Tessa’s Recipe Rundown
Taste: Packed full of that cozy, comforting sweet banana flavor.
Texture: Soft and moist. The best texture I’ve ever had from any quick bread!
Ease: Very easy. Plus the bread can be made ahead of time.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe: Easy and tasty. This is my go-to recipe to use up overripe bananas.
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After countless tests and fails, I’ve finally discovered the very BEST Banana Bread Recipe.
There’s nothing more comforting than a warm loaf of Banana Bread. That heavenly aroma. That soft, tender texture. That sweet banana flavor.
While Banana Bread is a simple recipe, it can be surprisingly easy to screw up. After many testing fails, I’ve discovered the keys to a perfect loaf every. single. time.
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This recipe is so easy, uses simple ingredients you may already have on hand, and it doesn’t even require a mixer.
It’s the perfect cozy quick bread to use up those overripe bananas, for the ultimate snack, breakfast, dessert, or gift.
Reader Love
Have made alot of banana bread over the years, this is HANDS DOWN, the best recipe 👌
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Sprinkle of Science
How to Make the Best Homemade Banana Bread
How to Tell if Bananas Are Ripe for Baking
For this recipe, you’ll want to use very overripe bananas. They should be very soft and covered with dark brown speckles, for the best sweet flavor and the best texture.
- To speed up the ripening process: Place bananas in a paper bag in a warm area for a day or two. The peels create ethylene gas, which fills up the bag and helps them ripen faster.
- To ripen bananas today: Place whole unpeeled bananas on a baking sheet in a 300°F oven for about 30 to 40 minutes, or until the skins are darkened and the fruit is soft.
- Freeze extras: If you have more overripe bananas than you need for this recipe, you can always peel and freeze them for later.
How to Mash Bananas for Baking
Mash the ripe bananas very well by hand with a fork or potato masher. I find mashing with an electric mixer makes the batter too thin to rise well, often leading to bread that’s slightly mushy in the center, or even slightly sunken in the center.
How to Make Banana Bread Moist
- Butter and oil: I experimented with using melted butter vs. oil in Banana Bread and found an even mixture of both led to the best results. You get the rich flavor from the butter, but the sensation of moistness from the vegetable oil.
- Why use oil: Oil is a liquid at room temperature, so it feels moist on the palate even though it contains no water.
- Brown sugar and plain yogurt/sour cream: The other key ingredients that help make this recipe moist, tender, and flavorful.
Can I Add Nuts or Chocolate Chips to This Banana Bread?
- I made this recipe plain, but you can add 1 cup of coarsely chopped nuts or chocolate chips.
- I prefer chopped, lightly toasted walnuts or semisweet chocolate chips, but feel free to get creative here.
- If you prefer pecans, I have a recipe for Butter Pecan Banana Bread you’ll love!
The Correct Pan For Banana Bread
- The pan I recommend: A light-colored METAL 9 by 5-inch loaf pan. Anything too dark in color will risk scorching the edges.
- Glass and ceramic loaf pans: Take MUCH longer to bake – upwards of 15 to 20 minutes extra. You also risk the Banana Bread collapsing in the center and being underbaked or gummy in the middle. Learn more about Glass vs. Metal Baking Pans here.
- Use the correct size loaf pan: 9 by 5-inches.
- I know that an 8 ½ by 4 ½-inch pan seems basically identical, but the difference in volume capacity is 15% and that has a surprisingly large impact on the final loaf.
- If you use the smaller pan size, your loaf may spill over the edges and remain underbaked in the center.
- Using a smaller pan: If that’s all you have, you can withhold about 15% of the batter from the pan.
How to Bake Banana Bread Without Collapsing!
- Follow my notes above for using the correct baking pan – both size and material matter!
- Make sure your oven is completely preheated. Wait at least 10 additional minutes after your oven emits that preheat beep before placing your loaf in, to ensure it’s hot enough.
- Invest in an oven thermometer to see just how accurate your oven actually is. Read more about oven temperatures in my article here.
- Be sure not to overmix the Banana Bread batter.
- Don’t underbake. More on this just below.
How to Tell When Banana Bread is Done Baking?
Bake your Banana Bread until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center registers an internal temperature of 200 to 205°F. This is the best and easiest way to ensure your bread is perfectly cooked through but not overdone.
Can You Save Underbaked Banana Bread?
We’ve all been there. You go to slice your cooled loaf, only to discover it’s gummy and underdone in the center. Putting it back in the oven will only scorch the exterior before the interior can heat through.
Instead, place those slices on a buttered griddle and fry them up, kind of like French toast. You can also do this with stale Banana Bread (if it lasts that long!). Add a little peanut butter at the end for the ultimate indulgence!
Can I Add Frosting?
Add Cream Cheese Frosting or Buttercream Frosting to take this recipe to a whole new level!
How to Turn Banana Bread into Muffins
- You can turn this recipe into about two dozen Banana Bread muffins.
- Fill the batter about 3/4 full into the cavities of two standard muffin tins.
- Bake at 350°F for about 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- I also have a fabulous recipe for fluffy Bakery Style Banana Muffins as well as Banana Espresso Chocolate Chip Muffins!
How to Store Banana Bread
Cover and store cooled Banana Bread at room temperature for 2 days. The flavors will actually intensify as the bread sits!
