniably popular banana bread recipe. You need 4 medium or 3 large ripe bananas.
I originally published this recipe in 2013 and have since added new photos and a few more success tips. It’s one of the most popular recipes I’ve published on this website, out of over 1,200. This recipe is such a fan favorite, that it deserved a spot in print! You’ll also find this recipe in my cookbook, Sally’s Baking 101.
One reader, Michele, says: “Perfectly delish every time! Absolutely foolproof. Nuts, no nuts, smidge more or less of sour cream—no problem… bigger bananas, smaller—no worries, perfect, beyond delicious EVERY time. ★★★★★”
This is my favorite banana bread recipe, one that I’ve cherished for years. It’s one of those classic recipes that you start to know by heart, just like a good pie crust or chocolate chip cookies recipe. This bread comes to mind first when I have leftover spotty bananas on the counter, and it’s the bread that’s on constant rotation in my freezer stash.
One reader, Tricia, commented: “I have this recipe on speed dial. LOL. It is so tasty and is always a crowd pleaser. My kids and entire family love it!!! ★★★★★”
Yes, I have this recipe on speed dial too!
I’ve tried dozens of banana bread recipes over the years, and when I baked and originally published this recipe many years ago, I never looked back.
Why You’ll Love This Banana Bread Recipe Too
- Mega banana flavor
- Not overly sweet, so banana flavor shines
- Dense, but still quite tender & soft
- Buttery & stays moist for days (tastes best on day 2, just like peanut butter chocolate chip zucchini bread)
- Straightforward, simple recipe
- Freezes wonderfully
- Excellent plain or with nuts or chocolate chips—or a swipe of cinnamon butter
How to Mash Bananas
Did you know you can use your electric mixer to mash bananas? Break or slice the spotty bananas into large pieces and place in the bowl of your stand mixer—or use a regular mixing bowl and your hand mixer. Begin beating on low, then gradually increase to medium-high speed as the bananas break down into mashed banana. Transfer the bananas to another bowl and use the mixing bowl for the butter and sugar. (No need to clean it—some mashed banana remnants is fine.)
I do this when I mash bananas for banana muffins and banana chocolate chip breakfast cookies too.
Other Banana Bread Ingredients
- Butter: Use softened butter for a soft texture and irresistible butter flavor.
- Brown Sugar: Use all brown sugar in this recipe. In the headnotes for this chocolate chip cookies recipe, I explain that brown sugar yields soft and moist cookies. Well, brown sugar works that same magic in banana bread, too. It also adds wonderful flavor.
- Eggs: Eggs supply cakes, cupcakes, breads, doughs, and cookies their stability and structure, as well as a tender texture. You’ll need 2 large eggs for this.
- Sour Cream or Yogurt: Sour cream or yogurt adds even more moisture to this banana bread. (You can use the 2 interchangeably in most baking recipes.)
For banana nut bread, add 3/4 cup of chopped nuts to the banana bread batter; I like using either pecans or walnuts. If you’re nuts for nuts (LOL), you’ll enjoy the toasty slight crunch nestled inside the soft crumbs. If you’re not a nut person, feel free to leave them out or replace with chocolate chips. For a whole wheat version, try my whole wheat banana bread. Or for a chocolate version, try my double chocolate banana bread.
Can I Use Frozen Bananas?
Yes and I do this often. Thaw the frozen bananas at room temperature. Drain off any excess liquid, mash, then use as instructed in the recipe below. See How to Freeze & Thaw Bananas for Baking. Try not to mash too much or else you’ll be left with 1 and 1/2 cups of banana-y liquid; some chunks are great.
Can I Turn This Into a Banana Bundt Cake?
I recommend using my extremely similar, scaled-up recipe for chocolate marble banana Bundt cake instead. You can leave out the chocolate swirl in that recipe.
How to Freeze Banana Bread
Freeze banana bread using these instructions to preserve its fresh flavor and texture for months:
- Cool baked banana bread completely.
- Tightly wrap the loaf or slices (individually or grouped) in 2–3 layers of plastic wrap or aluminum foil.
- Place wrapped banana bread in a large freezer-friendly storage bag or reusable container.
- Date the bag and freeze for up to 3–4 months. Thaw wrapped or unwrapped in the refrigerator or at room temperature. All methods work like a charm!
