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 followed the instructions as is but I ended up with 11 muffins. The muffins had some caramelized sections that were sticky good but not too sweet. It was moist and not dense. I would definitely make again.
Absolutely love this recipe. Since we live in Australia it’s so nice having the weights of everything to get the perfect texture.
I have 3 sons and make the standard recipe for the eldest 2 and since my youngest can’t have dairy I added 113g of extra virgin olive oil in place of the butter and added 80g of coconut oil in place of the yoghurt and it came out perfectly – I also added coconut sugar instead of brown in the dairy free one and it got rave reviews!
Hi Sally and team!
I really want to make this recipe and love your website I want to ask if I can use Greek yogurt for the 80g.
Thank you!
Hi Anna! Yes, absolutely.
Wowee Dee-liscioso!
I did use a little more than half a cup of chocolate chips and I did do a thin layer of cream cheese frosting magnificent it didn’t last 24 whole hours between 3 people my husband said it was the best since the apple dumplings I made last winter. Friend wants me to make her two so she can slice em up and take out as treats! Only thing, there was no way it was fitting in a 9×5 loaf pan so I used an 8×8 it was to the top when done baking. It’s a family favorite now-Thank you.
Wow wonderful everybody enjoyed it and said where can I have this recipe please.
I used this recipe and did chocolate chunks instead of nuts then poured half my batter in the pan, then poured a thin layer of peanut butter before adding the rest of the batter and a streusel topping and it’s the bestest! This recipe has been my favorite and so easy ft different flavors!!!
After thawing the slices of bread, should we steam or reheat them in the oven for the best taste?
I toast them and add butter…. So good.
I love making Sally’s recipes! Can I use Greek yogurt or light sour cream that’s what I have on hand.
Either would be fine, Christine!
Tried this recipe today I had all the ingredients except yogurt so I used 2 tbl spoons of mayo instead and I must say what a lovely tasting, moist cake it will be one of my go to recipes.
I have been baking banana bread for over 4o years. This is the best recipe I have ever had. Only thing I did different was to use all dark brown sugar. I also butter and sugar the pan that I baked it in, and I did add a cup of milk chocolate chips as well. My whole family loves it.
I would not use this banana bread recipe again. I liked that it wasn’t too sweet but it came out like a banana pudding bread instead of what I am used to as a banana bread. I may have over-mixed it but overall I was not pleased with the texture or flavour. I used 4 medium ripe bananas, 1/3 cup of sour cream and 3/4 brown sugar.
Wondering if this Can be made with oat flour?
Hi Emily, We haven’t tested this recipe with oat flour, but expect a more dense texture.
Made this recipe as written and it turned out perfect. Not too sweet. The walnuts were a great addition.
A recipe my kids and I all love! We actually keep the 2 cups of banana (sometimes it’s even a little more, depending on the bananas) as my kids LOVE the ultra moist, dense, and flavourful end result. Usually we turn this recipe in muffins.
The reduction in the amount of bananas makes the difference! No more soggy and dense loaves, just the perfect banana bread!
Have never made banana bread but have tried other Sally recipes. 10/10. Did 1.5C thawed bananas, & baked 60 min covering with foil at 30 min as instructed. No hand or stand mixer used. Turned out perfect!
This banana bread with nuts and chocolate chips was truly outstanding. After trying many different recipes over the years, this is a keeper. I have made it in a loaf pan as well as a muffin pan. Both worked beautifully. Sally, you developed a winner here.
Hi Sally, does this recipe work well with 1-to-1 flour?
Hi RJ, 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!
GF 1:1 flour and 1tsp GF baking powder was the perfect combo. Made this last week and the family did not notice the difference and I was able to enjoy it too.
I’ve been using the same banana bread recipe for over 40 years. but I have to say that after making Sally’s yesterday, that this will be my new go to for banana bread! It’s very flavorful and moist! We are allergic to cow’s milk so I subbed goat yogurt, and that worked perfectly. There was no hint of the taste in the bread at all. Everyone loved this delicious bread!
Does this freeze/thaw okay?
It’s a great recipe! I love making it.
Hi Micha, yes, it freezes and thaws beautifully!
Hi , I baked this banana bread this week, ohhh it is truly delicious ,I made one change instead of brown sugar I used date sugar and put in 80grms. The flavour is spot on. Banana I use some frozen and some fresh dark spotted ones . Thank you so much for sharing this recipe.
This banana bread was excellent I followed the recipe as it was written but had to bake for about 70 mins I will definitely be making a few loaves for the freezer
The best banana bread ever. I’ve made this a few times with the addition of chocolate chips & walnuts and it is absolutely delicious. Perfectly soft and moist, a good rise and it’s eaten so quickly. Thank you.
Hi Sally and team, can I make this vegan friendly with egg and butter substitutes? Would it be a 1:1 replacement ratio? Thanks!
Hi Robin, We haven’t tested it with any egg substitutes, so we’re unsure what might work best/how it will impact the bread. For the butter you can try a vegan buttery stick like the Earth Balance brand. If you decide to do any experimenting, please do let us know how it goes.
Can you double the recipe ingredients and mix them at the same time to make two loaves? Will this change baking time? I have enough overripe bananas to use up and my whole family loves this recipe!
We recommend making separate batches for best results, Shannon!
I made this today and love the flavor of brown sugar but didn’t have any so I added a little molasses to my white sugar. Also added coconut and toasted pecans instead of walnuts- this is my new go-to recipe! Absolutely delicious- thank you!!
Last night I mixed all ingredients for your banana bread recipe but refrigerated it and will bake this am. Was this a mistake? Is it not going to rise as much had I baked it immediately?
Hi Bonnie, We don’t recommend mixing batter in advance. The leaveners are activated once mixed into the batter, so the longer it sits, the less likely the batter will bake up properly. It’s best to bake it right away, so your loaf may be flatter and more dense than intended.
I make this again and again and everyone LOVES it. I have to say though that I always use buttermilk instead of yogurt. It started as just what I had on hand; then when I tried yogurt the loaf separated into layers a bit. So I love it with buttermilk. Sally is my go-to site for baking always!!
Has anyone tried using Margarine instead of butter? I’m wondering what the taste difference would be.
Hi Brianna, Margarine does not have the same baking properties (or flavor!) as butter. We don’t recommend that swap.
This is the best banana bread recipe ever. I swap out nuts for little choc chips and it is a winner with all kids.
Everyone always comments on the delicious flavours.
Another great recipe, Sally and Team! Made last night and it’s gone already. Used mini loaf pans for around 20-25 mins, turned out perfectly deelish! Thank you ✌
I’ve been a baker making banana bread for decades so when I tell you that this is seriously the absolute BEST banana bread that I’ve EVER made, that means something! I always double the recipe to make 2 big loaves and I use over 4 cups of mashed bananas and it’s perfect. I make one plain banana and one blueberry banana and they are simply DIVINE! They don’t last long in my house and I just want to thank you for the fabulous recipes! Well done!
Can I use an egg substitute such as a chia egg?
Hi Candace, 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.
This is by far the best recipe I’ve ever used for banana bread. I was starting to hate banana bread and never ordered it or bought it; all the kinds I had before kind of grossed me out. But this recipe is IT! I added dark chocolate chips and chopped pecans and now this is go-to recipe for when I need a baked item for an event or whatever, or just a treat for myself. It’s great with tea or coffee. Baking time for me is 50-55 minutes with the oven rack low. But I know baking time always varies for people based on elevation, oven, even weather sometimes. Thank you so much!