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’ve tried a ton of banana bread recipes, but no longer! This was delicious! Didn’t change a thing
I used one cup of brown sugar and used two pans baked at 350 for 50 minutes. Super good. Thanks for the great recipe.
I just made it. I baked a lot but I his recipe came out weird. The only thing I switched, vanilla yogurt instead of sour cream.
The bread isn’t even sweet and it feels wet like under baked but is fully done. And it tastes mealy.
Followed the recipe perfectly but not a huge fan. It’s not sweet enough. I think regular sugar and salted butter might have made a difference. Texture was nice though. Was really hoping this would turn out amazing!
Hi Krista, thanks so much for giving this one a try! It sounds like perhaps your bananas may not have been ripe enough (that gives the bread a lot of flavor/sweetness). You can certainly feel free to try it again with salted butter and granulated sugar (although we do find brown sugar to provide the best taste). You may also enjoy this recipe as cinnamon swirl banana bread instead!
I’m giving this five stars because Sally never lets me down and this was user error, but I didn’t have quite enough bananas (I was short about 100 grams) and the recipe performed well, but was missing a lot of the banana taste and was a bit dry. I thought about adding some applesauce to make up the difference but decided not to. I’ll try this again and make sure I have enough bananas next time.
Can I use an 8×4 loaf pan or would I have to change the recipe?
Hi Deborah, this will be a bit too much batter for an 8×4 inch pan – you can make a couple muffins with the excess! Bake time will be similar, but as always, keep an eye on the bread in the oven.
do I use bleached or unbleached flour?
Hi DebbieDo, we typically use unbleached, but you can use whichever you prefer.
This really is the best Banana bread I have ever made! I do not like bananas that are going soft but don’t always want to make banana bread..this has now changed!
I made this today and added peanut butter chips. It’s so delicious that I may have to hide it so I don’t have to share with my family. Thank you for a fabulous banana bread recipe!
Can I substitute buttermilk for yog?r
Hi JoAnn, you can use buttermilk instead of yogurt or sour cream (same amount), but the batter will be on the thinner side and, as a result, the baked bread will end up a little squat without as much rise. We recommend sticking to the recipe for best results.
My banana bread fell, what did I do wrong?
Hi Linda! Usually quick breads fall if they haven’t baked though completely. Make sure to use a toothpick to test for doneness!
Can I use self raising flour instead of all purpose?
Hi Ruva, we don’t recommend using self rising flour in this recipe. It would take additional recipe testing to ensure accurate results.
Delicious – the best banana bread recipe I have ever made!
I had leftover ripe-black bananas so I decided to make this recipe today. I also had some coconut flour (just over 100gr) that I didn’t want to throw away so I incorporated it in the recipe replacing part of the all purpose flour with it. I cannot describe the sweet smell inside my house right now. I think it matches beautifully! Bread is soft and moist!
Although I’ve never been a big fan of banana bread, I really liked this recipe. I omitted the nuts this time but added some chocolate chips. It will now be a breakfast favorite. It’s not too sweet and the banana flavor was not too strong. I did add a tad more brown sugar and sour cream.
Oh no. I misread and used baking powder instead of baking soda. What a disappointment:(
Excellent! Very much a bread, as it’s not very sweet. Nice moisture and flavor. I only had 1 1/2 cups of banana, but the bread turned out great!
Love this recipe, great way to use up over-ripe bananas.
Used the sour cream version and threw in the “end of a bag” chopped pecans too. Yummy.
My go to every time plus many of your other fabulous recipes
After 50 years of cooking I have finally found a perfect banana bread recipe. Thank you so much!
I appreciate the details in the recipe and am so thankful for the metric conversion.
Sincerely,
a happy baker from Germany!
I love all of your recipes ! Everyone loves when I make your banana cake! The cakes are so moist and have so much flavour. I’ve tried making your banana bread today. It’s in the oven and smells amazing!!!
Great recipe. Easy to make and freezes well. Thanks for another terrific recipe.
Awesome recipe!! Thank you for posting!
My husband and I loved this recipe!
I love this recipe! It always comes out great & I love that it freezes well! I bake them in smaller size disposable loaf pans. I can take one out of the freezer & send with my son for high school tennis trips. Great source of potassium & carbs to keep him fueled through matches!
P.S. I discovered that adding butterscotch chips in place of chocolate chips is AMAZING!
@Sally’s Baking Addiction. I can tell you honestly. It’s been just a nightmare trying to reach you via email or any other way just to ask a question. I’ve been trying to ask about a Baking pan conversion. Your only list a 9×3 tube pan. When a recipe calls for a 10 inch tube pan. What about making this in a 13×9 baking pan? I know this page isn’t the right place to ask. But I don’t know where else to turn.
Hi LuAnn, are you wondering if this banana bread can be baked in a 13 x 9 pan or another recipe? This wouldn’t be enough batter for a 9×13 pan. You may love our banana cake recipe instead!
This recipe was easy to follow and the bread is extremely moist and delicious.
Good , easy recipe. Made into muffins, added a small handful of chocolate chips to 1/3, peanut butter morsels to 1/3 and left 1/3 plain. No frosting needed imo. Smell look and taste great!
This came out so delish! I don’t have good luck with loaf pans because they either burn or are still doughy in the middle. I used a regular baking dish and checked it at regular intervals since I knew it wouldn’t take as long. The flavor and texture are so good