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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I’ve been on a banana bread kick lately and this recipe is perfect as is (and doubles well). I sometimes add 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts to the batter but the recipe is tasty as is. Another one out of the park (just in time for baseball season lol) Thanks Jenn!
What’s the purpose of the lemon juice? There’s no milk (for buttermilk) in the recipe.
Hi Regina, It doesn’t give the bread a lemony flavor; its acidity interacts with the baking soda, helping the bread rise. Hope that clarifies and that you enjoy if you make it!
Wonderful recipe, thank you for sharing it.
Hi Jenn, do you think the cinnamon/walnut/honey topping mixture you use for the muffins would work on this??
Thanks!!
Sure!
This was quick, easy and delicious! Looking forward to another slice tomorrow morning with coffee.
I made it again with 1/3 cup of chopped black walnuts folded in just before putting the dough in the pan. The taste test rating went up from a 5 star recipe to a 6 star recipe!
We made a non-dairy version and this is our new favorite banana bread recipe! We used one stick of Crock Plant Based Butter and did NOT add salt to the recipe b/c the butter substitute is salty already. For a fun variation we finished with a lemon glaze (powder sugar lemon juice and a couple drops of vanilla).
You know….it’s delicious and I love it, but it’s not pretty. Because I like to display my baked goods in a glass dome, I like them to be pretty. This loaf caves in or comes out flat every time. I even increased the baking powder by a little hoping it would help. I’ll still make it because it tastes good, but I’ll hide it because it’s ugly……lol. Anyone else having this issue?
No, mine domed nicely.
Same exact thing happend to me.
Hi Stephanie, you can try adding 1/4 cup more flour to achieve the dome. Keep in mind though that the cake won’t be quite as moist.
I substituted the 1/2 cup of butter with 1/4 cup olive oil, 1/4 cup Oikos Triple Zero Vanilla Greek Yogurt (which is sweetened with stevia), and 2 tbsp milk, and added 1 tbsp cinnamon and a lot of choc chips. Had to bake it about 10 min longer so top would harden a little. Texture and rise was great and fluffy and tasted great even without butter, although I’m sure with butter it would have been even better. I am also a lazy baker, so I blended all the wet ingredients first and added it to the mixed dry ones and the end result was fine despite that. Thank you so much for your excellent recipe that tolerated my substitutions and laziness very well. Everyone loved it.
This banana bread recipe is amazing! I used a beehive-mold cake pan so it was more like a banana cake, which reduced baking time to 25-30 minutes. I added cinnamon to the flour mixture, folded in chopped walnuts and dates, and spooned a cinnamon honey syrup on top of the finished cake. It was delicious and got rave reviews. Thank you so much!
I’ve tried at least 30 of the recipes and they are all hits and fantastic. Unfortunately this one fell short. I usually bake banana bread with almond flour and coconut oil but decided to indulge a bit with this recipe. I followed it to a tee and the ends were dry, overall the bread was a bit dry and lacking banana flavor. I’m sticking to my previous recipe now.