How to Freeze Banana Bread
To freeze, tightly wrap the completely cooled loaf or slices in plastic wrap, then place in a ziptop bag. Store in the freezer for up to three months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight or at room temperature. If thawing an entire loaf, you can also refresh the loaf by popping it into a 325°F oven for about 10 minutes.
More Banana Recipes You’ll Love:
Banana Bread
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Ingredients
- 2 cups (254 grams) all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (100 grams) light brown sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)
- 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
- 1 1/2 cups (340 grams) mashed overripe bananas (about 3 large bananas)*
- 1/4 cup (60 grams) plain yogurt or sour cream
- 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 3 tablespoons (42 grams) unsalted butter, melted
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup (142 grams) coarsely chopped toasted walnuts, or (170 grams) chocolate chips (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Generously grease a 9 by 5-inch loaf pan.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugars, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.
- In a medium bowl, stir together the bananas, yogurt, eggs, butter, oil, and vanilla. Gently fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until just barely combined. Gently fold in the walnuts or chocolate chips (if using), being very careful not to overmix. Spread batter into the prepared pan.
- Bake about 55 to 65 minutes, until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or a digital thermometer inserted into the center reads 200-205°F. Cool in the pan on a cooling rack for 15 minutes before removing the loaf from the pan to finish cooling completely, before slicing and serving.
Recipe Notes
This post was originally published in 2012 and recently updated with recipe improvements and new photos. Photos by Ashley McLaughlin.
Amazing recipe! I used chocolate chips! All the rave at work!
GRAND Love it
Can you omit sour cream and yogurt
Thanke
Hi Marlina! Sour cream/yogurt is one of the key ingredients that help make the banana bread moist, tender, and flavorful. Feel free to experiment without it, or with something similar in its place, but just note that this will alter the taste and texture of the final banana bread. Let us know how it goes if you give that a try 🙂
Hi Tessa,
URGENT QUESTION! Can I substitute brown butter with the melted butter?
And when measuring the butter, do I melt it first then measure or measure before melting it?
Hi Samantha! Yes, you can swap brown butter for melted butter, although it might require some experimenting, as explained in Tessa’s article ‘How to Brown Butter’ here. Since brown butter loses moisture during browning, try adding one tablespoon of water or milk per 4-ounce stick (113 grams) to the hot browned butter. This adjustment ensures that the weight and moisture content of the brown butter matches that of the melted butter required by the recipe. I hope this explanation helps, and happy baking!
Hi Tessa! I’m setting up to make the Banana Bread again this wkend. Do you have any advice on how to keep the ends from getting overcooked so the top middle isn’t undercooked? I took them out last time at 197° to see if that helped and the middle top (peaks) were soggy. I make 2 loaves at a time if that matters. I use the 9×5 Fat Daddio loaf pans.
Hi Chris! It’s hard to say for sure what’s happening without baking alongside you, but here are a few possible culprits:
– Make sure you’re not overfilling your loaf pan, as an overfilled pan can lead to uneven baking with a longer baking time in the center.
– Also, ensure your oven is completely preheated and that you’re baking your bread on the middle rack.
– Investing in an oven thermometer can help determine if your oven temperature is accurate, as it might be running too hot.
– Additionally, your oven might have hot spots, which can cause the edges to brown more quickly. You can try rotating your bread halfway through the bake time to promote even browning.
Learn more about ovens in Tessa’s Ovens 101 article here. I hope this helps! Happy baking!
I turned the pans a couple of times and it really helped. I really couldn’t put less batter in without wasting some as it’s the recipe and I follow it exactly.
I am wondering if reducing the sugar will be detrimental to the banana bread?
My hubby is T2 diabetes but the banana bread is his special work treat.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Hi Chris! Wonderful – so glad that helped!! If you need to experiment with a little less batter in the pans, you can always bake the reserved batter as muffins, so you’re not wasting the batter 🙂 As for reducing the sugar, feel free to experiment with that, but it will unfortunately alter the texture of the banana bread, as well as the flavor. Learn more about that in Tessa’s experiments with sugar levels in cupcakes here, her experiments with sugar in cookies here, or with sugar in brownies here. I hope this helps! Happy baking 🙂
Would pecans substitute walnut okay ?
Hi Barbara! You can absolutely substitute pecans in this recipe – or you can give Tessa’s Butter Pecan Banana Bread recipe here a try instead. Enjoy and happy baking 🙂
I love this bread! I use 4 ripe bananas and substitute Chobani vanilla yogurt for plain yogurt, and add both 1/4 cup toasted walnuts and 1/4 cup chocolate chips. Add about 10 minutes to bake time, its done when a knife inserted in the center of the bread comes out clean. Delicioius!
best homemade banana bread
My bread came out perfect 👌 after 65 minutes. Only thing is it’s registering 190 degrees. That’s not with a digital thermometer. Just your basic thermometer. I know they are not perfectly persistent all the time.
This recipe is Amazing, it will be my go to Banana Bread from now on Thank You.
This is the best homemade banana bread ever! It stays moist for days and is very delicious. Everyone who’s had some wants the recipe!
This was the BEST banana bread ever — moist-tasty-gone in a day! And there are only 2 of us!
Delicious! My favorite banana bread that I’ve made.