Classic Easy Banana Bread

January 4, 2022

4.6

(133)

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A loaf of banana bread half sliced on a marble surface with a dish of softened butter to the side.

Photo by Chelsea Kyle, food styling by Rhoda Boone

Active Time

35 minutes
Total Time

95 minutes

To create our ultimate banana bread recipe, the Epi test kitchen teambaked the most popular versionsin our archives to determine what made each one so delicious. Then we combined the things we liked about other quick breads into the idealbreakfast loaf: a sweet, nutty, and supremely moist banana bread with a delicate crumb. This is aneasy recipewith minimal prep time, so you can go from looking for the best banana bread recipe to eating exceptional banana bread in under 2 hours.

A note about mix-ins: We like banana bread withwalnuts, which add a warm, toasty, crunchy textural contrast. If you’re a nut-free household, leave them out. Or, if you preferpecans, add those to your mixing bowl instead. Intochocolate chipbanana bread? Our testers were divided, but ultimately determined that chocolate masked the delicatebanana flavormore than we liked. If you swing the other way, add ½ cup chopped semisweet chocolate (or chips) along with or instead of the nuts. Interested inpeanut butterbanana bread? Apumpkin breadmodification? Or recipes made withcream cheeseor whole wheat flour? You’ll find those and more in the variations section ofthis other recipe.

To ensure your homemade banana bread easily pops out of the pan, line the pan withparchment paper: Brush melted butter (or use cooking spray) on the pan to anchor the parchment,secure it with binder clips, then grease and flour the pan as indicated below.

Ingredients

Makes one 9x5” loaf (8–10 servings)

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for pan

1⅔ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pan

4 medium very ripe bananas (about 13 ounces), peeled and mashed

¼ cup sour cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup (packed) dark brown sugar

2 large eggs, at room temperature

½ cup chopped toasted walnuts

Special equipment:

A 9x5" loaf pan

Step 1
Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9x5-inch loaf pan with butter and dust with flour, tapping out any excess.
Step 2
Combine mashed banana, sour cream, and vanilla in a medium bowl. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.
Step 3
Using an electric mixer, beat butter and brown sugar on medium speed in another large bowl until light and fluffy, about 3½ minutes. Add eggs one at a time and beat on medium speed until fully combined, about 1 minute each. Add banana mixture and beat until just combined, about 30 seconds. Add dry ingredients in 2 batches, beating on low after each addition and scraping down sides of bowl if necessary, until fully incorporated, about 20 seconds per batch. Fold in walnuts. Transfer batter to prepared loaf pan and smooth top with a spatula.
Step 4
Bake, rotating halfway through, until batter is set, top is dark golden brown and starting to crack, sides are starting to pull away from pan, and a tester inserted into center of bread comes out clean, 60–65 minutes. Cool in pan on a wire rack at least 15 minutes. Run a butter knife around perimeter of pan to loosen loaf, then tap pan gently on its side until loaf releases. Transfer to a cutting board or plate and let cool completely before slicing.
Do Ahead:可以烤香蕉面包,冷却,然后裹着plastic and left at room temperature up to 3 days, or frozen up to 3 months.

Editor’s note:This recipe was originally published March 24, 2015, as Our Favorite Banana Bread Recipe. Head this way for more of ourbest banana recipes→

Cooks' Note

If you can’t find overripe bananas (they should be riddled with black spots and be very soft) at the store and you don’t have time to wait, you can speed up the process by slow-roasting yellow bananas. Bake the unpeeled bananas on a baking sheet at 250°F until soft and the skins have turned totally black, 15-20 minutes. Let cool before continuing with the recipe.

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Reviews (133)

Made this and added 1 tsp of my homemade Pumpkin Spice mix. WOW! Such aroma and flavor!
- Anonymous
- New York, NY
- 10/7/2023
Tender and flavorful!
- Anonymous
- Sonoma County, CA
- 1/3/2023
Delicious! This is what banana bread should taste like! I used vegan butter, vegan sour cream, and instead of eggs I used 2 "flax eggs" (2 T ground flax seed mixed with 6 T water). I also topped it with a banana split lengthwise for extra banana flavor and decoration. It turned out perfectly!
- Anonymous
- Alexandria, VA
- 12/15/2022
Thank you to to the reviewer who posted the original recipe which is found at //m.fonts4kids.com/recipes/member/views/banana-bread-50167417. It is by far the best recipe I've made and I've made a ton of banana bread recipes. This "Classic Easy Banana Bread" somehow was linked to my old recipe - I've now re-linked to the correct one!
- Anonymous
- Seattle, WA
- 11/12/2022
This is a nice bread.
- Anonymous
- NYC
- 11/4/2022
Agree with the previous reviewer… This is not the recipe that used to be here!! If you are looking for the old recipe, it is now here: //m.fonts4kids.com/recipes/member/views/banana-bread-50167417
- Anonymous
- 11/4/2022
There used to be a two loaf banana bread recipe on this site that was very moist, probably due to the vegetable oil in the recipe. My link to it was replaced with this recipe which, although it's very good, it's not as good as the original recipe which I can't find anymore. What a shame.
- Susan W.
- Canada
- 8/30/2022
Followed recipe exactly as written. Excellent.. moist . Will make again .
- Saguarosam
- Puerto Vallarta Mexico
- 3/26/2022
As others mentioned, reduced the sugar to 3/4 cups since bananas add enough sweetness. Substituted 2/3 cup whit e flour with chickpea flour for extra nutrition along with plain yogurt for sour cream, still delicious with toasted pecans and some chocolate chips for decadence on top!
- LadyDi
- Long Beach, CA
- 2/2/2022
Simply Delicious. Baked 2 different banana bread recipes, had a family and neighbor taste testing and this recipe won hands down. So, banana-y, moist and flavorful.
- Ohio fan
- Columbus, OH
- 1/27/2022
It took THREE pages to print this recipe. Your format for printing a recipe is ridiculous. The first page has info that is not necessary for baking the bread.
- Anonymous
- Ohio
- 1/21/2022
I love the bread, but my hubby thinks it's "too banana-y." ?? I also cut the brown sugar in half. I don't like my breads that sweet--1/2 cup was plenty IMO. The suggestion to put the crumble on top sounds amazing.
- Linda
- SLC UT
- 1/20/2022
Question, not a review. Does this need high altitude adjustment. Denver is so much above sea level, is might crater. Wish Epicurious would be considerate to subscribers here
- J Walter
- Aurora CO
- 1/12/2022
Good recipe. I will definitely do it again.
- Jessica B.
- Washington DC
- 1/11/2022
I have been looking for a moist banana bread and this one definitely is moist. I will definitely do it again.
- Jessica B.
- Washington DC
- 1/9/2022