Perfect Banana Bread Recipe

Nothing is more cozy than simple, homemade banana bread! This traditional recipe bakes up moist & just sweet enough, and it’s easy to make!

When it comes to simple, classic treats, banana bread is right up there. It’s so home-y and comforting! Not to mention delicious! And it makes your whole house smell amazing while it’s baking.

I love to make loaves like this. They’re one of the easiest kinds of treats to bake. Just mix up the batter, pour it in a pan, and bake! Maximum impact, minimal effort.

Some of my favorite quick breads are this zucchini bread, this coconut bread, and this iced lemon loaf. But banana bread is hands-down the best of all!

WHAT IS BANANA BREAD?

Banana bread is a simple, comforting treat, that’s perfect for breakfast or as a snack. I love to enjoy a slice with a little soft butter and a cup of coffee or tea!

It’s a quick bread, which means it has more of a moist, cake-y texture, is a little sweet, and rises with the help of baking soda.

Because there is no yeast, you don’t have to wait for banana bread to rise or knead it.

This recipe is so easy to make! You’ll love how simple it is, and how moist and perfectly sweet.

INGREDIENTS FOR HOMEMADE BANANA BREAD

You’ll need just a few basic ingredients for this recipe. You probably already have most of them on hand.

The dry ingredients are flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt.

The liquid ingredients are 3 mashed bananas, Greek yogurt, milk, eggs, melted butter, and vanilla.

If you don’t have (or don’t want to use) Greek yogurt, you can substitute with sour cream or buttermilk. For a dairy-free/vegan option, see below, under the heading “Variations on this Banana Bread Recipe”. (Gluten-free suggestions can also be found here.)

HOW TO MAKE BANANA BREAD FROM SCRATCH

Baking from scratch might sound scary or intimidating, but I promise you, this is SO EASY. If you’ve never baked from scratch before, banana bread is a great place to start. It’s very forgiving, and bakes up moist and soft every time. You can’t go wrong with this recipe! It’s the best.

Start by placing your dry ingredients in a large bowl. Flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt can all go in together. Just give them a quick stir with a whisk to combine them.

In a separate, smaller bowl, mash the bananas. You can do this with a fork, or you can puree them in a food processor, or just use a hand mixer. It’s easiest if your bananas are very soft and ripe.

To the same bowl, add the Greek yogurt (or sour cream, buttermilk, or other dairy-free option), the milk, eggs, melted butter, and vanilla extract. Whisk everything together until it’s well-blended.

Now just pour the liquid mixture into the dry, and fold gently together. You can see what “folding” looks like in the video below.

Be careful not to overmix the batter, so your banana bread comes out soft and tender. Overmixing could develop the glutens in the flour and make your banana bread dense and tough. As soon as you no longer see big streaks of flour in your batter, you’re done folding. It’s totally ok (even preferable!) if your banana bread batter is lumpy.

Transfer the batter to your greased pan, and bake!

The bake time for this banana loaf will probably be about an hour to an hour and 15 minutes. You’ll know it’s done when it’s puffy, golden brown, and a toothpick inserted into the thickest part of the loaf will come out clean or with a few moist crumbs.

Let it sit in the pan until it’s cool enough to handle, then slip it out and let it finish cooling on a wire rack.

VARIATIONS ON THIS BANANA BREAD RECIPE

This recipe makes 1 single, standard-sized loaf of banana bread. If you’d like more than one loaf, the recipe can be doubled without a problem.

You can also bake it in 3 mini loaf pans! Just decrease the bake time as needed.

If you’d like to make banana bread muffins, you should get around 9 to 12 muffins out of this recipe.

There are lots of ways you can jazz up this banana bread recipe! Some of my favorite add-ins include nuts (especially walnuts!) and chocolate chips. You can add as many or as few as you’d like, but I’d recommend about 1/2 cup.

And the combination of banana and cinnamon is so yummy! You can add anywhere from 1/4 teaspoon to 1 1/2 teaspoons of cinnamon, depending upon how cinnamon-y you like it.

