This one-bowl easy banana bread recipe is perfectly sweet, super moist, and ready in 1 hour. It is everybody’s favorite way to use up spotted brown bananas instead of letting them go bad sitting on the counter!
My family goes in spurts of eating so many bananas that I’m always having to go to the store for more, or completely ignoring them so I end up with a bunch of overripe, spotted bananas sitting on the counter. When that happens, the first thing I think to make is homemade banana bread!
Banana bread is as delicious as it smells and my tried-and-true version will have your tastebuds salivating while it’s still baking in the oven. A slice of moist, warm banana bread fresh from the oven with a little butter or jam makes a great snack, breakfast food, or treat.
If you have lots of overripe bananas, this bread is a winner! Or try our delicious Banana Bars or Banana Cake with Brown Butter Frosting.
Why you’ll love this classic banana bread recipe!
It can be made by hand in one bowl with one spoon in under 10 minutes. Kids love to help with this one by peeling and mashing the soft bananas, measuring, and stirring. And it’s easily customizable by throwing in chocolate chips, walnuts, or cinnamon chips.
If you need any more convincing, just read the dozens of 5-star reviews after the recipe. Once you have tried this easy banana bread recipe you will never go back to any other.
What You’ll Need
Gather your ingredients before you start baking for a streamlined, stress-free process. You can find the full measurements for each ingredient in the printable recipe card.
- All-purpose flour: I like regular unbleached flour, but have also done ⅓ whole wheat flour with 2/3 all-purpose flour.
- Spotted bananas: As bananas ripen they develop more natural sugars, making them naturally sweeter.
- Salted butter: If you only have unsalted butter on hand, you can just add an additional ¼ teaspoon of salt to the recipe below.
- Sugar: I like to use granulated sugar for the perfect amount of sweetness.
- Ground cinnamon: It’s a small amount meant just to add depth and warmth while still letting the real banana flavor shine through without being overpowered.
- Baking powder, baking soda, salt, and vanilla: These common baking ingredients give the loaf lift and balanced flavor.
- Egg: Adds richness and contributes to the proper texture of the crumb of this quick loaf.
- Mix-ins: You can use whatever mix-ins you like best or enjoy the loaf plain. Chocolate chips or walnuts are my personal favorite.
How to Make Banana Bread
This is a step-by-step overview of the process with photos so you can know how the banana bread batter is supposed to come together. The full instructions are in the recipe card below.
- Mash the bananas: Peel the bananas and add them to a large mixing bowl. Mash them with a fork until only small chunks remain, but don’t worry about it being perfectly smooth.
- Add butter, sugar, vanilla, and eggs: No need to break out a mixer for this. Just stir everything together by hand with a sturdy spoon until combined.
- Add dry ingredients: Over the top of your batter, sprinkle the baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and flour so that they are all evenly distributed, then stir by hand just until combined and no streaks of flour remain.
- Add mix-ins: If you are adding chocolate chips or walnuts, stir them in at the end. It’s important not to overmix the batter with quick breads so the loaf doesn’t turn out dense and dry. You just don’t want pockets of dry ingredients or streaks of flour showing up.
- Bake: Pour the batter into a prepared loaf pan and bake for 50-55 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the loaf comes out clean with just a few crumbs clinging to it. Remove the bread from oven and let it cool for about 10 minutes before turning the bread carefully out onto a wire cooling rack to finish cooling before slicing and serving.
How old can bananas be for banana bread?
The best banana bread is made with overly ripe bananas. You can tell bananas are overripe when they turn deep yellow and get brown giraffe spots all over them. Even almost completely black bananas are still good for banana bread.
You can speed up the banana ripening process by placing several bananas and an apple inside of a brown paper bag, closing the top and letting them sit on the counter for a day or two. The gases released will speed up the banana ripening process using this method.
Or if you don’t already happen to have ripe bananas on hand and can’t wait for your underripe bananas to ripen fully, you can help the process along by sticking the bananas in the oven for a little bit. Just place them whole (with peel intact) on a baking sheet and bake at 300°F for about 20 minutes, then cool, peel, and use in this recipe as normal.
