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 love this recipe. I received some chocolate covered pecans and chopped up 3/4 cup to fold in. It was just the right amount of chocolate for me.
It came out excellent!!
Thank you so much for the recipe. I will definitely make it again.
Yes! This was by far the best banana bread recipe I’ve come across. Instead of the sour cream, I used coffee flavored Greek yogurt. I also added a brown sugar and cinnamon sprinkle on the top for a little razzle dazzle! Thank you for sharing!
Hi, can anyone tell me if the oven temp is for fan forced or not? Thank you
Hi Desiree, all of the recipes on this site are written for conventional settings. Convection ovens are fantastic for cooking and roasting. If you have the choice, we recommend conventional settings when baking cakes, breads, etc. The flow of air from convection heat can cause baked goods to rise and bake unevenly and it also pulls moisture out of the oven. If you do use convection settings for baking, lower your temperature by 25 degrees F and keep in mind that things may still take less time to bake. Hope this helps!
Sally, I know this is good since it’s similar to a recipe I’ve used for years. The sour cream really makes a difference. I’ve sometimes subbed the banana with pumpkin puree and added some pumpkin spices. Also good!
How many WW points? Thanks!
The most perfect Banana bread recipe I’ve ever tried and very forgiving. I made this I think so many times to the point that I know the recipe by heart. I was thinking of doing a gluten free version possibly with oats instead of the flour. Do you think it would still come out good or should I use something else. Thanks and Merry Christmas!
I was wondering if I need to make any adjustments if I’m using a glass bread pan instead of metal
Hi Lauren, the bake time may be a few minutes longer for a glass pan, but otherwise all baking directions can remain the same. Enjoy!
This banana bread is a banger! I made this a few hours ago, as the desert for my Christmas meal. I only added 2 tablespoons of molasses and some chopped pistachios- as the were the only nuts I had. This is the best banana bread I’ve ever had, and I’m not even good at baking sweets. I am sharing this recipe with everyone. It seems that the molasses may help maintain the moisture, but the recipe and steps were really solid. Many thanks!
only had 1 cup of bananas so subbed in sweet potato, and doubled the nuts. great bread, moist and satisfying without being too claggy
Hi sally, I was wondering if i could use chocolate chips instead of walnuts/pecans ?
Absolutely.
I’ve made it with chocolate chips and it is delicious. My family loves it with butterscotch chips.
This is the best banana bread I’ve ever eaten.
So glad it was a hit, Holly!
I tried this recipe (with and without walnuts) it was delicious,simple to make. My family loved it. Thank you for sharing
Unfortunately the recipe didn’t work for me, then knife came out clean but once it cooled and I cut it, the inside looked raw
This recipe is sooo tasty. I wanted to find the best recipe for banana bread I could, so made 4 different recipes – from the classic Joy of Cooking, Better homes and Garden cookbook, the family recipe, and this one. This beat the others out in 3 blind taste tests, due to the flavor, color, and crispyness of the crust.
My banana bread came out great because I reduced the flour, 2 cups were too much. I added a bit more than 1.5 cups. Also I baked for 55 mins, and used 4 middle/small banana.
I hate to give this kind of review because I love all of Sally’s recipes! But my bread came out stodgy and way too moist, almost wet. I read a few other reviews with the same comment. The recipe calls for four bananas, which I think is too much. I should’ve used 2 or 3. The flavor was good, but the texture made it almost inedible.
Using a scale helps with this!
I loved this recipe so much!
It’s a pretty good recipe, but I found it was very dense. I had to bake it for 15 minutes longer than specified and it still was very moist. Not sure if it’s a problem with my oven or not!
I have made this recipe several times. It is delicious! My grandsons love grandma’s banana bread!
Great recipe. I’ve made this 6-7 times in the last couple months. I use a mini loaf pan that makes eight rectangular loaves with enough batter left over for 4 regular muffins. Great for my teens to take for breakfast on the go!
How long do you bake the mini loaf pans for?
This is for one loaf correct? Thanks
Hi Tmoney, yes, this recipe yields 1 9×5-inch loaf of bread. Enjoy!
I love this but is it okay to replace butter with oil?
Hi Xye, in place of the butter here, you could try solid coconut oil or even a plant-based butter. You need a fat that is solid at room temperature so that it can be creamed together with the sugar.
I’m baking for a bake sale at the school I work at. We are raising money for the local food bank. I am making this recipe in 1 lb. foil loaf pans. How long should I bake them? Thanks.
Looking to do this in mini loaf pans. Looking for how long to cook.
You can make mini loaves from this recipe without any changes. The bake time depends on the exact size of your pans and how many you bake at once, so keep an eye on them in the oven and use a toothpick to test for doneness.
Hi! My family loved your banana cupcake recipe and they want me to make banana loaf next! Is it fine if I add 170ml of milk into this recipe? Im afraid that it wont turn out good
Made this today 12.5.24 and it was delicious I did not have enough bad bananas so I used fresh ones and it seill tasted great!!
Can this recipe be used to make 4 mini loaves, what changes would you recommend? Thank you for taking the time.
Hi Jenifer! You can make mini loaves from this recipe without any changes. The bake time will be shorter, so keep an eye on them in the oven and use a toothpick to test for doneness.
I used the pampered chef mini loaf pan today and they turned out great had to watch the time started at 40 min then about another 5.
Omg…where has this recipe been all my life.For 47 years iv been trying to make banana bread that turned out dark and moist and tasted like my Grammys.And for 47 years it never came out right…until tonight.Thank you so much for this .It turned out fantastic I never changed a thing .It was as if my grams baked it herself .
Hopefully I haven’t posted this twice. Love Your Favorite Banana Bread Recipe and the Blueberry Bread Recipe. Can I use Greek Yogurt instead also how much Flaxseed, Chia seed and Hemp seeds should I use to fortify my batter? These recipes are delicious! They are a perfect balance of ingredients. Thanks
This is by far the best banana bread recipe I have ever made. Light and moist and super tasty. This will be our go to recipe from now on.