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.







This is the worlds greatest banana bread recipe and is so easily tweaked. I always add an extra overripe banana and use vanilla bean paste in place of the vanilla extract. Instead of 3/4 cup sugar I do 1/4 cup white sugar and 1/2 cup brown sugar. Last time I made this recipe I only had one egg, so in place of the second egg I used 1/4cup sour cream (Greek yogurt would work too). P.s. I use salted pecans in my banana bread.
So yummy and easy to follow.
Thanks for the wonderful recipe.
Excellent feedback, Taylor. Thank you for sharing with us! 🙂
You are a fantastic cook I love your attitude and the way you cook please don’t ever stop
Thank you, Mike. That is very kind. 🙂
This is an excellent recipe! I just tried it and rather than a loaf made banana cupcake/muffin shapes. Perfect – Thank you!
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it!
Made this banana bread today and it turned out absolutely delicious. I only used a little less sugar, but other than that, stuck to the ingredients. This is definitely a keeper, and I thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe with the rest of us.
I’m so glad to hear this was a hit! THank you for your review, Valentin!
Literally the first time I’ve made this and it turned out great! Was so anxious to taste it I didn’t take a pic…lol. Thanks for a simple recipe! 😀👍
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us, Elva!
Delicious banana bread.
Thank you for all your delicious recipes.
Thank you! 🙂
Didn’t have walnuts so I used pecans. I used less raisins but added chopped dates too. I use 4 bananas but one was small the other 3 medium and it turned put delicious. Great recipe.
Nice to know that you loved the results, Carol. Thanks for the review!
This was absolutely delicious thank you for sharing .
In the calories where it says per serving is that for the whole loaf or for a piece of it ?
Just wondering how many cals in total
You’re welcome, Mariana. It is per serving, the whole recipe serves 10 so you just divide it to 10.
Hi, does this mean that the entire loaf is 3500 calories? Thanks!
Hi Stacey, yes.
I have made this banana bread recipe over and over and it always turns out the same, very moist and delicious. I recently made 9 loaves at once to give out because of my abundance of bananas in the freezer and everyone loves it. I love the consistency.
Tammy
West Virginia
Hi Tammy! That’s wonderful. I’m so glad to hear that, thank you for sharing.
Such a good recipe! The banana bread was moist and delicious. I omitted the raisins and reduced the sugar but it was still soo good. Thank you 😊
Thank you for your great comments and feedback!
I just made this today. It turned out very moist and sweet. I’ll be using it again for sure. My only adjustment was I used four bananas and added a dash of cinnamon.
Hi Lisa, good to know that you liked the recipe!
add half a cup of molasses to it and use brown sugar. Yummy!
My mum made wonderful banana bread and I’d misplaced the recipe long ago. This is every bit as delicious as I recall. Thank you Natasha!
You’re welcome, good to know that you liked our recipe!
Hi Natasha. I would like to try the recipe, but can I substitute butter with oil to make it healthier and add less sugar? Thank you in advance.
Hi Iryna. One of my other readers commented that they successfully made this with less sugar.
I know that there are many banana recipes that use butter instead of oil. I haven’t tested it in this recipe but feel free to experiment.
Your recipe uses butter. Iryna asked if she could use oil instead of butter. In most recipes for quick breads, oil may be substituted for butter at a 1:1 ratio. Hope this helps.
I haven’t tested that substitution but it should work. Here’s what one of our readers wrote “I made the same recipe but I just replaced the butter with the oil … It is very successful and delicious
Question can you use honey instead of sugar? How much? Love your program and recipes made several of them. Very yummy!
Hi Marilyn. That’s wonderful. So glad you enjoy my recipes. I have not tested this with honey to advise the outcome. If you experiment, please let us know how it turns out. 🙂
I used honey in place on sugar, same amount, and it turned out great!
Thank you so much for sharing that with us, Samantha!
I’ve tried so many recipies but this is the best one. Proved nd loved by my kids. Thanks for sharing.
You’re welcome and I am so glad to hear that!
Hi there, this recipe sounds amazing. I was was just wondering what kind of raisins do you use? Thank you
Hi! Here is the link to the raisins that I used.
nice, turned out super yummy. good dirrections, made it with no problem. put it in my fav recipe collection.
thank you!
That’s wonderful! So glad you enjoyed this recipe.
Absolutely delicious! I do recommend doing 1/2 cup brown sugar and a 1/4 white sugar!
Thanks for your recommendation, Victoria!
Baking time for microwave? That’s all I got time been tough Natasha please help.
Hi, I haven’t tested baking this using a microwave to advise. If you do that as an experiment, please share with us how it goes!
Hi Natasha, I check your site regularly have not made any specific reciopes as yet. I do use the recipes for cooking ideas. for the Banana bread which my wife makes her own recipe she substitutes apple sauce for eggs due to an egg allergy in our family and works great. Have a great day . I enjoy reading your recipes .
Hi! Thank you for sharing. I’m glad they can be helpful to reference.