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.
It seems like the bottom of the banana bread tends to over cook on me. I bake at 350 F for about 1 hour. Do you have any ideas why this could be happening?
Hi Maurizio, are you possibly using a different type of pan or have your pan too close to the heating element? The only other thing I can think of is the oven run too hot. I recommend checking your oven and making sure its calibrated.
I cooked my loaf in my air fryer (it’s basically like a mini convection oven) for ten minutes or so shorter. The top formed a nice crust but the middle was soft. Added pecans for some extra texture, was delicious. Thinking of using brown sugar instead of white sugar next time.
I have been making this bread for for four years.Tried other recipe but I can’t find one as good. My granddaughter loves this bread.
I’m so glad to hear that!
Natasha-made this banana bread 2x this week. Yeessssss!!!
Hello!
Can I add sour cream to this recipe?? If so then how much. I’ve never made banana bread without it before so I’m just wondering. Thank you!
Hi Olivia! I haven’t tested that, but feel free to experiment with it. It may be fine to keep the butter as written, but I would start with a smaller amount, like 1/4 cup of sour cream and increase from there. Let us know how it turns out.
If I wanted to make muffins instead of bread, what would be the temperature and the time?
Hi Danielle, If you’re using standard size cupcake/muffin pans, you can follow my Banana Muffins Recipe.
This recipe is delicious!! It’s always consistent. My family loves it! The closest recipe to my late mom’s.
I’m so happy to hear that, Renee!
Hi Natasha, I want to make your recipe but I have a question. Can you please tell us what is the measurement of the mashed bananas. Bananas are all different sizes. And I know too many bananas will make the recipe too heavy and it won’t rise properly nor cook properly. Would it make a difference if I used cake flour or should I possibly sift the AP flour. Or should I just sift the AP flour
Hi Devin, it’s about 1 3/4 cups of mashed bananas. I would recommend sticking with all purpose flour which is sturdier to bake up properly for a sweet bread.
I was visiting my family out of state and they had very ripe bananas. My son-in-law and I had the same idea: banana bread. I didn’t have my usual banana bread recipe. So happy when I came across this excellent, simple recipe. This was the first time I’ve heard of roasting walnuts on the stove; awesome idea. I usually toast in the toaster over. I omitted raisins when baking this recipe.
Very easy recipe and very delicious. Thanks!
By far the best recipe!! It is so moist !! I made it without the nuts and raisins as well and just as amazing!!
I have made this a few times for my husband and coworkers and they absolutely love it. Thank you so much for having the measurements in the description step-by-step. It’s so much easier than having to scroll back up.🙂
Now this is the only recipe that I will use.
I have made this banana bread several times and everyone raves about it! I am baking several loaves and doubling the recipe each time I make it today. I put my bananas in the oven on 300° and bake them for 30 minutes because they were not ripe. I have done this before and it turns out wonderful. However, without thinking, I started putting them all in one big bowl and realized I did not know after I mashed them. How much of the mashed bananas I should use. How many cups of banana will yield Three bananas?
Hi Donna! It’s likely about 1 3/4 cups mashed.
Hi! I’ve made this recipe 4 times already! Super moist. My only problem is I can’t get them to stop cracking at the top, looks over cooked, but still moist inside. Any suggestions?
Hi Chanel! A crack along the top is completely normal. This happens because the batter rises in the oven and the top sets while it continues to bake inside. If your banana bread is still raw and gummy inside, it could be that the oven is too hot or the pan that you’re using is causing the outside to bake faster before the middle bakes through. If that’s the case, try lowering the temperature by 25 degrees and baking a little longer.
Great recipe. I replaced sugar with monk fruit sweetener, added around 50g dark chocolate roughly cut and baked it as muffins for 20 at 350F/175C. They came out delicious, moist, full of flavor. Just a perfect bite of a banana bread without curing involved.
Thank you for sharing that with us, Nina!
Have you ever added Granny Smith Apples instead of raisins?
Hi Kellie! I have not, but many of my viewers have added fresh berries and other dried fruits so it should work fine. If you experiment, start with a little at a time so you don’t weigh down your batter.
Easy and delicious. Great flavor. Thank you!!!
Made this in a bowl with potato masher, whisk and spoon. Subbed walnuts for hazelnuts, didn’t have raisins so I omitted. Also, I used half the sugar since bananas were super ripe, almost black.
Came out delicious, thank you! Next time will add cinnamon, coconut and pecans instead of hazelnuts. Maybe brown sugar instead of sugar.
My husband and I wanted banana bread because we had extra bananas laying around and it sounded really good. So I went to Google and searched moist banana bread and I found this one and we made it. Wow like really wow we absolutely love this recipe. The banana bread was so moist but yet still dense enough to be bread. The flavor was mouth watering and all around amazing. This recipe is a keeper for sure. We didn’t add walnuts or rasins because we have a baby that we wanted to be able to eat it and it was still so good. Also so quick and easy to make. I would give this 10 stars if I could it was that good but my husband and I love our quick bread moist but dense with alot of flavor and this one checked all of our boxes. Thank you so much for sharing it.
This turned out to be a nice recipe with dried berries as well, apart from the amount of salt. It is better with 1/4 tsp.
Hi Ek! Did you use unsalted butter? If you’re using salted butter, than I would omit the salt completely.