Amy’s Recipe Tips
- Bake until a skewer comes out clean. A toothpick really isn’t long enough to accurately test a loaf of banana bread. A wooden skewer or sharp knife is a better testing tool to tell whether the banana bread is done all the way through.
- Make it your own! Feel free to add your favorite mix-ins or sprinkle the top of your banana bread with chocolate chips, chopped nuts, or a streusel before baking to change things up.
- You can freeze your overripe bananas. Got brown bananas but can’t make your banana bread just now? Peel them and throw them in the freezer in a ziploc bag. They will look terrible when you eventually remember to take them out, but they will work just great when you thaw them!
Can you freeze banana bread?
Yes! You can freeze banana bread! You can either slice it first and freeze the slices individually so you can easily enjoy banana bread whenever you want, or you can freeze entire loaves for later consumption.
To freeze a loaf of banana bread, let it cool completely, then wrap it in plastic wrap and place it in an airtight container or freezer-safe ziploc bag, then stick it in your freezer. That’s it!
To freeze individual slices of banana bread (something I like to do because it makes it easy to stick into school lunches or give the kids for breakfast on busy days), lay individual slices flat on a baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Freeze for 1-2 hours, then transfer to a freezer-safe ziploc bag and stick them back in the freezer.
For best quality, enjoy it within 2 to 3 months, although honestly I’ve dug a loaf out of the freezer 6 months down the road and it’s still pretty darn good.
How to Make Banana Bread FAQs
One cup of mashed bananas is usually about 2 medium bananas. Ultimately you want about 2 cups of mashed banana for this recipe, which is usually 3 big or 4 medium bananas, but it’s a pretty forgiving recipe and I have made this recipe dozens of times for years without measuring the exact amount of bananas.
Sure, if you have bread flour that you want to use for banana bread you are welcome to use it and the recipe will turn out just fine without any modifications.
My banana bread recipe cooks in 50-60 minutes for a loaf made in an 8×4-inch pan. Slightly different pan dimensions might require a slight time adjustment, but generally speaking it will take about an hour to bake a loaf of banana bread.
More Quick Bread Recipes You’ll Love
Did you make this recipe?
Let me know what you thought with a comment and rating below. You can also take a picture and tag me on Instagram @houseofnasheats or share it on the Pinterest pin so I can see.
Best Easy Banana Bread Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3-4 ripe bananas (about 2 cups mashed)
- 1/3 cup salted butter melted
- 3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg beaten
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups (212g) all-purpose flour
- 1 cup chopped walnuts or chocolate chips, plus extra for topping if desired
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350℉ (177℃). Lightly grease and flour an 8.5×4.5-inch loaf pan or spray with baking spray.
- In a large bowl, combine the mashed bananas with the melted butter, then add the sugar, egg, and vanilla. Stir well with a large wooden spoon.3-4 ripe bananas, ⅓ cup salted butter, ¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar, 1 large egg, 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Sprinkle the baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt over the banana mixture. Stir to combine.1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon baking powder, ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon, ⅛ teaspoon salt
- Add flour and walnuts or chocolate chips (if desired), and stir just until no streaks of flour remain. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan.1 ½ cups (212g) all-purpose flour, 1 cup chopped walnuts
- Bake for 50-60 minutes, until a knife inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely. Slice into 10 thick slices and serve.
Video
Notes
- Storage: Store your banana bread in a ziploc bag or in another airtight container on the counter for a few days. Refrigerating it will help it last a day or two longer. But after about 5 days banana bread starts tasting stale, even if it has been wrapped tightly or kept in an airtight container in the fridge.
- Baking time: If your bread pans are larger or smaller than mine, your bake time might be on the shorter or longer side, respectively.
- Muffins: This banana bread recipe can also be made as muffins. Just divide between the cups of a muffin tin and bake for 20-24 minutes until muffins are done and a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.
- This recipe can be found on page 50 of my cookbook, House of Nash Eats Everyday!
I made this today. It came out perfectly! It’s delicious. And such a simple recipe to follow. Thanks for sharing.
Simple and perfect! I added chocolate chips and (to my 1/2 only – for me!) white chocolate chips, walnuts, and toasted macadamia nuts. Yum!! I also used a round cake pan and it turned out perfectly. Thank you!