I like to freeze the quick bread in slices because slices thaw much quicker than a whole loaf.
Overall, this is an easy recipe for classic banana bread. The batter takes about 10 minutes to throw together, the bread stays moist for days, and nothing beats the smell of fresh banana bread in the oven. (Except for, maybe, zucchini bread or pumpkin bread… try those next!)
Other Favorite Banana Recipes:
- Banana Cake & Banana Cupcakes
- Cinnamon Swirl Banana Bread
- Banana Cream Pie & Banoffee Pie
- Banana Muffins or Healthier Chocolate Banana Muffins & Blueberry Banana Muffins
- Banana Chocolate Chip Streusel Muffins
- Baked Banana Oatmeal
- Peanut Butter Banana Muffins
My Favorite Banana Bread
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 65 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours
- Yield: 1 loaf
- Category: Bread
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
With its super-moist and buttery texture, banana and brown sugar flavors, soft crumb, and 1,000+ reviews, this is a delicious AND undeniably popular banana bread recipe. You need 4 large ripe bananas. This recipe is also in my cookbook, Sally’s Baking 101.
Ingredients
- 2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 3/4 cup (150g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 and 1/2 cups (345g) mashed bananas (about 3–4 ripe bananas)
- 1/3 cup (80g) plain Greek yogurt or full-fat sour cream, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- optional: 3/4 cup (90g) chopped pecans or walnuts, or 1 cup (180g) semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Adjust the oven rack to the lower third position and preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Lowering the oven rack prevents the top of your bread from browning too much, too soon. Grease a 9×5-inch loaf pan with nonstick spray. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon together. Set aside.
- In a large bowl using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and brown sugar together on medium-high speed until light and creamy, about 3 minutes. (Here’s a helpful tutorial if you need guidance on how to cream butter and sugar.) With the mixer running on medium speed, add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in the mashed bananas, yogurt/sour cream, and vanilla until combined.
- Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and beat on low speed just until combined. Do not over-mix. Fold in the nuts/chocolate chips, if using. The batter should be thick.
- Pour and spread the batter into the prepared baking pan. Bake for 60–65 minutes, making sure to loosely cover the pan with aluminum foil halfway through, to prevent the top from getting too brown. The bread is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean with only a few small moist crumbs. Cool the bread in the pan set on a cooling rack for 1 hour. Remove the bread from the pan and place it directly on the rack to cool completely before slicing and serving.
- Store wrapped tightly at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 9×5-inch Loaf Pan | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Silicone Spatula | Cooling Rack
- Update in 2025: With enough reader feedback stating the bread can often be too moist and dense, and therefore not bake properly, my team and I retested the bread multiple times over the past 2 years; we slightly reduced the amount of mashed bananas from 2 cups to 1 and 1/2 cups.
- Butter: If needed, you can use salted butter in this recipe with no other changes needed. I’ve also successfully reduced the butter down to 6 Tablespoons (85g) with no issue (just as tasty).
- Brown Sugar: This is not an overly sweet quick bread. If you want a sweeter banana bread, increase to 1 cup (200g) brown sugar. Feel free to replace some or all of the brown sugar with regular white granulated sugar.
- Cream Cheese Frosting: This banana bread also tastes fantastic with cream cheese frosting on top! To make it, beat 4 ounces (112g) of softened cream cheese and 1/4 cup (60g) of softened unsalted butter together on medium speed until smooth. Beat in 1 cup (120g) of confectioners sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract, and a pinch of salt until combined. Spread on cooled loaf.
- Banana Bread Muffins: Use this banana bread recipe to make 15 banana bread muffins. Spoon the batter into a lined or greased muffin pan (fill each to the top with batter) and bake for 5 minutes at 425°F (218°C); then, keeping the muffins in the oven, reduce the oven temperature to 350°F (177°C). Bake for an additional 16–17 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The total bake time for the banana bread muffins is about 21–23 minutes. The initial burst of hot air helps those muffins rise nice and tall! Or try my quick & easy banana muffins.
- Brown Sugar: Feel free to substitute the same amount of regular white granulated sugar or coconut sugar. I do not recommend any liquid sweeteners.
- No Sour Cream or Yogurt? Feel free to use 1/3 cup mashed banana (in addition to what is called for in the recipe), unsweetened applesauce, or even canned pumpkin puree.
