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 have used this recipe four times now and will never waist my soon-to-be-bad bananas on any other recipe!
Omg the best banana bread ever, I crave this taste when I buy at bakeries but it’s always a disappointment, this was perfection! Will never need to try another recipe again. I used 200g brown sugar (didn’t taste overly sweet) , I browned the butter first for added flavour, and used 5 bananas to get the 460g, it was perfect moist texture . I added choc chips to one half and even though I love choc and banana, the original flavour was much better! Thank you!
Best banana bread recipe I have ever made. I used sour cream instead of yogurt.
Very nice. Honestly, there is *no need* for an electric blender. Just use a fork to blend and then a whisk if desired. I don’t have many fancy kitchen supplies and was glad everything turned out well.
Delicious. I made muffins and they turned out great.
Thank you for the cook mode button; was able to keep my tablet from blanking out while baking. Wish other recipe authors would have this option.
Perfectly moist and delicious! Our new favorite banana bread. Sally’s baking addiction is my go to for great recipes!
Love this banana bread recipe, great for breakfast on the go
Following this recipe to a tee produces a pretty dry, mild banana bread that lacks depth of flavor. I made sure to not over bake and I used a scale to measure all ingredients to make sure I was following everything perfectly. I would recommend using maybe 2x the brown sugar or also incorporating white granulated sugar. Also needs more than 460g mashed banana, probably more like 600g to make the banana flavor shine. Will try this again after adjusting ingredients. If you prefer a very mild banana bread, it will be good as is and maybe throw some ice cream on top to balance out the dense texture.
Hey, I’ve made your banana muffin recipe many times before and everyone I know says it’s the best they’ve ever had! I can’t wait to try this banana bread, but I’d like to know if I could possibly use frozen/thawed sour cream? It’s much runnier (more like milk) than normal sour cream, so I’m a little skeptical.
Hi Erin, we haven’t tested it, but if it is runnier, we would advise against it.
Hello, I’ve made this so many times, and it’s incredible! In my oven I did have to bake it longer, but it turned out perfectly moist!
Question: My mother can’t have gluten. Can I use this recipe with the 1to1 gluten free flour?
Hi Anna, we haven’t tested this bread with a 1:1 gluten free flour, but a few readers have reported success doing so. Let us know if you give it a try!
Made it with substituting the flour with the same amount of Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Gluten free flour and it turn out great!
I tend to use 85% oat flour and 15% mochiko (by weight in grams) plus an extra egg yolk for gluten free recipes and (for me at least) it always come out super moist and holds together better than most gluten free replacement brands. It works as a 1:1 replacement when the 100% equals the total amount of normal flour. Hope that helps!
Hi, I’m making this recipe right now and I’m on 65 mins and the batter is still wet when i pull a tooth pick out. It looks like it needs at least 10-15 additional mins at least. What am i doing wrong? My oven is set to the correct temp. Thanks!
Hi El! All ovens are different and are often not the temperature they say they are. Continue baking until a toothpick comes out clean!
This bread was a big hit in my household! What would be the best substitute for the eggs in this recipe?
Hi Sarah, we haven’t tested it with any egg substitutes, so we’re unsure what might work best/how it will impact the bread. If you decide to do any experimenting, please do let us know how it goes.
My favourite replacement for breads are flax eggs (1 tbsp milled flax seeds + 2.5 tsp water for each ‘egg’ – let rest to thicken). It does add about 15-20 minutes to the baking time so I add tin foil over the top so it doesn’t brown too much after the first hour
It tastes pretty delicious but it looks quite flat and the texture is dense, a lot of wet ingredients and not enough flour? Also wondered why this recipe doesn’t use baking powder like other cake recipes?
Hi Moe, we use baking soda, not baking powder in this recipe. You might enjoy reading about the difference in this post.
I made this recipe the other day for breakfast, and my whole family loved! I’m making another one for a party today with the cream cheese icing Sally suggested today!
Can the batter sit in the fridge overnight to bake in the morning?
Hi Howard, We don’t recommend making the batter ahead of time. The raising agents will activate too soon and the bread won’t rise properly when baked.
I loved this recipe, super easy and fast. My cake was delicious. Thank youuu
It was dry! Very disappointed
Hi Betsy, a dry banana bread is usually caused by over-baking or too much flour in the batter. How did you measure the flour? Make sure to spoon and level (instead of scooping) to avoid packing in too much flour into your measuring cups – or use a kitchen scale. You can read more about properly measuring baking ingredients in this post. Thanks for giving it a try!
I didn’t have vanilla extract so I used vanilla greek yogurt and it was fantástico.
Love love your banana bread
My loaf looked good coming out of the oven, but as it was cooling in the pan, it deflated. Any reason why this could have happened and how do I prevent it next time?
Hi Stephanie, when quick breads or muffins deflate in the centers, it usually means they were slightly underbaked. A few extra minutes in the oven should help for next time. Thank you for giving this recipe a try!
Hi Sally! Would ricotta cheese work as a sour cream/yogurt substitute?
Hi Emily, we haven’t tested that exact substitution, but it *should* work just fine. Let us know if you try it!
Yes, I tried with ricotta and it was delicious!
This was delicious! Shared with my friends and neighbors! Do you have the nutrition information by chance?
Hi Sarah, we’re so glad you enjoyed it! We don’t usually include nutrition information as it can vary between different brands of the same ingredients. Plus, many recipes have ingredient substitutions or optional ingredients listed. However, there are many handy online calculators where you can plug in and customize your exact ingredients/brands. Readers have found this one especially helpful: https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076
This is now my favorite banana bread recipe. I can’t eat nuts so added a tablespoon of flaxseeds to give it a slightly nutty flavor with mini chocolate chips and a crunchy cinnamon topping. Chefs kiss!
Why do you like a metal loaf pan? I’ve got a stoneware one I’d like to try.
Hi Pat! We find that metal pans bake a little faster and more evenly. Stoneware and glass pans will require a little extra baking time.
This is my favorite banana bread recipes. It comes out so moist and delicious. I think I’ve made this banana bread 5 times now, and I’ll make it many more times in the future, because my family loves it.
Do you have any nutritional information for this recipe? I love it and I use applesauce instead of yogurt/sour cream. I also use butter flavor Crisco to keep it dairy free.
Hi Michelle! We don’t usually include nutrition information as it can vary between different brands of the same ingredients. Plus, many recipes have ingredient substitutions or optional ingredients listed. However, there are many handy online calculators where you can plug in and customize your exact ingredients/brands. Readers have found this one especially helpful: https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076
Just made this recipe! It was delicious! Moist and very rich. I would add 1/4 to a half cup more dark brown sugar if you like a sweeter tasting banana bread.
I have made so many banana breads in my life and most of them are just mediocre. I land up throwing the last half out usually. So I had 4 soft bananas and decided to try one more time. I put milk chocolate chips and a few left over butterscotch chips. I also forgot to add the vanilla
But alas this recipe (with the increased brown sugar) was quite delicious. We’ll see how it tastes tomorrow.
Did not have butter so used coconut oil in equal amounts. Also did half almond flour and half all purpose plus half dark brown sugar and half stevia. Came out perfect even though Almond flour tends not to do well in long cooking. Great recipe to maneuver for dietary needs.
I have tried this recipe twice now and both times it has come out really rubbery and pretty awful. What am I doing wrong?
Hi Gianna, it sounds like the batter may simply be over mixed. When batter is over mixed, cakes and breads can come out squat and dense. Be sure that you’re also properly measuring ingredients for best results. All easy fixes for next time!