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 tried this recipe many times and everyone in my family loves it. Thank you for sharing it.
Hi, can we use whole Greek yogurt plain as a substitute for yogurt/sour cream?
Sure can, Jess!
Delicious! Followed the recipe almost exactly as is (used greek yoghurt instead of plain and salted butter instead of unsalted and just omitted the salt) and it turned out beautifully. My husband loves it too! I was a bit worried after mixing in the eggs and yoghurt as it sort of separated but didn’t seem to affect the end result. Perfect level of sweetness as well (not too sweet). Definitely include walnuts if you have them on hand.
Made this exactly per directions and it had no taste.
Hi Sally,
I did your banana bread before and it was AMAZING! I want to do it again but I only have 3 large bananas. Do you think that will work or I have to reduce some other ingredients?
Thanks
Hi Elodie, it should be fine. You can weigh them with a food scale (after peeling) or mash them and measure them with cups, and make up the difference with applesauce.
Absolutely gorgeous! I made for some young kids and brought them back home with me.
It’s pretty dense! My banana was ripe but I don’t think it was over ripe. I pierced the middle and it’s cooked through, but when I cut it, it was not the usual fluffy texture. It’s soft still but not the right texture! Comparing to the banana muffin recipe, this is way more complicated and the return in investment is crappy!
Hi Applefish, Banana bread is always going to be more dense than light and fluffy because of all the moisture from the bananas. It yours is turning out too dense there are a few things you can try. First check your baking soda – we find it can lose strength after just a few months. Also make sure not to over-mix your batter, which can lead to a dense bread. If you prefer a lighter texture and a more simple recipe, you may enjoy these quick and easy banana muffins.
I love this recipe! I always have frozen bananas, yoghurt and eggs on hand so its a great one to whip up at any time. I use whatever nuts i have on hand , often hazelnuts. Slice it thickly then toasted. Soooo good!
I love this recipe so much for when I make banana muffins, since I don’t have a loaf pan! Quick question, can I bake this recipe in a 13×9 pan? If so, do I need to adjust the temp & time, would love to make this in my 13×9 baking dish!
Hi Ariana, This wouldn’t be enough batter for a 9×13-inch pan. You may love our banana cake recipe instead!
Yes you can use a 9×13 but shorten baking time. I usually bake mine for 35 to 40 min
Hi Sally, I am confused by the measurement of flour. You say “2 cups (250 g)”. For the other ingredients, you give the correct metric equivalent for the traditional measure. Did you mean “2 cups 500 g“? Also, it would be safer to give the volume equivalent, i.e., millilitres or ML instead of the weight equivalent, i.e., grams. Only for water is one ML equal to 1 g. Flour is of course much lighter than water and therefore it may be that 250 g is actually the equivalent of 500 MLs although I haven’t measured it out. I’m going to assume that you actually meant two cups or 500 MLs of flour. I hope the recipe turns out OK 🙂
Hi John, the gram weight of 1 cup of all purpose flour is 125. So, for 2 cups, you need 250g. Sorry if I am misunderstanding your question.
I make this recipe all the time and we love it in our house! My only question is why does it curdle every single time? All my ingredients are room temperature, always. Sometimes it happens when I add the eggs, but always when I add the sour cream. It always comes together once I add the flour mixture but I’m just so curious as to why it happens in the first place! Thanks!!
Can I just say that I have faithfully been using your recipe for roughly 3 years now? I am in love and can probably make this once a week and the house will eat the bread away! I notice you have a separate recipe for banana bread muffins but I cannot part ways from this recipe! May I ask what I may have to adjust?
Hi Pella, you can use this recipe to make muffins, as well. See Note #5 in the recipe Notes section!
I’ve made this banana bread recipe a couple of times. I typically check baked items for doneness at the soonest bake time listed. Twice when I’ve made this bread it’s been overdone before 60 minutes. Yes, I know that I need an oven thermometer. I have moved the rack both times but now am thinking it needs to stay centered. I cover the bread halfway through baking and the top is fine, but the bottom comes out burnt. Note to self, start checking the bread at 55 minutes, and keep the rack in the center of the oven.
Aside from unfortunately over baking, this recipe is great.
Just made this…Have adjusted the temp to 375 and it has been in the oven for 75 minutes and it is still wet in the middle…what went wrong?
Hi Patty, All ovens are different and are often not the temperature they say they are. Continue baking until a toothpick comes out clean!
My first attempt using this bread recipe and it came out very wet/underbaked after it cooled down and cut it.I had even tested @ 65 mins and tester was clean. Do you think not leaving in the pan for 1 hour would have made a differenced? I was very careful in my measurements but thinking too much banana?
I’m not a very good baker but now I can make banana bread that I love!! Thank you once again, I am very happy with your peanut butter cookies as well!!!
Hi! i made this yesterday and it’s soooo yummy. do you have the nutrition info?
