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.

This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy.
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.







This is so good. I don’t usually do reviews it’s that good. I think it’s now my favorite banana bread recipe. I added 1 c of mini chocolate chips to mine-turned out perfect!
Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a review Stacey. I appreciate it. And I’m very happy to know that you loved the recipe.
Hi Natasha! Do you hapoen to have a recipe for banana nut bread using a yellow cake mix instead of flour, baking powder, etc? Kind of like your pumpkin bread recipe! Thank you!
Hi Ana Maria! I do not sorry. We make our cakes from scratch so I don’t have any boxed cake mix recipes.
Very delicious and moist!! Easy to make. Thank you for this lovely recipe! Greetings from Finland 😊
I make this twice a week for my family and have been for months now. I had to comment how delicious this is. Thank you!
Annoying! site doesn’t let you print unless you enter your email address 🙁
Hi Lilliam! That email screen is something I’m testing—it’s a more privacy-friendly way to know who’s visiting, and it helps me keep sharing recipes for free without using third-party cookies 🍪. You’ll need to enter your email to get to the print page, but subscribing to emails is totally optional—the box is checked by default, but you can uncheck it if you’d rather not subscribe. I really appreciate your support! 💛
Love your recipes! I replaced raisins and walnuts with chocolate chips and added some pumpkin.
That’s so great! Thank you so much for sharing that with me.
Yum! I have to try that! Do you just use pumpkin or both bananas and pumpkin?
I have 4 very ripe bananas. Can I use them all? If so, should I adjust another ingredient in the recipe?
Hi Christy, it depends on how big the bananas are. This recipe ends up using about 1 3/4 cups of mashed bananas. If your bananas are larger or you end with more than that you can make two loaves or use them all. Its hard to say without being there or seeing their size, but I bet it could work. I hope you love the recipe!
Love this recipe! I am wondering if you have any suggestions on how to make these into muffins instead of a loaf? How would you alter the cooking time?
Hi Hanna, yes, you can make them as muffins. Reference my Banana Muffins Recipe for instructions on making these in a muffin pan.
Old guy here in Idaho…retired. Never made this before – came out perfect ! Sooo…can you use pecans instead and why not brown sugar ??
Hi Tom! So glad you loved it! You can definitely use brown sugar and add pecans.
The brown sugar will make it a little more dense and moist.
Really delicious but my bread was really pale . Did I do something wrong
Hi De! It could be your oven temperature running low (needed longer to bake), the type of pan it was baked in, or even if your bananas weren’t very ripe and they didn’t caramelize as much as very ripe bananas to give it that caramelized color.
I’ve made this 3 times in the last month and my 4 year old has requested it as her birthday cake. We sub the raisins for dark chocolate chips and it’s sooo amazingly moist. Never lasts long in this household. Today im going to triple the recipe
Aw, that’s so sweet. I’m glad she loves it!
Thank you for the time to post all the ingredients. My family doesn’t care for so I put in more raisins and put a cinnamon, sugar, brown sugar and butter crunch on top right after it was done baking and turned out of the loaf pan.
It was enjoyed by everyone and it was sooo good!
I think maybe the extra raisins also help with the moisture!
Thanks again, Penny S.
That’s wonderful, Penny! So glad they all enjoyed it.
I made this yesterday and it was moist and delicious! I left out the raisins since my hubby is not a fan.
I serve it warm and spread on some cream cheese. Yum!
It really is the best fresh and warm. I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
I have a gas oven so I baked my loaf at 325 for 60mins.I put in raisins and a sm bag of walnuts….OMG! It was sooo moist, oh yeah I also made a drizzle for the top. PERFECT, I LOVE Natasha’s!!
I bet your home smells so good right now, Cheryl! Thank you so much for sharing that with me.
Can you substitute apple sauce for butter? How much?
When substituting honey. How much?
Hi Barbara. A few of my viewers have reported using applesauce in place of butter with good results. You should be able to replace it equally as for the honey, you can replace it equally as well or use less if your bananas are very ripe.
Not a lot of flavor and kind of dry. Have a nice oven and baked it for only 45 minutes.
Hi Christine! Were your bananas ripe enough? If not, they will not have much banana flavor. The most common reasons for dry banana bread are over baking (if you used a convection/fan oven), or using too much flour. Be sure to measure your ingredients correctly.
I watched the video and wrote down all the steps, it was very easy to follow. I did not add any nuts or raisins, the bread was good plain but tasted better with butter! Very nice and moist. No complaints 🙂
I just made this banana bread, it so moist and delicious 😋. Thank-you Natasha you are amazing 👏
Can I admit the salt ingredient if I only have salted butter?
Yes, Bridgett- that would be fine, or use less.
I don’t have any raisins, can I use dried cranberries?? 🙁
Yes, that will work fine. I hope you love the recipe!
what will be the ratio of each ingredients for my bulk order, 25 loaves of banana bread.
Hi Raquel. You can use the little slider at the top of the recipe card that lets you adjust the number of servings.