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Our classic banana bread recipe will always make a great afternoon snack or quick breakfast. Slather it in a little salted butter for the perfect treat. With this recipe, you can count on it to be moist and delicious!
You’ve got brown bananas and I’ve got the best banana bread recipe. A match made in heaven.
Banana Bread + Salted Melty Butter
I have made many many things over the years with bananas. One banana recipe that always has and always will stand the test of time is my classic banana bread.
Everyone loves banana bread and, sure, sometimes we get a little crazy (see: Peanut Butter Banana Bread, Blueberry Banana Bread, and even Banana Bread Mini Muffins).
I give out our classic banana bread (moist, flavorful, tender, perfect for slathering in salted butter) as a gift to new neighbors and co-workers.
I eat it for breakfast, for a snack, or one of those midnight escapes to the kitchen. <— This isn’t just a thing they do in the movies right? We all actually wake up and sneak snacks in the dark?
Ingredient Notes:
Bananas – You’ll need 3 medium sized bananas and they should be over-ripe. Extra brown and soft are the way to go for the right level of moisture and sweetness.
Sugar – Brown sugar and white sugar are both needed for this recipe.
Dry Ingredients – We’ll use all purpose flour mixed with a bit of baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Flavoring – This recipe includes plenty of vanilla extract and also some cinnamon for that delicious classic taste!
How to Make Banana Bread:
Mix: Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon in a mixing bowl and set aside.
Cream together the butter, brown sugar, and sugar until smooth and creamy. beat in the eggs and vanilla, Stir in the mashed banana.
Beat the eggs in one at a time until fully combined. Then mix in the vanilla and mashed bananas. Remember, the best bananas for this recipe are over-ripe. This is the best way to use up those brown bananas!
Combine: To finish making the banana bread batter you’ll stir the dry ingredients into the wet mixture until just combined. If you overmix the batter it’ll start to get tough and no one wants that!
Now would be a good time to add in any extra mix-in options you might like such as chopped walnuts. See below for some more suggestions!
Bake: When the batter is ready go ahead and pour it into a prepared 9×5 loaf pan. It’ll only take about an hour to finish baking, or until you can insert a toothpick and it comes out clean.
Let it cool before slicing and serving! I enjoy mine slathered with a bunch of salted butter. Even better if the bread is still a little warm!
BAKING Tip!
Banana bread will rise a little as it is baking. If it sinks after cooling, it’s no big deal, but it means that your bread likely wasn’t cooked all the way through OR you whipped in too much air when mixing. It’ll still be tasty.
FAQs:
This recipe does not need to be refrigerated if it will be consumed in a couple days. You can freeze banana bread if you first wrap it in plastic wrap, then place it in a freezer bag. It can last 2-4 months this way!
A few brown spots are fine, but a fully brown banana is perfect for banana bread! The bananas get sweeter and softer the riper they are.
Mix-In Options:
When I feel like getting creative I toss in a handful of these extra goodies into the bread batter to change it up just a bit.
- Chocolate Chips
- Blueberries
- Chopped Walnuts
- Raisins
- Dried Apricots
- Shredded Coconut
Classic Banana Bread
Ingredients
- 2 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup butter
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup white sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 medium over-ripe bananas mashed
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugars with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs and vanilla until combined. Mix in the bananas.
- Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir until just combined.
- Bake for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then move to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Tips & Notes:
Nutrition Information:
This post was originally published in July 2012. It was updated with new photos in May 2020.
Bobi says
Very nice recipe. We will use this over and over. Not too sweet. DH and I probably ate half the loaf in one sitting. We both ate it as it came out of the oven but I enjoy gilding the lily and toasting and buttering a slice. We used very over ripe bananas (a trick my friend taught me). I cut the ends off the bananas and slit the banana down it’s side and plopped it onto a paper plate and mushed it with a fork before adding it to the batter. Thank you for posting the recipe!
Karly Campbell says
I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe! I’ve never toasted banana bread before, but warm with butter is definitely amazing! 🙂
Julia wilburn says
I loved this recipe so much going to use this forever!!!! thank you so much ??
Karly Campbell says
I’m so glad you liked the recipe! Thanks for the rating!
Ellen Murphy says
My banana bread recipe is very similar. I use all white sugar. May try brown sugar next time. I get requests for the recipe every time I bring it.
Karly Campbell says
We love the flavor of brown sugar in here!