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
What a wonderful recipe! I didn’t have quite enough banana so I subbed in some more yogurt and it came out perfectly sweet with a wonderful texture and banana flavour, and even non-banana lovers enjoyed it.
Hii! May I ask if I could substitute the baking soda with baking powder? And what will be the ratio?
Hi Jane, we don’t recommend it—baking powder and baking soda act very differently. Here’s more about the difference between baking powder vs. baking soda, if you’re interested.
I made this recipe for the first time yesterday, at 6400 ft. Altitude adjustments included adding 2 Tbls of flour, reducing baking soda by 1/8-1/4 tsp, and slightly reducing brown sugar. At 60 minutes, the toothpick was dripping (with banana?) so I cooked it another 5 minute. It’s tasty and pretty, and I love that it’s not overly sweet. But it’s SO DENSE – it could be used as a football, it’s so heavy and very very dense. Is there something I could change to make the texture a little softer/more tender?
Hi KC, unfortunately, we don’t have experience baking at high altitude, so have not been able to test this recipe with those adjustments you made. Our guess is that reducing the baking soda is what caused the banana bread to be dense and heavy. Be careful not to over-mix the batter, too, as that can cause the bread to bake up squat and dense. Thanks for giving this recipe a try!
Hi, just wanted to say how easy to follow this recipe was and all the tips were so worth following. It turned out so well and tastes so good.
I have been making banana bread for years. Some good, some not so good, some so-so, but never finding one I could
call my go to. My search has ended and this is by far My Favorite Banana Bread recipe!
I love this recipe but keep having problems with the creamed sugar curdling once the eggs are added. I figured my eggs weren’t quite room temperature but every time I do it, no matter what temperature the eggs are, the mixture breaks. It’s fine in the end but I just can’t figure out what I’m doing wrong! Perhaps not creaming the butter and sugar for long enough?
Hi Adina, it sounds like there is just a bit of temperature difference between the butter and eggs that’s causing it to curdle. Making sure both are room temperature will ensure they incorporate smoothly. We’re glad it still comes out great regardless!
I love all your recipes I have made. You make baking fun and easy. I especially like the modifications you suggest. I never would have thought to put chocolate chips in banana bread. Would the cream cheese frosting be good or too much if I add chocolate chips? Thanks so much for posting
Hi Deb, you can definitely add both the chocolate chips and the cream cheese frosting. What a treat!
Made this yesterday and the family was in LOVE! Thank you for all the tips!
Can this be baked in an airfryer?
Hi Carmen, 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.
My toddler loves this recipe with 1 cup of chocolate chips folded in at the end. We bake it in a Bundt pan and it turns out perfect in 40 minutes every time.
Wonderful quick bread! Best banana recipe I have. Moist and wonderful banana flavor.
As always, this site has delivered a recipe that is absolute perfection. Hands down the best banana bread I’ve ever had, much less one I’ve made!
Another of Sally’s mindblowing belly exciting recipe. Absolutely loved making this for my colleagues… they devoured it in minutes. Thanks you Sally
I made this recipe for the first time three days ago. Had a slice this morning, and it’s still moist and delicious (just wrapped in plastic wrap, on the counter). Really delicious. I added chopped pecans, and I think that made a nice addition. Great flavor, easy to make, and would be great as a breakfast side.
I had lost this recipe and was so happy to rehavefound it! This is absolutely my go to banana bread recipe! I would love to have any nutrition information, (especially calories!) Am I missing it somewhere? Thank you!
Hi Stacy! So glad you love this bread. 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
Could this be made into a pumpkin banana bread? Maybe sub pumpkin for sour cream (but may not taste “pumpkiny “ enough?)
Hi Pam! You can certainly try substituting pumpkin puree for the sour cream, we’re unsure how much of the flavor will come through. You may also want to add some pumpkin pie spices.
Mine turned out kind of goey :-/
Turned out exactly as promised. Light and moist.
Can I make this banana bread in mini loaf pans
Hi Elizabeth, you can certainly bake in mini loaf pans! We’re unsure of the exact bake time (it will vary by recipe and by loaf size), so keep a close eye on them and use a toothpick to test for doneness. Same baking temperature, though.
I never leave reviews but oh my gosh this is the best banana bread recipe I’ve ever tried! Mine usually turn out so dark and dense and this one is neither! Moist and delicious and not too sweet!
This is my go to recipe for banana bread! I want to make it for a friend, but he can’t have gluten. Do I need to make any alterations if I use gluten free flour? I’ve never done GF cooking before so I am unsure how different flour will affect the bread.
Hi Elaine, we haven’t tested a gluten-free version of this bread, but readers have reported success with a 1:1 flour substitute (like Cup4Cup). If you give it a try, let us know how it turns out!
I’d like to make this recipe into mini breads to share with friends and family. About how many does it make and how long do you bake it for then?
Hi Mallory, you can certainly bake in mini loaf pans! We’re unsure of the exact bake time (it will vary by recipe and by loaf size), so keep a close eye on them and use a toothpick to test for doneness. Same baking temperature, though.
Just pulled these out of the oven and made 8 mini loafs with a bake time of 30 minutes. I used white sugar as I didn’t have any brown sugar but the same otherwise and they are perfect. (Second time doing it and both times bake time was 30-35 minutes)
What a great recipe for Bannana bread. I have used it twice now and love how moist and consistent the bread turns out.its not too sweet. As an extra, in addition to 3/4cup chopped walnuts I candied a few for the top of the bread to add some additional crunch. You can get away with this because the bread is not too sweet.
Can this recipe be doubled?
Hi Karlie, for best results, we recommend making two separate batches rather than doubling.
Second go at this one so far, so great! Have always doubled up and baked at slightly lower temps for just a bit longer, other than bake times, what other could arise from doubling up on this recipe?
This bread is perfect! I have tried many on line recipes in search of a banana bread that tastes like the one my mother used to make. I found it! This is it. It is delicious. Thank you, Sally.
LOVE LOVE LOVE!
Everyone knows Hawaii has the best banana bread because of their Hawaiian bananas. I could not, for the life of me, find a good banana bread recipe or bakery until I came across Sally’s recipe! So moist, sweet, and fragrant! I’ve learned to be patient with my bananas and let them turn completely black before baking them because it makes a huge difference. Thank you Sally!
Loved this recipe! I have a question about the instructions to loosely cover with aluminum foil during baking to prevent browning too soon. Do you attach the foil to the pan or rest it on top? Do you have a video tutorial to help with this? I’m always afraid I’ll burn my fingers when I try this technique while baking!
Hi Kathy, you want to loosely attach the foil to the pan, we usually use oven mitts when doing this to prevent any burns!
Another amazing recipe from Sally- thank you! We went to try a test slice, and wound up having 2.5 pieces each your recipes are always so easy to follow, full of the best tips… you never lead me wrong. Thank you!
This recipe will be my favorite go to from now on. Taste so good, not to sweet and so moist. (Used applesauce instead of sour cream or yogurt).
In my many years of baking I’ve made MANY banana breads…but this one is by FAR the best I have EVER made! Thank you! I love that it uses only brown sugar, which I did increase to 1 cup. It is just phenomenal! It will be my go-to recipe from now on!