Banana Bread
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Say hello to your new favorite banana bread recipe! With its tender crumb, rich flavor, and irresistibly crisp crust, it’s simply the best!
Are you on the hunt for the perfect banana bread recipe? Look no further—this is the one! With a tender crumb and a crisp crust, it’s absolutely phenomenal fresh out of the oven and just as delicious toasted up for breakfast the next day. You might be surprised by an unexpected ingredient: lemon juice. While it doesn’t make the bread taste lemony, it actually enhances the banana flavor. The acidity also works with the baking soda to help the bread rise, giving it a beautiful golden color, toasty flavor, and light, fluffy texture.
My family loves this banana bread plain, but you can easily add nuts or chocolate chips if you like. And if you’re craving variety, I’ve got plenty of options, including marbled banana bread, chocolate banana bread, whole wheat banana bread, and chai-spiced banana bread. After all, you can never have too many banana bread recipes!
Table of Contents
“Best banana bread ever! And I have tried a lot of different recipes. I think the secret is the lemon juice!”
What You’ll Need To Make Banana Bread
- All-purpose flour: Provides the structure for the bread.
- Baking soda and baking powder: Act as leavening agents to help the banana bread rise and become fluffy.
- Butter: Adds richness, moisture, and flavor to the bread, and helps create a tender crumb.
- Sugar: Sweetens the bread and contributes to the golden-brown crust when baked.
- Eggs: Bind the ingredients together, add structure, and contribute to the bread’s rise and fluffiness.
- Mashed very ripe bananas: The star ingredient that provides moisture, sweetness, and distinct banana flavor to the bread. For a really moist, banana-forward bread, use very ripe bananas. The bananas should at least be dark yellow with plenty of brown spots, and it’s okay if the skin has turned completely brown. (See the FAQs below for tips on how to speed up ripening.)
- Lemon juice: Enhances the banana flavor and reacts with the baking soda to aid in leavening and browning.
- Vanilla extract: Enhances the overall flavor of the banana bread, adding depth and warmth.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-by-Step Instructions
In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
Whisk to combine.
In the bowl of an electric hand mixer (or a stand mixer), beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
Add the eggs one at a time.
Beat well after each addition.
Add the mashed bananas, lemon juice and vanilla extract.
Mix well. It will look a little curdled at this point; that’s okay.
Add the dry ingredients.
Beat on low speed until just incorporated. Do not over mix.
Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes.
Let cool in the pan for about 10 minutes.
Then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Storage & Freezing Instructions
Banana bread should be stored at room temperature in an airtight container or wrapped tightly in plastic wrap or aluminum foil to prevent it from drying out. If properly stored, it will stay fresh for 2 to 3 days. If you’re not planning to eat it within that time frame, freeze for longer storage. After it is completely cooled, wrap it securely in aluminum foil or freezer wrap, or place it in a freezer bag, and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight on the countertop before serving. Crisp up individual slices in the toaster for a fresh-baked effect.
Frequently Asked Questions
If you’re in a hurry to ripen bananas for baking, there are a couple of methods you can try:
24-Hour Method: Place the bananas (still attached at the stem) in a loosely sealed brown paper bag and let them sit on the counter. Check them after 24 hours to see if they’ve ripened to your liking.
Quick Oven Ripening: If you need ripe bananas even faster, you can use your oven. Place the bananas, still in their peels, on a foil-lined baking sheet to catch any leakage. Bake them at a low temperature of 250°F for 15 to 20 minutes or until they develop a deep brown color. This method helps break down the starches in the bananas quickly, resulting in a softer texture and sweeter flavor.
Absolutely! If you have overripe bananas and you’re not ready to bake, don’t let them go to waste. I typically freeze them in bags of 2 or 3, as mashed, they typically yield about 1 cup, which is what most banana recipes call for. Simply peel the bananas, place them in an airtight container or freezer bag, and freeze. When you’re ready to bake, thaw them in the bag and then mash.
Banana Bread Video Tutorial
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Banana Bread
Say hello to your new favorite banana bread recipe! With its tender crumb, rich flavor, and irresistibly crisp crust, it’s simply the best!
Ingredients
- 1¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 stick (½ cup) unsalted butter, softened
- ¾ cup sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup mashed very ripe bananas, from 2-3 large bananas
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, from 1 lemon
- 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter and flour 9x5-inch metal loaf pan.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the mashed bananas, lemon juice and vanilla extract and mix well. It will look a little curdled at this point; that's okay.
- Add the flour mixture and beat on low speed until just incorporated. Do not over mix. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. Let cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- Freezer-Friendly Instructions: The bread can be frozen for up to 3 months. After it is completely cooled, wrap it securely in aluminum foil, freezer wrap or place in a freezer bag. Thaw overnight on the countertop before serving.
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (12 servings)
- Serving size: 1 slice
- Calories: 208
- Fat: 9 g
- Saturated fat: 5 g
- Carbohydrates: 30 g
- Sugar: 14 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 3 g
- Sodium: 394 mg
- Cholesterol: 51 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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Hello Jenn, greetings from London! I have made this recipe many times recently and it has always been delicious! Passed on to family and friends. Puts a smile on everyone’s face in these difficult times. Many thanks!
good morning,
i have made your banana bread many times, and it always turns out well.
can i make them as muffins instead of a loaf?
Thank you
Wendy
Glad you like it! Yes, you can definitely make this into muffins if you’d like. 🙂
Wonderful recipe but mine caved in the middle :(….I’m wondering what I didi wrong. Do you have any idea why that happens?
Hi Juliana, Usually a quick bread will cave in the middle if it’s a bit underbaked. Next time I’d leave it the oven for a few more minutes.
Absolutely delicious! Light and not too sweet. Scattered walnuts on top. Thank you!
Oh wow…thats indeed an incredible recipe,thanks alot..Even with just half cup of sugar,it turned out perfectly sweet.
Hi Jenn! I made this last week and it was amazing! I want to make it again today and add walnuts. When would be the best time to add and about how much? Thank you!
Amy
Hi Amy, Glad you liked it! I’d recommend about 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts and you can combine them with the batter right before you pour it into the pan.
Jenn,
The first time I made this I was not impressed. In the interim, I tried another recipe from another site. Terrible. Since then I have come back to your recipe, and made it several times. Each time it was excellent, followed by “when are you going to make this again?”I have, it’s in the oven now. This has become my go to recipe. It’ll be made again, once I find some flour.
Thanks.
Thank you for this wonderful recipe – it was perfect. I am making this again, but want to add fresh blueberries to the batter. Would the recipe need to be altered in any way due to the added moisture?
Hi Karen, glad you liked it! It’s hard for me to say whether or not you need to make any alterations when adding berries without trying it myself. You may want to add a little bit more flour to soak up some of the additional moisture. Please LMK how it turns out if you try it!
Very good banana bread, probably the best I’ve made – I added toasted pecans. I have found that in England when a US recipe calls for all purpose flour, I’m better off using 00 flour rather than plain flour. Now all I need to do is find some 00 flour as everyone’s home baking and flour and yeast are very hard to find!
This recipe turned out so well! I made it with my 5yr old and it was easy to follow and make. Ate a piece while it was still warm..YUM. We added 1/2 cup chocolate chips. My one possible error was that I used the convection oven setting so it took 65 min, and I checked every 5min after 45min to make sure I didn’t overbake it.