This is the best banana bread recipe I’ve made. The brown sugar and cinnamon make a huge difference! You’ll need three super ripe bananas for this amazingly moist and easy banana bread.
I’ve tried many banana bread recipes, but this one with a batter made with butter and brown sugar is the best. It’s my family’s favorite, and many of our readers agree, calling this their forever banana bread!
I love the incredibly moist texture and rich buttery banana flavor. Our recipe makes one loaf, but since I’m always sad when the last slice disappears, I usually double everything to make two. For muffins, take a look at our easy banana muffins!
Key Ingredients
- Bananas: For the best banana bread, use very ripe bananas. I’m talking brown and speckled bananas. They are sweeter and make the baked bread soft and moist. If you have unripe bananas and can wait a day or two, place them in a brown paper bag and set them aside in a warmer part of your kitchen.
- Flour: I use all-purpose flour, but this recipe works with whole wheat or white whole wheat flour (whole wheat makes the bread a bit denser). A few readers have used 1:1 gluten-free flour in our recipe with success.
- Baking soda: Helps the bread rise and brown nicely.
- Salt, vanilla extract, & cinnamon: Add flavor to and make it taste amazing.
- Butter: Makes the best banana bread and adds a buttery, rich flavor. You’ll melt your butter for this easy banana bread recipe. We use olive oil when making lighter banana bread, which I love, but I still give the edge to butter on taste.
- Brown sugar: Makes our bread flavorful and moist. You can swap other sugars, but your banana bread will not be as moist.
- Eggs: Provides structure and stability to the bread. We use two eggs. To make this recipe egg-free, use 2 flax eggs or aquafaba.
How to Make Banana Bread
We call this easy banana bread for a reason. It’s so simple to put together. To start, whisk together your dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
Toss your ripe bananas into a bowl and mash them with a fork. There’s no need for a stand or electric mixer when mashing bananas, especially if they are nice and ripe.
When the bananas are mashed, whisk in melted butter (yum), brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla extract. I love the brown sugar and butter combination and they are why this bakes to be so moist. We use the same ingredients when making banana muffins and banana pancakes.
Fold in the dry ingredients until you no longer see streaks of flour, and then add extras like chocolate chips or nuts. I’m adding walnuts to the batter in the photos. We also have this chocolate chip banana bread with a variety of chocolate in the batter to make it extra delicious.
Bake banana bread in a preheated 350°F oven until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean, usually taking 55 to 65 minutes.
To tell when banana bread is done, bake it until the top is golden brown, and a thin knife (like a pairing knife) inserted into the center comes out clean. If you have an internal thermometer, you can check the temperature by inserting it into the center, and it should read close to 200°F.
Easy Banana Bread Recipe
- PREP
- COOK
- TOTAL
This is our favorite banana bread recipe. This easy recipe is so good that you’ll want to make two loaves. For the best moist banana bread, your bananas need to be ripe. It is even better if they are overripe, brown, and speckled.
When measuring the flour for this recipe, either weigh it or use the “spoon and level” method: Fluff the flour, spoon it into the measuring cup, and level off the top with a flat edge. You can see me do this in our video!
Watch Us Make the Recipe
You Will Need
1 ½ cups (195g) all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 medium bananas or 1 ½ cups mashed, very ripe bananas are best
8 tablespoons (115g) butter, melted and cooled
3/4 cup (150g) light brown sugar
2 large eggs at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup (60g) walnuts, toasted and chopped, optional
Directions
- Make Banana Bread
1Position a rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350°F (176°C).
2Butter and flour an 8 ½-inch by 4 ½-inch loaf pan. Or grease the pan and then line it with a sheet of parchment paper (as shown in the video). See tips for pan sizes.
3Whisk the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon together and set aside.
4Use a fork to mash the bananas into a chunky paste in the bottom of a large bowl.
5Whisk the melted butter, brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla into the bananas until well blended.
6Switch to a large rubber spatula, scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl, and then add the dry ingredients in two parts, stirring until the flour disappears and the batter is smooth. Fold in the nuts if using.
7Pour batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake for 55 to 65 minutes, or until a thin knife inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean. If you have an internal thermometer, you can check the temperature by inserting it into the center, and it should read close to 200°F.
