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.
Love this recipe, and I’ve made it multiple times. I was wondering if I could use this recipe to make a non-chocolate banana bread, adding something like strawberries or blueberries instead of chocolate chips. If so, how would you recommend adding these ingredients? Would I need to coat in cornstartch prior to baking, similar to your lemon blueberry cake? Use dried fruit instead? I would love your suggestion/advice! Thank you!
Hi Elizabeth, I honestly haven’t tried baking this with any other fruit. I think the batter is thick enough that the fruit doesn’t necessarily need to be coated. If you experiment, please let me know how it goes. I haven’t experimented with dried fruit in the lemon blueberry cake.
Hi, Natasha. I’ve tried this recipe and even if the bread turned out delicious, it was too moist. It was not fluffy and airy like yours at all. I used not so ripe bananas, could this be the cause? It was fully baked because I did the toothpick test and it came out clean, but nontheless the bread was not grown and too wet even if I followed the recipe thoroughly. Thanks!
Hi Anna, it could be the bananas or the ratio of bananas to ingredients. Was anything altered in the recipe? I also recommend this post on measuring to be sure it was measured accurately
Hi Natasha,
I love this recipe, it is the best banana bread I’ve ever made. All of your recipes are amazing. Thank you so much for sharing them with us!
I’m so glad you enjoyed that Kris! Thank you for that awesome review!
Hi why did you NOT put the eggs in the ingredients LIST instead of at the bottom of the list took down the recipe list went to buy my ingredients and then found out I was missing eggs this is annoying as I had to go all the way back to the supermarket which wasted my time please put the eggs on the ingredients list mary
Hi Nirian, are you possibly referring to another recipe? We have eggs listed in both areas. In the ingredient list we wrote: “2 large eggs lightly beaten” and in the blog post it says: “softened butter, eggs and of course very ripe bananas” I hope that helps
Hi Naila, I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe. I believe it’s maybe two cups. I never measured exactly, but it doesn’t have to be precise. Just use medium/average sized bananas.
Hi Natasha !!
Amazing cake recipe. I just made it and it turned out perfect. Is it possible for you to provide the approximate amount of mashed bananas for this recipe? Planning on making a few loaves and wanted to have consistent results. Thank you again
Hi Naila, I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe. I believe it’s maybe two cups. I never measured exactly, but it doesn’t have to be precise. Just use medium/average sized bananas.
Can I substitute for brown sugar? Or will it change the taste too much?
Hi Eve, I haven’t experimented with brown sugar, but one of my readers wrote in with the following helpful review: “The bread turns out rich and moist and wonderful!!! I have tweaked it a bit (as all bakers do) by using virgin coconut oil instead of butter, and using 1/2 cup of white sugar & 1/2 cup brown sugar in place of just white… Finally I use milk chocolate chips instead of raisins or nuts. It is to die for!!!!
Hi. I’ve been having a hard time with my bread overcooking around the edges. Sometimes it burns because the center is undercooked. Suggestions???
Hi Erica, sometimes that can happen if you are using a very dark pan. Also, make sure you are baking on regular bake mode and not convection settings.
Super moist and delicious
I’m so glad you enjoyed that!
I’ve made this recipe and my family loves it. The only thing I changed was leaving out the raisins. Natasha I love your recipes.
So awesome! Thank you so much for sharing that with us.
I use 5 very ripe bananas (completely black) It taste AMAZING!!! It was moist. I add a pinch of cinnamon. Everyone love it ! My favorite recipe so far….and i made a Lot of banana breads.
So great to hear that you loved the end result! Thanks for sharing that with us and for giving this recipe an awesome feedback!
Thank you for this scrumptious recipe! I’ve made it several times and every time it’s a great hit. And it is so easy to make. I do reduce the sugar to about 1/4 cup because the bananas provide so much sweetness.
Thank you so much for sharing this with me! I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe.
Cannot wait to try this recipe. I just love everything you make.
I’m excited for you to try this too, Arlene. I’m sure you will love it!
Is your cookbook from you for all these delicious recipes? It is available somewhere to be bought?
Hi Helen, we do not have a cookbook at this time.
OMG, this is by far my favorite banana bread. I thought I had the best one before this!! It is so moist and flavorful. I used 4 bananas, added some cinnamon, about 1/4 c of dark chocolate chips and cranraisins. Yummy… I usually put cream cheese and butter on mine but I wanted to try it without first. No, I do not need any of that, is is so moist and the right consistency. Thank you so much…
Yay so great to know that you loved this recipe, Kim. Thank you for sharing that with us and for giving this recipe great feedback!
I just made this and it turned out fabulous!!! I did 1/2 cup white sugar and a generously cup of raisins no walnuts it.
I used a 10 1/4 x 7 3/4 pan because I didn’t have a loaf pan and baked at 350 degrees for 40 mins. It was moist and just the perfect amount of sweetness!
I will def bake this again and try to double the portions for bigger bread.
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us!
This is a super easy loaf to make, and is honestly the best recipe I’ve ever tried. I used 3 1/2 medium bananas, and omitted the raisins. It came out nice and light, wonderful banana flavour and perfectly browned after 55 minutes. Will definitely be sticking to this recipe from now on.
Thank you so much for sharing that with us!
I tried the Banana Bread recipe last night and it was the best. I have made Banana bread in the past but it was not as moist as your recipe. Super good and got over the very next day. Thank you.
Yay so great to hear that you loved it, Pearl. Thank you for giving this recipe an awesome feedback!
Hi! I was wondering does it have to be very ripe bananas? also, is 3 bananas the minimum you recommend for this serving outcome?
if I don’t have a loan tin/pan, what’s your baking temp/time advice for using a cake pan?
Thank you in advance!
Hi Landry, it does have to be ripe bananas. Overripe bananas will give you a sweeter flavor but just ripe ones are fine. Don’t use underripe though. I haven’t tried in a cake pan. A 9″ cake pan would take less time than a loaf pan though.
My picky kids loved this. I didn’t have a loaf pan, so baked in a 9×13 for about 40 min. It came out perfect. I used a 1/2 cup mixture of nuts, 1/4 cup craisins, and 1/4 cup coconut flakes. Great recipe for overripe bananas. Every one of your recipes I’ve tried have been a success thank you!
That sounds delicious! Thank you so much for sharing that with me!
My picky kids loved this. I didn’t have a loaf pan, so baked in a 9×13 for about 40 min. It came out perfect. I used a 1/2 cup mixture of nuts, 1/4 cup craisins, and 1/4 cup coconut flakes. Such a great recipe for overripe bananas. Every one of your recipes I’ve tried have been a success thanks!
That’s just awesome!! Thank you so much for sharing that with me! I’m all smiles