- Frozen Bananas: You can use frozen bananas here. Thaw the frozen bananas. Drain off any excess liquid, mash, then use as instructed in the recipe. See How to Freeze & Thaw Bananas for Baking. Try not to mash too much or else you’ll be left with banana-y liquid; some chunks are great.
- Chocolate Chips: I love this bread with chocolate chips, too. Feel free to add 1 cup of your favorite chocolate chips. No need to leave out the nuts if you add the chocolate chips. Chocolate chips and nuts are both optional.
- Can I Turn This Into Banana Bundt Cake? There isn’t enough batter. I recommend using my extremely similar, scaled-up recipe for chocolate marble banana Bundt cake instead. You can leave out the chocolate swirl in that recipe.
Reader Comments and Reviews
Made this as instructed except I used cake flour and I doubled the recipe. Absolutely delicious.
Thank you for sharing this with the rest of us!
Tried this recipe because I had so many over ripe bananas and am I glad I did. Absolutely yummy. My family loved it. Thank you for this deliciousness!
Amazing recipe. Very flavourful and delicious. I added 3/4 cup of chocolate chips and used 5 (med size). Turned out perfect!! Thank you!
If I only have 3 ripe bananas (about a cup mashed), can I use applesauce or more yogurt to replace it?
Well I didn’t hear back so I went ahead and tried it. To make up for being 1 banana short, I used 1/2 cup greek yogurt instead of 1/3 cup and about 1/4 cup of unsweetened applesauce. Then I realized I was out of vanilla extract so I used almond extract instead. It turned out great – moist but not too wet and perfectly brown on top. My kids gave it a double thumbs up!!
I’m so glad you were able to make it work for you, Janeen and that it was a hit! Great tip for when someone is short a banana!
A quick baking question! How do you arrive at the amounts such as 1/4 tsp of salt and know that they really make any real difference to the finished goods? I often sift through Google to choose my favourite recipe for what I want to make (and often end up here!) But all the recipes have varied amounts of similar ingredients, especially salt. Is it trial and error? Or is there a specific purpose/behaviour of the salt in the mixture (other than flavour) that I’m unaware of? My rating is pre-emptive as I’m still in the early stages of preparing this, but I LOVE your recipes, so I have faith! Xx
Hi Jessica, great question! Varying the amount of salt in a recipe will yield identical looking outcomes. However, once you taste them you will realize salt is essential in baked goods! It can cut sweetness, reduce bitterness, and enhance overall flavors of almost every other ingredient. This is the reason I always recommend unsalted butter (different brands are made with varying amounts) and then adding in salt so that we can control the amount we are adding to a recipe. I extensively test each and every recipe I publish to find the absolute best ratio of ingredients!
It’s the best banana bread recipe in the world! I can’t believe how soft and moist it is with the perfect amount of banana flavour and it’s still perfect after three days on the counter, wrapped in cling film. I love it! Thank you x
Does anyone know the proper length of time to cooking this if you use a silicone bundt pan? I know there are so many factors that could affect cooking time but any advice would be appreciated.
I baked mine at 350 degrees for 65 minutes and when I took it out I thought it was basically done (only a little bit of goo stuck to my butter knife aka testing stick) so I let it rest for a while on the pan before flipping it over & taking it out, 15-30 minutes maybe.
When I finally cut it it was a bit too dense & gooey towards the top of the bundt (which was facing down while baking) so I put it back in the oven for about 15-20 more minutes. Unfortunately the very top of the bundt is a little dark/teeny bit burned (this is the part that was face down while cooking so covering in foil wouldn’t really have helped with that). And the base of the bundt is still a bit gooey … BUT it is delicious nonetheless.
I guess my personal recommendation would be, don’t use a bundt pan – use a loaf pan (or make cupcakes) as the recipe suggests. Now I’ve got to buy myself a loaf pan.
Thanks for the marvelously delicious recipe Sally!!!
This is one of the best recipes I’ve found for banana nut bread. I love adding a couple tsp of orange zest and a little orange juice. It just gives it a slight citrusy hint and pairs so well with the banana. Sooooo yummy!
Hi Sally it looks great but I only have the small silicone bread pans, 3 3/4 x 9 inches. Would you have any idea how to adjust bake time?