8Transfer to a wire rack to cool for 5 minutes. Unmold the bread and cool completely before slicing.
- Storing
1Banana bread lasts in an airtight container, on the counter for up to 3 days, or in the fridge for up to 1 week.
2To freeze banana bread, double wrap it with one layer of plastic wrap and one layer of aluminum foil, then freeze it for up to 6 months.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- Best pan: I use an aluminized steel 1-pound loaf pan, which is 8 ½” x 4 ½” (from USA Pans). For glass loaf pans, consider decreasing the oven temperature by 25 °F and baking a little longer. Stoneware pans may also need temperature/time adjustments, but it is hard to say without testing the specific pan. If using a 9″ x 5″ loaf pan, the banana bread will not be as tall, and the baking time will be less by 5 to 10 minutes.
- Promote even baking: Before placing into the oven, set the loaf pan on an insulated baking sheet or two regular baking sheets stacked on the other to promote even baking. (A tip we picked up from Dori Greenspan)
- Butter: Use salted or unsalted butter in this recipe. I like my banana bread when made with salted butter, which adds an extra 1/4 teaspoon of salt to the batter.
- Room temperature eggs: To quickly bring eggs to room temperature, add the cold eggs to a bowl with lukewarm water for a few minutes. Drain and repeat.
- Cool banana bread before slicing: Since the loaf continues to cook as it cools, it is best to allow it to cool to room temperature. Cool in the pan for 5 to 10 minutes before turning it onto a wire rack and cool completely.
- The nutrition facts provided below are estimates.
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I use this recipe every time and double up as it’s very popular with my family.
I just wish it would stay risen, it comes up to the top of the tin in the oven then receeds on cooling.
This was absolutely FANTASTIC!! It was my first time making it and WOW. Will continue to make it 🙂
The best easiest bread ever to make. I love how it only makes 1 loaf, perfect for 2. I have made it twice. This last time I did add 1/2cup cinnamon applesauce, a little mini chocolate chips and small amount of pecans small pieces. Was great! I am thinking about adding a bit of pumpkin next time 🤷♀️ Thank u for sharing. I will be making more of recipes….
I followed the recipe exactly as written. Initially thought maybe it wasn’t sweet enough. But after the second slice a few hours later, I couldn’t stop eating it. I didn’t even want anything spread on top of the slice, perfect just as is and I am not a banana bread person just tired of throwing bananas away. I’m so happy. I guess I will try it again,with olive oil.
Hi Joyce, That’s awesome! I’m so glad the banana bread grew on you and that you enjoyed it so much. It’s true, sometimes those flavors really deepen and develop with a little time. And it’s wonderful that you found it perfect just as it is – no need for toppings! I’m curious to hear how you like it with olive oil. Let me know if you give it a try!
Right off the bat, this was amazing. Moist, delicious, and sturdy. I swapped out the 8T of butter for 4T of olive oil, swapped out the sugar for 8T honey. Added walnuts, pumpkin seeds, hemp seeds, chia seeds, flax seeds, and sunflower seeds–about a T of each. Two bananas instead of three because I was too lazy to walk all the way to my room to get the third banana. Used a 9×13 glass baking dish lined with paper. Cut the loaf down to bite size pieces that didn’t fall apart. It was wonderful to find a recipe that could undergo amendments for allergies and intolerances. And talk about delicious! Cards on the table, I’ve never really liked banana bread but all that’s changed. This is my go to recipe now.
This was my first time making banana bread ever and it turned out amazing! The bread is so moist and oh my goodness the smell was literally making my mouth water. I put some powderd sugar on top of it to make it even more appetizing 🙂
This is truly an easy bake bread I whipped it up in no time and I can’t wait to try it I’m so sure it is delicious!!
This recipe is easy and I love thst I do not even need to use my stand mixer. I love how moist it is and the cinnamon and toasted nuts. It has soon become my go to banana bread recipe.
Thank you I tried it and it’s a very solid recipe. This will be my go-to now.
This IS the best recipe. Just the right sweetness, crust, and a little saltiness from the butter and fine salt. I like the walnuts myself, but my kids request that I leave them out.