An easy and moist Banana Bread Recipe that is loaded with bananas, tangy-sweet raisins, and toasted walnuts. This is one of our favorite overripe banana recipes with hundreds of 5-star reviews.
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Banana Nut Bread Recipe:
This is my husband’s recipe which he has perfected over the years and he is known for his Banana Bread. He makes it frequently and it always disappears fast! It is simple to make and our favorite way to use up overripe bananas so they never go to waste. It’s super moist and makes a great breakfast on-the-go. We even created Banana Muffins from this recipe.
This loaf stays moist for days and also makes for a thoughtful and delicious gift idea for the holidays (I’ll take banana bread over fruit cake any day).
Banana Bread Video Tutorial:
Watch Natasha make this moist banana bread. You will be surprised at how easy it is. We will never stop loving this recipe. Now go forth and bake!
Ingredients for Banana Bread:
This is everything you need to make the best banana bread: flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, vanilla extract, softened butter, eggs and of course very ripe bananas. Adding walnuts and raisins is optional but adds great taste and texture, turning it into a banana nut bread.
Can I Omit Walnuts and Raisins?
YES! The recipe will still work if raisins and walnuts are omitted. We make it nut-free all the time due to a walnut allergy in the family. You will still have the softest, super moist and scrumptious loaf. You can also replace them with some chocolate to make Chocolate Chip Banana Bread.
How to Ripen Bananas:
- Quick Oven Method: If your bananas are a little green and you want them to ripen quicker, place them on a baking sheet and bake at 250˚F for 15 to 20 minutes depending on the initial ripeness of the bananas.
- 24 Hour Counter Method: If you are willing to wait 1 day, you can place the bunch of bananas (without separating them) in a paper bag, cover and leave at room temperature. Bananas emit ethylene which causes ripening. Adding an apple to the bag will speed up the process.
Can I Freeze Overripe Bananas?
If you have overripe bananas and aren’t ready to bake with them, DO NOT throw them away!
How to Freeze Bananas: place them un-peeled in a freezer-safe bag, remove any excess air and freeze up to 3 months. You can use thawed bananas for banana bread. You can also freeze them peeled and cut into pieces for easier use in smoothies. P.S. You can also freeze a whole banana bread with the same method!
How to Make Banana Bread:
This is the easiest banana bread recipe. We mix it in a stand mixer because it’s easy, but you can use an electric hand mixer and can even make it work with a hand whisk. There is no fancy equipment required. Watch the video tutorial below and you will be a pro in no time!
- In the mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar.
- Mix in mashed bananas and eggs.
- Whisk together dry ingredients: flour, salt, and baking soda and add to batter.
- Stir in vanilla, walnuts, and raisins, transfer to prepared loaf pan and bake.
Substitutions for a Healthy Banana Bread:
- My sister Anna made this into a honey banana bread; replacing sugar with honey.
- Use organic whole wheat flour instead of all-purpose flour.
- Replace 1 Tbsp of flour with 1 Tbsp ground flaxseed.
- Reduce sugar to 1/2 cup when using very ripe bananas; they add plenty of sweetness
Love Sweet Breads? Try these Popular Bread Recipes:
We love sweetbreads because they are easy to make and are such a treat, especially when you top them with Honey Butter! Don’t miss these reader favorites:
- Apple Bread – a pull-apart moist apple bread
- Pumpkin Bread – so easy and we love it year-round
- Banana Chocolate Chip Bread always disappears fast
- Persimmon Bread – great way to use ripe persimmon
Moist Banana Bread Recipe

Ingredients
- 3 very ripe bananas, (medium/large)
- ½ cup unsalted butter, (8 Tbsp) at room temperature
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup walnuts
- ½ cup raisins
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a bread loaf pan (9.25 long x 5.25 wide x 2.75 deep). Lightly roast walnuts on a skillet, continuously stirring so they won’t burn. Coarsely chop and cool to room temperature.
- In a mixing bowl, cream together 8 Tbsp softened butter and 3/4 cup sugar (or honey if using honey).
- Mash bananas with a fork until the consistency of chunky applesauce and add them to the batter along with 2 eggs, mixing until blended.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together: 1 1/2 cups of flour, 1 tsp of baking soda and 1/2 tsp of salt then add to batter.
- Add 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract and mix in chopped walnuts and raisins. Pour into prepared loaf pan. Bake at 350˚F for 55-60 min or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let banana bread rest for 10 min before transferring to a wire rack to cool.
Nutrition Per Serving
Filed Under
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen
This banana bread recipe was first published in 2009; one of the very first recipes on our blog! It has been a reader and family favorite ever since.
Good enough for me to leave my very first recipe review.
