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
- 1/3 cup (80g) plain Greek yogurt or full-fat sour cream, at room temperature
- 1 and 1/2 cups (345g) mashed bananas (about 3–4 ripe bananas)
- 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 yogurt, vanilla, and mashed bananas 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 cool it directly on the rack until ready to slice and serve.
- 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
I followed the recipe exactly as written – no substitutions or altering the amounts of the ingredients.
The first time I made this the sides and bottom were overcooked, almost burnt. The bread itself was fine.
So the 2nd time I made this I covered the bread with tin foil earlier and the bread was actually done in only 50 minutes.
The first loaf I used sour cream, the 2nd loaf was with yogurt.
Both loaves were delicious, not overly sweet or too banana-y. The texture was perfect and not like a muffin or cake.
Great recipe, I’ll definitely be making this again.
This bread is sooo good! I did only have three medium size bananas, and I’m really glad that I went for it! 4 might have been a little too moist. I also added a little more cinnamon and a pinch of nutmeg, and it was perfect!
I tried this recipe yesterday and tried a piece this morning. Disappointing!! I think there is too much banana, resulting in an overly moist, almost glue texture. I had to bake it for about 70 minutes until it tested done and, by that time, the sides and bottom were on the verge of burning. May try this recipe again but will reduce the bananas to 1-1/2 cups and see if I like it better.
Oh my goodness! I am a baker of 60+ years and was a seeker of great banana bread because my husband loves banana bread. My search is over!! I must have tried hundreds of recipes, coming up with a variety of results. So, if you are reading this, please bake this beautiful bread. You will thank me! PS The tip about using frozen bananas is priceless.
I have some bananas I need to use up, but I don’t have any sour cream or unsweetened applesauce. What can I use in place?
Hi Angie! Do you have yogurt on hand? Plain or Greek yogurt would work great.
The worst recipe I’ve ever tried way to mushy couldn’t even swallow it
Great recipe! Just wondering if I could add in Fresh or frozen ( unthawed ) blueberries. Would I need any other changes?
Hi GMJ, thank you so much for your positive feedback! You can definitely try adding some fresh or frozen blueberries (do not thaw). The bread will take longer in the oven if using a frozen add-in.
Perfectly Delish-everytime! Absolutely foolproof. Nuts, no nuts, smidge more or less of sour cream- no problem….bigger bananas, smaller – no worries, perfect, beyond delicious EVERY time. Thanks Sally
Perfectly dDelish 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. Thanks Sally
I had 2 bananas getting too ripe to eat…so I made this recipe. Thank you! It was perfectly delicious!
This banana bread recipe is the best ever! Moist and reliable each time.
Absolutely delicious banana bread. It comes together easily and smells so good baking. My new go to banan bread recipe
This was the best tasting banana bread, not overly sweet and very moist. I’ve thrown out all my other banana bread recipes. This is my favorite one. I made it with the cream cheese frosting. Thank you for your helpful notes at the end of the recipe.
A really good tasting moist banana bread. I will make it again!
DELICIOUS, I hope I didn’t already leave a comment but I think this is my new GO TO Banana Bread, I also made the banana muffins which were also excellent. YuMMMM, thank you so much
Phenomenal!! My family finished the entire loaf in one sitting, and they’re not even v big on desserts so this was a win-win! Definitely making another batch soon
(I added one extra small banana bec i had less yogurt and it worked just as well)
I’m using a nonstick loaf pan with a dark finish. Do I reduce the temp as was suggested elsewhere when I did a google search?
Perfect! I used whole fat Greek Yogurt and no substitutions.
I’m oldish and this is the best Banana bread I’ve ever made.
Can the recipe be safely doubled? I have 8 bananas to use!
Hi Bridgette, for best results, we recommend making two separate batches rather than doubling.
GAME CHANGER
In the past I was never a fan of banana bread. They were always a bit dry and too dense.
I only tried this recipe because I had bananas I didn’t want to throw out. Since I love all the other recipes here I gave it a try.
OMG sooooooo good.
I’ve since converted to a banana bread lover/snob.
This is the only recipe I like. LOL
I found this to be heavy, too much butter, and not sweet enough even with added sugar. Not my favorite banana bread.
This is BY FAR the best banana bread recipe I’ve ever made! OMG… my husband and I ate the whole loaf. It’s not too sweet and the texture is marvelous. Thank you and happy baking!
Best banana bread ! We love it it’s easy to make and very moist and full of flavor.
Sorry, a question. I want to give make this into the mini loaf pans to give as treats. How long would you recommend baking?
Hi Joyce, it will depend/vary based on the size of your mini loaf pans. Keep a close eye on them and use a toothpick to test for doneness.
This is one of your simplest yet best recipes. I love how few ingredients this recipe is. Every ingredient and every ratio combines to make a perfect banana bread. 10/10, will bake many times.
I have made this before. This time it did not turn out. Despite adding time to the baking time, it is still wet on top. The flavor is off too. Not sure where I went wrong??
I made muffins and followed the recipe exactly. They are so light, moist and very flavorful. Turned out so well. Next time I will try 1/2 whole wheat with all purpose flour. Love the recipe!
I lost my go-to banana bread recipe but this one is even better. I love the way the house smells while it’s in the oven, too. I did not melt the butter. Instead I creamed the butter and brown sugar together with a pastry blender. I only had three big bananas but it came out just fine. This is my new favoite banana bread recipe!
My family has always been skeptical about banana bread, and so I tried out this one and they LOVED it. No, seriously. It’s the first non-dry banana bread I’ve made in a while. I’ve tried so many recipes as an avid banana bread lover and this is my favourite so far. It’s not too sweet, it’s soft. I browned my butter, and switched out the walnuts for almonds. I also added a little bit more salt. It came together so well. Thank you so much for this recipe.
If using a glass pan, does temp or time need to be augmented? (I don’t have a metal pan)
Hi Rachael, bake time may be just a few minutes longer in a glass pan. Keep a close eye on it and use a toothpick to test for doneness.
Great recipe! I adore the substitutions section. Used a combo of applesauce, pumpkin puree, and bananas and it’s such a tasty bread. I adore your website! Thank you!