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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This banana bread is incredible and one of my favourite things to bake. It’s so easy to throw together and so delicious. I find it’s great to share too, loaves are always easier to cut than rounds, and it’s always very popular whenever I take it anywhere. I like my banana bread loaded with goodies so I add chocolate chips and/or chopped walnuts and/or raisins, whatever I’m in the mood for, about a cup total. I’ve cooked this in at least 4 different ovens in 2 different countries and I always have to add 5-10 mins to the cooking time (usually 50-55 mins for me), but it comes out perfectly every time. Thanks for this winner, Jenn. I’d give it more than 5 stars, if I could!
This recipe is a keeper. Added some cinnamon and baked for only 50 minutes in glass dish.
Why don’t you use sour cream in this recipe when you do in the others?
Thanks, love all your recipes!
Edie
Hi Edie, I developed this recipe a long time ago so I don’t remember the reason I didn’t use sour cream in this one but I promise it works. 🙂
Moist and can really taste it’s banana as many recipies only use one banana . Will def add to our favourites!
This is my new favorite banana bread mother recipe. I doubled this recipe using the kitchen scale measures, subbing flavorful coconut oil for the butter for a lactose-intolerant friend. I also couldn’t resist subbing most of the volume (not weight) of the sugar for maple syrup, as I wanted a slightly more wholesome version. I even substituted 100g almond flour for the regular flour. The mixture was more liquid, thanks to the maple syrup, but the loaf was a wonderful texture, springy and light instead of dense and muffin-like. It is really a banana-bread, not muffin, recipe, much lighter and more delicate than the more stodgy (yet satisfying!) banana muffins I am used to making. When you use the batter in the muffin tins they don’t dome like muffins (that might also be because of the more liquid dough I used), but they make nice short mini cakes that kids like holding. Oh and of course I added chocolate chips—for the kids (that is my excuse, anyways!).
I’ve made this recipe twice. Both times it is raw in the middle even though the tester came out clean. The end slice was dry. If I bake it longer, the bread will be very dry around the edges. Any insight on what might be wrong? The oven thermometer said the temp was ok. Thanks.
Sorry you’ve had a problem with this (twice)! Are you using a glass pan? Are you making any adjustments to the recipe?
The best banana bread recipe for me, tried it out 3 times already and worked very well every time! I cut up a small banana and put in on top of the batter for extra ”banananess” before baking.
Love this recipe because it’s buttery! It’s simple and doesn’t have diet ingredients like apple sauce. When I want low-cal, I’ll go elsewhere lol I too have trouble with the top being completely baked through because I use a glass pan, but I read on another recipe here to lower temperature and bake longer. I baked at 325 for an hour.
My search for THEE Banana Bread recipe is over! Lemon juice is the secret in this one! For those having problems with under done-ness with baking: add-ins(I do walnuts & chocolate chips, myself) will stretch your batter. You’ll end doing two loaves. Fill your pan ONLY HALF WAY up (I noticed in her photo & after my last loaf was a hard shell on the outside & doughy in the middle) Then the 40 min bake time works perfectly. I tried going towards 45 mins because i didn’t preheat & both loaves ended up a little dry.
Loved it!!