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
It was a success! I made it in a bunt shape. I also put raisins instead of nuts and my kids loved it! ❣️
I love this recipe and have made it several times—both in loaf and muffin form. The only correction I would have is that it definitely doesn’t make a full two dozen cookies. I doubled the recipe hoping to make 4 dozen, but I got an even 3 dozen. I filled the cups only partway and put some streusel on top. They turned out great, but I wish it had stretched to 4 dozen.
amazing! Used walnuts and chopped dark chocolate pieces instead of chips. This is my new favourite banana bread recipe!
My husband loves this with chopped walnuts and grated orange rind. Yum!
This recipe is so good! What is the baking time if I use the 24pcs mini muffin tray/ liners?
This is the best banana bread recipe ever. I’ve made several different recipes before and this is by far the best. I substitute half of the sugar with coconut sugar. And my toddler LOVES it. Thank you so much. Your recipes never disappoint!
I would like to adapt this for mega muffins . Can you recommend bake times and temps?
Hi Brenda! For jumbo muffins, I recommend you use this batter and follow the baking instructions for my jumbo blueberry muffins.
My actual word! Found this recipe recently and just tried my first attempt and no question, it is absolute bliss! I don’t have a mixer so I had to do everything by hand with a whisk or a fork! Hard work on the wrists, but worth every bite! Thanks for sharing, me and my wife both love it!
This is the only banana bread that I’ve made and I love it. Been making this for 3 yrs now and I just realised it’s a Sally’s baking addiction (shame lol).
Thank you for this recipe I absolutely love it ! 2nd time I bake it 🙂
hello from Paris !
I used buttermilk instead of yogurt/sour cream since I didn’t have any on hand but that change pales in comparison to the butter mistake I made…I accidentally used two sticks of butter instead of one. Thankfully, it didn’t ruin the whole thing and actually everyone loved it. It was supremely buttery and banana-y goodness and the texture did not suffer at all! It was lovely. Thank you for the great recipe – I will follow it more closely next time.
I managed to sneak 5 bananas into this recipe and it turned out a-m-azing. Definitely recommend the nuts. My family loved it. This is the only banana bread recipe I need from now on!
It’s so good. Tastes healthy and full of flavor. Doubled and made 2 loaves. I miss some of the sweetness of white sugar but I can get used to this. It’s a great option and I can’t wait to make the frosting. I believe it would be good with the added sweetness. Moist just like it says, I used Tillamook Vanilla yogurt. So extra!! lol. definelty more full of flavor 2nd day, so make ahead.
Can I substitute apple sauce for the Greek yogurt/sour cream?
Shouldn’t be a problem!
I’ve made this recipe at least 4-5 times now after using the Food Network recipe for years, and I will never go back! This recipe is so moist and delicious! I doubled the cinnamon but keep everything else the same. I usually make this for my fam, but also for some dear friends who had just become new parents because fixing a good breakfast is impossible when you’re home alone with a newborn. Everyone that has tried it is obsessed! Thank you!
Best Ever !!! Made them yesterday! Moist & delicious ! Everybody wants more 🙂
Thanks for this! I love that it uses yogurt. I also love that it uses 4 bananas (I accidentally bought too many the other day). I upped the spice and substituted Penzey’s “Tsardust Memories” Russian spice blend (warm spices plus black pepper) for the cinnamon. I also sprinkled the top of the bread with some teff I had lying around (experimental, hopefully some crunch?). I made my own brown sugar (granulated sugar + molasses is all it is) – there is a lot of info online about the ratio. It prevents me keeping brown sugar around, where it inevitably gets hard and crunchy. Cheers!
That spice you used sounds delicious! Thrilled you enjoyed this recipe, Carolyn 🙂
I substitute 3/4 cups of brown sugar with 1/2 cup molasses and 1/2 cup brown sugar. IMO it comes out better. I also add some cocoa nibs, it complements it very well
Absolutely delicious!
Hi, Sally! I plan to make this recipe for breakfast this weekend. Could I half the brown sugar called for or would that compromise the texture?
Hi Lauren! I haven’t personally tried reducing the sugar, but know many readers have had success. Coconut sugar is a wonderful unrefined sugar alternative in this banana bread. Let me know how it goes!
Sally,
How can adjust this recipe for baking it in mini loaves?
Hi Debbie! 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.
I have just made my first ever banana bread using this recipe, the only thing I changed was I put in chopped almonds and choc chips, I’m super happy with the result, never thought I could ever bake something ☺️
Hi Sally! I have tried this recipe twice and I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong. I have used 4 ripe bananas(black and yellow skin) and I still cannot for the life of me get the banana flavor to pull through. Do you have any recommendations ? I loooooove all your recipes !
Hi Karen! I’m wondering why the bread doesn’t taste like banana with 2 whopping cups of mashed ripe banana in there! That’s a significant amount of the batter. Are you following the recipe closely? Any other changes? Maybe try the recipe as mini loaves or muffins. The flavor may come through better for you with a smaller size.
I have been looking for THE banana bread recipe forever, and this is it. You were right, the brown sugar really made a huge difference. Made exactly as printed, although I made half the batch with peanut butter chips for my husband. Thank you!
Thank you for sharing this banana bread. I made it last night for a midnight snack, and there’s not much left today :-). Best flavor and texture I’ve ever tasted.
Made two of these for breakfast! So good!
This is the best banana bread recipe on the planet
Make it at least once a week for my brood
Add walnuts and chocolate chips as well. Depending on demands
Thank you Sally u are the rockstar of baking
Just made this recipe because I had “bananas” – unbelievably easy and fantastic! Thank you Sally for your great tips on baking and preparing, I am always learning new things from you!
Trying this pronto. Question…do you like a glass pan or a metal one. I see you use metal in the photo above. Thanks.
So good! I’ve been trying to find a good recipe for banana bread for a while. This was definitely easy and delicious! I reduced the sugar just a little bit cause I thought it would be too sweet but I was definitely wrong! So next time will try with the amount Sally put in the recipe.