This banana bread has been the most popular recipe on Simply Recipes for over 10 years. Thousands of people make it every day. Why?

Because it really is the best banana bread recipe, period. You can mix everything in one bowl, you can vary the amount of sugar or bananas. And the secret to its great flavor? Melted butter.

The beauty of this banana bread recipe is you don’t need a fancy mixer! A mixing bowl, a fork to whisk the eggs, and a sturdy spoon to mix the batter are all you need. The sugar amount is flexible. The original recipe called for a cup of white sugar, but most people, including me, do just fine with 3/4 cup, and many are happy with 1/2 cup.

You can toss in a cup of chopped nuts, raisins, or chocolate chips if you want, or put the batter into muffin tins and make banana nut muffins instead. You can even go a step further and make chocolate banana bread.

The Best Loaf Pan for This Recipe

This recipe calls for an 8×4-inch loaf pan, which produces a tall loaf. The recipe will also work in an 8 1/2×4 1/2-inch loaf pan, producing a slightly shorter bread. Since the pan is a bit larger, the bake time is shorter: 47 to 57 minutes. A 9×5-inch pan will yield an especially short but still delicious bread; bake for 45 to 55 minutes.

How Our Readers Adapt This Banana Bread Recipe

• Natalie: “I added a drizzle of maple syrup on top, plus some blueberries. I also switched out the flour for 1 cup of almond meal and 1 cup of gluten-free flour.”
• Roberta: “Added mini chocolate chips in batter and topped with crumb topping. Excellent!”
• Eleanor: “I was out of eggs, so I substituted with a flax egg and it turned out perfectly! A tablespoon of flaxseed with 2 1/2 tablespoons of water and let rest for 5-10 minutes in place of the egg.”
• Monica: “The BEST banana bread recipe there is. I sprinkle demerara sugar on top before baking and it gives it a delicious crunch!”
• Lisa: “I’ve been making this loaf for years. I always add a tablespoon or two of molasses, which gives a punchier flavor and darker color. I make it with chocolate chips for the kids and with cranberries and pecans for the adults.”
• LeRoy: “My wife, Mary created “Elvis Bread” and added half a bag of Reese’s Peanut Butter Chips.”
• Marione: “THE BEST banana bread I’ve made. I added pineapple tidbits and substituted part of white sugar with brown sugar.”

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C):

   Butter an 8×4-inch loaf pan.
2. Mash the bananas and add the butter:

   In a mixing bowl, mash the ripe bananas with a fork until completely smooth. Stir the melted butter into the mashed bananas.

• Mix in the remaining ingredients:

Mix in the baking soda and salt. Stir in the sugar, beaten egg, and vanilla extract. Mix in the flour.

• Bake the bread:

Pour the batter into your prepared loaf pan.

Bake for 55 to 65 minutes at 350°F (175°C), or until a toothpick or wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. A few dry crumbs are okay; streaks of wet batter are not. If the outside of the loaf is browned but the center is still wet, loosely tent the loaf with foil and continue baking until the loaf is fully baked.

• Cool and serve:

  Remove from oven and let cool in the pan for a few minutes. Then remove the banana bread from the pan and let cool completely before serving. Slice and serve. (A bread knife helps to make slices that aren’t crumbly.)

  Wrapped well, the banana bread will keep at room temperature for 4 days. For longer storage, refrigerate the loaf up to 5 days, or freeze it.

Banana Bread Recipe

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.

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr 5 minutes mins

Servings 1 loaf

Ingredients

  

• 2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 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

1. 1. Special Tools (affiliate links): 9×5-inch Loaf Pan | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Silicone Spatula | Cooling Rack
   2. 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.
   3. 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).
   4. 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.

1. 1. 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.
   2. 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.
   3. Brown Sugar: Feel free to substitute the same amount of regular white granulated sugar or coconut sugar. I do not recommend any liquid sweeteners.

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.