We love your banana bread, freeze it and use it later – like if someone stops in. Of course we like it best fresh from the oven.
When we eat it at home, we slice off a couple of pieces and drop them into our toaster slots. THIS makes the BEST treat EVER. When it pops (watch it) …they will be toasty with a bit of a crust on the slices!!!! We also put some choc chips in and pecans, so your chips soften from the toaster and the pecans toast!!! Really encourage you to try this – it is far past the most delicious banana bread – in this world…SO yummy❣️
I love this recipe! Whenever I have leftover bananas I store them in the freezer and whenever I have 3 or more I’ll make some banana bread 🙂
One tip: I would mix the flour in BEFORE mixing in the walnuts. Nothing’s more annoying than biting into a walnut and tasting the flour in the crevices.
Overall, amazing recipe! Me, my husband, and my friends think it’s yummy 😋
This is my favorite banana bread recipe! I make it all the time. I put coconut in mine and it was delicious!
Great recipe!
Easy to make and it came out perfect. I used chocolate chips and it was delicious.
Excellent! Made as muffins and it is seriously the best banana bread I’ve ever made.
I made it with my Grandma and it was delicious I couldn’t stop eating it!!!!👍😍😘
Very good. I made one yesterday and swirled cinnamon sugar on the top of it, so moist and so fast to make. Today I doubled the batch and am baking 6 mini banana bread as I review this. Will continue to make this recipe.
Great and easy recipe. I added maybe a 1/4 cup shredded coconut (I tend to add coconut to a lot of my baking) and a handful of walnuts. Super tasty. I love banana bread toasted, so that’ll be breakfast tomorrow!
Um HELLO I’ve made this recipe at least 10 time it’s perfect in every way and taste😩😩😩🤤
It was a very easy recipe to follow. I added mini chocolate Chips to it. It was a big hit.
My mom makes delicious banana bread, but using her same recipe mine never turns out. I have been looking for a recipe that turns out well for me. I have made this one twice in two weeks. The first time my kids ate the entire loaf in one day! My second batch (a double batch this time) is in the oven now, and my whole house smells amazing! This is my new go-to recipe for banana bread. Thank you!
I’m so glad you loved it, Stacy! This makes my day!
Perfect banana bread! Moist and delicious! One bowl process is fantastic. You have replaced my Joy of Cooking banana bread recipe that I have used for 30 years!!! Family loved this, and prep was super easy! Thank you!
I just made this and it’s really good! Thank you!
I’m glad I lost my regular recipe for banana bread, because this one not only is tastier, but easier to put together. Family loved it. Made it yesterday and it’s gone…Oh and added chocolate chips – so, so yummy! Thank you! 🙂
I have made this about 5 times now and made them into muffins once. This is the easiest and best recipe I have tried. It comes out so moist and yummy.
I’m making these for the second time. They are so delicious. I make muffins so I don’t have to have the oven on so long in this heat!
Amazed at how great this turned out as written! It went over well with the whole crowd.
Easy, delicious and comforting. Love this recipe. I will make it again!
I tried this today, since I had three large bananas trying to die….Made it in my Kitchenaid , so quick and easy. I added walnuts and it was really good and not overly sweet, thank you!
My loaf is baking now, and it smells amazing! This was super easy to pull together!
The recipe at the bottom is missing the flour in step 3, by the way. I figured it out, but it’s probably a good idea to add that in 😉
Looking forward to tasting it!
This banana bread was Amazing. I used half cup whole wheat flour with 1 cup all purpose flour. The loaf was still moist and delicious. I used walnuts and plan to try raisin next. As we say in Jamaica the banana bread “tun up!” ( meaning- it taste good).
This is a great little recipe. Used 3 bananas and pecans because I didn’t have walnuts. It baked up beautifully and tasted great. Will make again. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you for this recipe! It is super moist and delicious. My family and I really enjoyed it.
Absolutely love this recipe. So easy to make and tastes delicious. I ran out of walnuts so substituted for pecans 2nd time around. Work great. Thank you for this
Should the butter be salted or unsalted? Thanks!