I love the simplicity of just a plain, classic banana bread, but I think it would be fantastic with a crumb topping too. You can check out my favorite easy crumb topping recipe here: Basic Streusel Recipe.

GLUTEN-FREE BANANA BREAD

If you’d prefer a gluten-free banana bread, just substitute the flour for a gluten-free flour blend. Look for one that that subs 1:1 for regular flour. Here are a few good options:

• King Arthur Flour Gluten-Free Measure for Measure Flour
• Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free All-Purpose Baking Flour
• Cup4Cup Multi-Purpose Gluten-Free Flour

DAIRY-FREE/VEGAN BANANA BREAD

For a dairy-free option, use any plant based yogurt/milk, along with your favorite vegan butter substitute. Melted coconut oil would be a great choice!

HOW TO STORE HOMEMADE BANANA BREAD

This banana bread will keep in an airtight container or zip-top bag, at room temperature, for several days. After that, it can move to the fridge, where it should be good for up to 2 weeks.

You can also freeze it! Just wrap it well so it doesn’t pick up any funny freezer odors. It should stay good for a couple months.

A word to the wise: it’s best to bake the banana bread as soon as the batter is made. You cannot keep the batter refrigerated or freeze it, because the baking powder will poop out and then your bread will not rise.

Next time you want to make your loved ones feel comfy-cozy, bake up a loaf of this perfect banana bread. It’s simple and so delicious! They’ll love you for it!

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4.86 stars (7 ratings)

Perfect Banana Bread Recipe

Servings: 10

Prep Time: 15 minutes mins

Cook Time: 1 hour hr

Total Time: 1 hour hr 15 minutes mins

Nothing is more cozy than simple, homemade banana bread! This traditional recipe bakes up moist & just sweet enough, and it's easy to make!

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Ingredients

• ▢ 2 cups (250 g) all-purpose flour
• ▢ 3/4 cup (150 g) granulated sugar
• ▢ 3/4 teaspoon (3 g) baking soda
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon (3 g) kosher salt
• ▢ 3 (354 g) ripe bananas
• ▢ 3 tablespoons (45 g) Greek yogurt*
• ▢ 1 tablespoon (15 g) milk
• ▢ 2 (100 g) large eggs
• ▢ 6 tablespoons (84 g) unsalted butter, melted
• ▢ 1 teaspoon (4 g) vanilla extract

Instructions

 

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F, and mist a 5-cup loaf pan with non-stick spray.
• Place the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl and whisk to combine.
• Mash the bananas in a smaller bowl, and stir together with the Greek yogurt*, milk, eggs, melted butter, and vanilla.
• Add the banana mixture to the dry ingredients in the larger bowl, and fold together just until combined.
• Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan, and bake for 1 hour to an hour and 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the thickest part of the loaf comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.
• Cool for about 20 minutes in the pan, then remove it to a wire rack to cool completely before slicing.

Notes

*Sour cream or buttermilk can be substituted. If you don’t have buttermilk, you can substitute by stirring 3/4 teaspoon of lemon juice or white vinegar into 3 tablespoons of regular milk. Allow the mixture to stand for 5 minutes, or until thickened and slightly curdled.

A few more of my favorite recipes to enjoy with coffee or tea:

• Jewish Apple Cake
• Blueberry Muffins
• Petite Vanilla Bean Scones
• Cinnamon Crumb Cake
• Glazed Sour Cream Donuts
• Swedish Tea Ring

Serving: 1slice, Calories: 258kcal, Carbohydrates: 42g, Protein: 4g, Fat: 8g, Saturated Fat: 4g, Cholesterol: 51mg, Sodium: 215mg, Potassium: 171mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 19g, Vitamin A: 280IU, Vitamin C: 3.1mg, Calcium: 19mg, Iron: 1.4mg

Cuisine: Quick Bread

Course: Breakfast, Brunch, Dessert, Snack

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