Used brown sugar and a bit of honey instead of sugar, added cinnamon, nutmeg and chocolate chips and dusted the top with brown sugar and the spices prior to baking. I didn’t even know I liked banana bread before trying this recipe. Always thought it was kinda mushy and gross, lol
Hi Natasha.
What are the options for storing the banana bread and for how long? Can it be frozen?
Thank you for your delicious recipes! A devoted fan.
Hi Jan! You sure can. Use a freezer-safe bag, remove any excess air and freeze up to 3 months.
I love this banana bread!!! We enjoy the sweet raisins in the bread. I make sure to buy extra bananas every week so I can freeze leftovers for my next yummy bread.😋
My family loved this banana bread! We will definitely be making this recipe again! Thank you for sharing!🥰
My wife loved your recipes. No fancy ingredients and they’re always just like in the picture…
Thank you, Gloria! I’m glad they are being enjoyed!
What is the serving size? I looked at the nutrition label and it says one serving is 350 calories, but never says how large one serving is
Hi Mariah! At the top of the recipe card you’ll see the number of servings that the recipe makes. It makes 10 slices of banana bread and the nutrition facts are per slice.
Can you use this recipe to make a Bundt cake? Also can you make it without raisins in it and can you use self rising or cake flour to make the recipe with?
Hi Shirley, see my other response to your comment regarding the Bundt pan.
I have not tested self rising flour, but if you do so, you will need to add baking soda to it because it does not contain baking soda. One of my viewers reported using cake flour and NOT having good results.
Thank you so much! Im sorry about all the comments made on here, it didn’t show me it got the message at first, then I couldn’t remove them after they were there.
Oh and my husband doesn’t like raisins, can i leave them out?
Yes, they can be left out.
Can you use this recipe in a Bundt pan? Thank you so much, your picture looks good!! ❤️
Hi Shirley. I’m sure you could. I’m just not sure how large of a Bundt pan you’d need and how long it would take to bake so it would require some experimenting.
I just made this recipe for banana nut bread, i used sugar in the raw(turbinado cane sugar) added cranberries and pecans. It is the most delicious and moist bnb that i’ve had and i am almost 80 years old. Thank -You so much. This recipe is a keeper.
That’s so great to hear, Juanita! Thank you for trying my recipe.
What difference in self rising flour and all purpose with baking soda and salt added?
Hi Nancy. It differs due to its protein content, added salt, and leaving agent (baking powder- not baking soda). You might find this article from King Arthur Baking helpful.
Tried it. Wonderful banana bread everyone.loved it. Will keep this recipe especially for the holidays
I didn’t add any raisins or nuts. And I used a mini loaves pan, which I had before, but, not using this recipe. Next time I’ll try it with apples. It’s a very good banana bread.
Sounds excellent! The recipe is so versatile so feel free to try those out!
Fantastic recipe! I come back to this one again and again. Perfectly moist with a nice crust. I typically sub out honey as directed above or use a 70/30 ratio of white/brown sugars. Comes out fantastic every single time! Thank you!
First time to bake banana bread just feel bad throwing overripe bananas love baking Royal bibingka(sweet rice flour cake ) famous in my country Philippines, tried your recipe and added cream cheese on it ubstead of just butter and came our super moist and very tasty banana bread thank you
Yummy banana bread recipe!! I used sugarlyte ( half stevia/half regular sugar) for a healthier version. Thanks for sharing this delicious recipe!!
That’s great to hear! Thank you for sharing that with us.
More of a 4.5. Kind of crumbly. Delicious but fell apart. Will try recipe again. Have one son who’s a B-Bread nut, he said the same thing while eating most of it.
I haven’t experienced that issue before and I’ve made this recipe a lot of times already. Did you use any substitutions? I would check the recipe again and the video just to be sure that you didn’t miss anything.
I tried this recipe a couple days ago but used 8 inches of pan and I made muffins using the leftover batter. They both taste sooooo good. I have experimented so many banana bread recipes from tasty, preppykitchen and others but most of them turned out to be either too dry or dense. This recipe is a keeper! Thank you for being honest with the measurement❤️
This is so so good. We use 1/3 of the sugar and add walnuts and cranberries. Great reviews from friends and family.
That’s wonderful to hear!
Really easy and really yummy. Best banana bread yet. I made mine without walnuts and it was really good. Gonna try with walnuts next time.
Banana nut bread turned out perfect !
Just wondering if I could use pecans instead of walnuts ?
Hi Sheila! I’m so glad you enjoyed it. Yes, pecans work great too!
Wow. Just wow. I was looking for a worthy banana bread recipe and this one was easy, nutty (I love add-ins), such a nice crust (the crust is my favorite part!), not too moist but not too dry and crumbly. I WANT TO EAT IT ALL AT ONCE! I can’t wait to enjoy this as my evening dessert. Thank you!
You’re super welcome and enjoy!