I always use salted butter.
I had to add about 1/3 of milk when I made it, hope it turns out well!
I made this today, my first time. It came out so good, I made muffins because I don’t have a loaf pan.
Oh my goodness. This is the easiest and best banana bread I’ve made. So far I’ve made it three times , with a little less sugar and it has turned out perfectly every time. I freeze it and slice it and my husband takes a piece in his lunch every day. I’m going to try it next time with oat flour and see what happens!
I made it at home it’s very nice every one enjoyed it
I have made this several times and love it.
I would love to make mini loaves to share.
Any idea how long to bake?
Oh it’s been a while since I did mini loaves! I need to do them again and include better timing, but I think it’s around 25-35 minutes. Unless you have one of those mini loaf pans that are almost more like jumbo cupcakes, in which case I think it might be more around 20-25 minutes.
Amazing ! This is legit grannies recipe! Don’t lose it!!!
This is the best banana bread recipe. The only changes I made were that I increased the cinnamon to 1 tsp, added a 1/2 stick of salted butter, no salt, and 2 tsps each of vanilla, butter, and banana extracts.
best recipe thus far!!!! LOVE, love, luv this banana bread. did i mention i love it!??? 😋
Awww, thank you!
Guess who forgot the cinnamon…facepalms…
I just got it in the oven when I realised, so i sprinkled it with cinnamon sugar.
I’m sure it will be good.
I made this for my family and they LOVED it. I substituted the white sugar with 1/4cup Stevia and 1/2 cup brown sugar ( Hubby is diabetic). I also sprinkled a very light dusting of brown sugar on top before baking. Thank you so much .
I want to make this recipe tomorrow with my class. How do you adjust the time for muffins?
It’s 20-24 minutes at 350 degrees F for muffins!
Doubled the recipe and made one without nuts for the kids to take for school one with walnuts for the big kids , really easy and a great success
The recipe was so simple. Made them into muffins and they were so moist delicious! The whole family devoured them. We will make them again for sure! Thanks for the great recipe!
Does it matter the size of the banana? I have these big Costco size banana. Can you give the aprox. weight of the mashed 🍌 ? Thanks!
If they are really big bananas, I would only use 3 of them. If they are more regular size, use 4.
Trying recipe with walnut, peaches and cranberries. We will see what happens. Sounds good. Waiting game 50-55 minutes.
I’m making this now, and it’s smelling amazing! Just need advice on one thing, and that is that I’m running into the same problem I always run into with banana bread. The timer is done (60 minutes), using the size pan you mentioned, outside is beautifully dark and center is wet. 😩 HELP!!!
If you are finding that the outside is dark but the center is wet, try either decreasing the temp by 25 degrees F and cooking longer (this will hopefully help the loaf cook more evenly instead of the outside cooking more quickly than the inside) or try tenting the banana bread with foil to prevent it from browning so much on top.
I so want to make this but I only have 2 bananas 😫
Amy, this is not only the BEST banana bread I’ve ever made but it’s the BEST banana bread I’ve ever had!!! It is incredibly moist and sticky and so so tasty. I’m very impressed!
I had to bake mine closer to the 60 minute mark and kept checking the temperate with an instant read to ensure the core was 200 degrees F. The results were great!!! Thank you for this recipe! I’ll be printing it out and adding to my recipe book!
I’m so glad you loved it, Sarah! Thank you for your comment!
This is an EXCELLENT recipe- really one pot, zero fuss. Thank you for this new go-to recipe for Death Star Bananas.
Lol – I have never heard them referred to as Death Star Bananas, but I love it!
Very delicious and easy to make. Perfect Banana Bread recipe! Love your additional notes on how to store and suggestions to make them as muffins. Thank you so much.
I came across this recipe like I do other banana bread recipes and tried This recipe by far is the best banana bread recipe I have ever made and tasted all of the other banana bread recipes in my Pinterest post have now been deleted and only this banana bread recipe is the only recipe I will ever make.
Thank you, Debra! Your comment made my day!
Moist and tastes amazing.
Love this banana bread! it is not too sweet, really easy to make and absolutely yummy!! 🙂