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.
Had to make banana bread very quickly and this was the first 5 star recipe that popped up. And I’m so glad it did!
Mine took only 20 minutes to bake since I had convection on.. and it’s so yummyyyy ♥️♥️. Even the batter was absolutely delicious! It’s so easy to make too. Can’t wait to make it again. Thank you so much for sharing your method!
I’m so glad you loved it, Myra! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review with me!
The 2 of us just ate 1/3 of this delicious banana bread! And that was after a big dinner. 🙂 We couldn’t wait, it made the house smell so good while it was baking! Lightly floured the raisins so they might not fall to the bottom. The bread slices looked so pretty when cut! Will definitely make this again!! Thank you for the recipe!
The house truly smells so good when baking this bread! I’m so glad you loved this recipe, Susan!
My Go-To banana bread recipe! I tweaked some ingredients like:
1. I only added 1/4 cup of sugar since the bananas are too sweet
2. I only used 1 cup of flour to have it more pudding-like
Thank you for sharing, DJ! 🙂
This recipes looks so good want to make it but I was wondering can you add cream cheese to the recipe if not do you have a recipe for banana cream cheese bread
Hi Lee, I haven’t tested that, but I think it could work. A couple of my readers mentioned in the comments they wanted to add cream cheese to it also, but after trying the recipe as written, they were hooked. Here’s what they had to say: “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…” I hope that’s helpful!
Best banana recipe that I have followed and made. I reduced the sugar to 1/2 cup and added 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon. It turned out delicious!
Glad that you enjoyed it!
Hiii Natasha
I tried banana bread first time it turned out very moist and yummy . My kids loved it .
That’s wonderful! It’s our favorite go-to recipe for banana bread! I’m glad you love it too. Thank you. 🙂
Thanks so much for all the hard work getting us these great recipes. Everyone I’ve made so far has been a smash hit. God bless you all. Helen/Granny
Thank you, Helen! That is very kind. I’m glad this recipe was a hit. Be blessed!
Delicious! Didn’t add the nuts or raisins. Definitely would make again. Thanks for another great recipe!
Thank you for the feedback, Lisa! 🙂
Beautiful recipe! My banana breads almost always have a very dense layer on the bottom of the loaf – about 1 inch high. Any suggestions to stop this from happening? Thank you!
Hi Frannie! I have not had that experience with my recipe. Are you referring to another? If so, I cannot advise without making it myself but if this is happening with my recipe, be sure to measure your ingredients correctly and do not over-mix the batter. I hope that helps!
Can this be made into muffins?? If so how long should I bake for? I just finished making the batter and realized I don’t have a loaf pan… 🤦🏼♀️
Hi Shelby! You can follow this recipe for banana muffins.
Like the 3,000 five-star reviews before me… I have to say, this recipe was a huge hit. It got rave reviews and is now a part of our family recipe book.
Thank you so much.
That’s just awesome! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review, Michelle! This recipe is VERY popular!
Am I blind or does it say how long it’s supposed to baking for…….?????
Ok I found it 😬🙄 its almost Friday apparently I’m trying to rush things.🤪 Stand by for review 😉
Keep an eye on the loaves and do the toothpick check around 25 minutes and see if it needs more time. Good luck! It should work fine 🙂
Hi Natasha
I didn’t had time earlier to post my review on the Banana Bread the recipe is good and your Banana Bread is in demand I have made four times already.
An Excellent Recipe….
Hi Alim, thank you so much for your review. So glad that you enjoyed it!
I made this and added flax seed. It came out delicious and moist! Thank you 😊
Hi Lisa! That’s great to know. Did you make any other adjustments? Or just add flax seed?
I’ve made this a few times and it is always moist and delicious! I use 4 medium size bananas and add chocolate chips instead of nuts or raisins. Followed everything else. Family loves it!
Hi Steve! Thank you for sharing with us. So glad that your family loves it!
I am thinking of making this but here in Asia, we usually have the baby bananas instead. Do you know roughly how many cups the 3 ripe bananas is equal to?
Hi Lisa, unfortunately, I was not able to measure it that way you can try to double it if they’re really small.
Just baked a 12” heart-shaped banana bread with cream cheese and raisins. I doubled the ingredients and turned out amazing… posted it in FB, IG and Twitter with your hashtag.
Thank you for the recipe. My kids and hubby loved it. 🤍
Hi Aurabel! That sounds amazing! I will look for the tag. Thank you for sharing.
Exactly what I was looking for- easy to make and delicious to eat! So mouthwatering and already became my favorite! BTW, I love that you added the ingredients in the recipe, super convenient to follow while reading. Thanks, Natasha!
Hi Natalia! Thank you for the wonderful feedback! So glad you loved it.
This was the best banana bread I’ve ever made/eaten! It was beyond moist! I can’t have nuts & my husband won’t eat raisins, so I put in some chocolate chips, it was delicious. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Hi Mary! That’s great to hear. Thank you for sharing.
Amazing flavour and so so moist without being too heavy. Absolutely delicious!! I used pecans as I was out of walnuts and golden raisins. Yummo!!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Kate! Thank you so much for sharing that with me.
Your website has so many ads and popups that it’s basically unusable. Shame because I would’ve liked to make this recipe, but ads and popups literally covered the text on this page and it took several minutes of closing ads to even get to this comment box.
The only way we can continue providing free recipes is by having ads on our site so we are not able to remove those at this time. We find that most people would rather see the ads than pay to see the recipes. You can also close the ads by clicking x after awhile.I appreciate your feedback and I hope you love every recipe you try.
What I do is block all the information from the title to the end od the recipe. I click on copy then paste it in a text file as UNFORMATTED TEXT. You will have pasted all the text withiout pictures or ads. I look over the document and refer back to the link if something looks wrong.