The bake time will be shorter, but I’m unsure of the exact amount. I don’t have that size pan, so sorry! Use a toothpick to test for doneness.
Hands down the best banana bread I have made. Going to try to make a gluten free version.
Used half whole wheat flour and half white flour, other than that, followed the recipe and it was delicious!
Amazing recipe as always! Love the hint of cinnamon, subtle and tasty. Your recipes never disappoint.
My husband loved this bread! I used plain greek yogurt. So good. I didn’t see the part about the frosting until I came to post my review, will have to whip some of that up to go with what is left. I didn’t have enough ripened bananas, so I threw them in the oven at 300 for about 15 minutes. Thanks for posting, this is a keeper!
Sally, every recipe of yours that I have tried has turned out a success. It all started with your amazing carrot cake. Your website is now my go to for baking. Thank you for sharing your hard work and wisdom.
I was so mad because when I started to make this banana bread I realized part-way through that I didn’t have any brown sugar. I even ran to the neighborhood store to buy some real quick & they didn’t have any either! (My kind of luck). So I ended up having to make it with regular granulated white sugar & it was still THE BEST BANANA BREAD I HAVE EVER EATEN! So moist & delicious! I can’t wait to try it with brown sugar like it says. Thanks!
Found this recipe and never tried any other because its soooo good! Its super delicious. Tried with various types of nuts (best are walnuts) and adding dark chocolate cut to pieces. Thank you Sally!
I tried this a few days ago and it wasn’t very difficult to make. I left it in the oven for 70 min and it was well done overall, except for a small part at the bottom where it looked like the banana dropped and didn’t cook like normal batter. However that was not a problem and it is quite delicious. Thank you for the recipe.
This turned out fantastic! Did a double batch because I had excess overripe bananas and added walnuts! Shop super yummy!!! Nice and moist!
Best banana bread I ever made!!
Is the batter supposed to be all the way to the top of pan or only 3/4 full?
This amount of batter fills a 9×5 inch loaf pan a good 3/4 full.
Tried this recipe out this afternoon and it turned out amazing! I could eat this whole pan by myself.
What kind of brown sugar do you use? Find Brown cane sugar or shiny brown granulated sugar (like white crystallised sugar except it’s brown). Any picture of your brown sugar?
Hi Geogina, I often use the brand Domino for brown sugar and its the kind that almost feels like wet sand – not the kind that feels the same as white granulated sugar.
I made this but added 3/4 cup of fresh chocolate mint leaves cut in small strips. Best I ever tasted!!!
This was so delicious! I was skeptical of using sour cream, but it turned out great. The only thing I did differently was to add a few dashes of cardamom and wow was it so good. Thank you for sharing such excellent recipes.
I made this today and sprinkled some homemade granola on top before baking. This is amazing banana bread! Love it! And the crunch from the granola is delightful!
I made this with sour cream like you and it came out fantastic. The next time I only had Greek yogurt so I used that. It came out completely differently. It took an extra 15 minutes to bake and was not nearly as fluffy and delicious. I did the exact same things for both so I’m assuming it’s the Greek yogurt making it more dense.
Love the tip about mashing bananas with a mixer.
Do you change anything if I want to add milk chocolate chips? (Like longer bake time)
Same bake time.
I just cooled down this banana bread from thix recipe.
Oh My God !!! It is by far thd best recipe.
Highly recommend it. I used walnuts.
Just made this & the texture wasn’t bread like, seemed too moist maybe? And it sank in the middle slightly. What did I do wrong? My eggs & butter Sat on a warm stove so maybe they were too warm? The butter was not melted though, just soft & warm. Also it wasn’t sweet enough, not really at all for me personally but I’ll add that glaze on top which should do it.
Hi Neshia! Make sure the butter is at room temperature (not too soft) and the bread is completely baked. Yours seems a little under-baked.
Its so yummy i made some yesterday and it literally finished today and my family asked me if i can make it again its the best recipe ever
Can I use the mini loaf pans? If so, how long do I bake them and at what temperature
Hi Marilyn! You can use this banana bread batter to make smaller loaves in a mini loaf pan. Bake at 350F. The bake time depends on the dimensions of the loaves. Keep a close eye on them.
This banana bread is the bomb! Love all your recipes and this one has become a staple. Keep up the great work