Hi Eva, 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
Hi,
Is it possible to substitute buttermilk for the sour cream?
Hi Bill, You can use buttermilk (not regular milk) 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.
This was the most dense and not moist loaf I’ve ever had. Also not much flavor hardly. And the outside was so crispy and crusty. Not how a loaf should be.
Hi Emily, 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!
I made this recipe today as I had 4 bananas needing to be cooked. Followed it to the letter and the outside is thicker and more cooked than the inside. The bottom is still uncooked even after 60-65 mins. Mine also deflated as soon as it started cooling. Disappointed this didn’t turn out – not sure what I did wrong here?
Hi Jodie, we’re happy to help troubleshoot. Did you measure out the 4 bananas as well? You’ll want 2 cups of mashed bananas—if your bananas were much larger and produced more mashed banana, that could be contributing to the especially wet batter. Every oven can be a bit different, too, so no worries if yours seems to need a bit longer in the oven. Under baking can cause both the undercooked texture and deflating that you mention. If the outsides are starting to brown, tent the pan with aluminum foil to prevent burning but allow the middles to continue baking. Thanks for giving this one a try!
I have made this recipe twice and each time the banana bread comes out of the oven beautifully domed. Then as it cools it starts to deflate in the middle resulting in a flat loaf. I cooked it for the full amount of time and checked with a toothpick that came out clean. What did I do wrong? Thank you for any suggestions.
Hi Lo, if your bread is deflating, double check the freshness of your baking soda. (We find it can lose strength after just 3 months.) Additionally, try baking for a few extra minutes. Sinking is usually because the baked good is slightly under-baked. Hope this helps for your next batch!
This is the best banana bread ever! I can’t wait to make the muffins from this recipe! Sally your recipes are my “go to” always and I end up having to give a lot of people where to find these wonderful recipes! Thanks for sharing and all the effort you put into your recipes! I also love watching your videos, especially the ones that are bloopers!☺️
Thank you so much for making our recipes, Jean!
Can I use vanilla yogurt instead of plain?
Hi Peg, vanilla yogurt is usually sweetened, which isn’t ideal here, but should work just fine.
Fantastic recipe. Can you please tell me what the calorie count is base on 12 pieces in the loaf?
Hi Karen, 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
OMG this was amazing. I added Walnuts and Chocolate Chips just to the top and it was perfect! I love that it was not too sweet. Thank You Sally so yummy!
It was too wet… I had to threw it in the bin… Never again this recipe..
Hi Natalia, were your bananas particularly wet or frozen and thawed before using? Too much liquid in the batter could make the bread too moist. If you use frozen bananas, make sure to drain or blot some of the excess liquid before using.
Same. I had regular ripe bananas but it never baked in the middle it was like a pudding still. I’ve used riper bananas in other recipes that came to a good crumb so wasn’t the bananas.
I made this two weeks ago because I had some overripe bananas. I took it into work and my co-workers are still raving about it! More than anything I’ve ever made before! I added milk chocolate and caramilk (caramelised white chocolate) chips. Thank you for another great recipe ☺️
Dear Ms/Mrs McKenney,
I love the formats of your recipes, and the recipes themselves are really good. I love this website
Can i cook this in an airfryer ?
If so do I need to adjust temp or time?
Hi KC, we haven’t tested this recipe in an air fryer, so we’re unsure of what adjustments need to be made. Let us know if you try anything.
I just made this using air fryer. I used two 4×8 pans, baked @350 in pre heated air fryer for around 25 minutes. Followed the instruction to cover with foil halfway during baking. It came out with nice color and tastes well.
I love your recipe so much I played with it for ingredients. I did mini loaves and made each one its own flavor. Chocolate chip, butterscotch chip, coconut and a coupe with all 3. Walnuts were in all them. I even had enough batter left to make banana nut muffins! Yum & fun! It was like banana bread goes to Cold Stone. I just used a cup of batter, poured into bowl and mixed chips etc into it and then into pan.
Good Morning ~ as usual ~ WONDERFUL quick bread recipe that I have made many times. I thought I would pass along something I learned today. I often use thawed frozen ripe bananas to make this recipe and usually find myself in a quandary about about how many thawed bananas I will need. While freezing bananas over the last month, I weighed each peeled banana before adding it to my already frozen bananas. When I had accumulated 600g (weight pre-frozen) of bananas, I made this delicious recipe. After thoroughly draining the fluid from the thawed bananas as Sally recommends for a quick bread, I had 440g of thawed bananas! I needed to add applesauce to the recipe to have 460 fruit grams. Next time I will plan to freeze 650 grams together before I make the bread. If I have too much thawed banana, I can replace some of my yogurt/sour cream with banana! I thought this might be useful to some of my baking colleagues! One last tip: I look for the “significantly reduced cost” over ripe bananas at my grocery store, bring them home, peel them, and freeze them until I have enough for baking.
Thank you Sally and team ~ I look forward to every email that comes from you into my inbox!!!