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.
I’ve made this numerous times and it’s always great! I use pecans and sub raisins with mini chocolate chips. It’s really good!
Thanks for sharing, Pamela. Happy to hear that you always make our Banana Bread Recipe.
Very yummy! I highly recommend checking it at 40 mins. Mine was over cooked at 45 🫠
Hi Mary! I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe!
best Best BEST Banana Bread I’ve ever made. So moist. Perfectly sweet. Seriously. Everyone needs to try this recipe.
That’s so great! It sounds like you have a new favorite, RuthAnn!
Absolutely the BEST banana bread I have ever made!!! Thank you soooo much!!!
You’re super welcome! Great to hear that you loved our Banana Bread recipe, Heather.
Really good bread! (I added apx 1 teas. of cinnamon and a bit more vanilla. My oven baked it in 55 minutes.
It’d be great if the reviews were given after a recipe is made, not before. That’s how we all learn!
Thanks for your review, Barbara. We appreciate it!
So good ! Tried it at my in laws and had to have the recipe. Left out the raisins but was still delicious !!!
Glad that you loved it!
I love all your recipes and your emails. Today I’m making your banana bread. For my sugar I used what I had left of my brown sugar, also brown sugar Swerve, leftover from baking for my friends with diabetes, then granulated for the rest. Should be perfect.
Hi Shery! That’s great. Thank you so much for the feedback. I’m glad you are enjoying the recipes.
All time favorite recipe! A little crispy crust and moist inside! DELICIOUS!
Thank you!
Hi Liz! I’m so glad you love it!
Best recipe ever for banana bread! I bake mine in a non- stick Bundt pan for 45 minutes and it turns out perfectly every time. It makes really nice serving slices.
That’s just awesome! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review, Barbara!
It’s delicious! I’ve made this several times and everyone loves it! How much is a serving?
Hi Allison! So glad you loved the recipe. The servings are listed at the top of the recipe card, it serves 10. The nutrition facts is per each slice.
This was super easy to make but I’m glad I set the timer for 45 minutes because this almost dried out! Fingers crossed that it tastes good, trying tomorrow. 👍
Hi Erika! I hope you love this banana bread as much as we do! I highly encourage the use of an internal oven thermometer (affiliate link) to make sure your oven is calibrated and that you don’t over bake it.
What would you change the time to for cupcake pans ? Children want to have their own bite sized.
Hi Jay! You can reference my banana muffins recipe.
Have made banana bread using several recipes in the past with no issues. As others have stated, this one wasn’t very banana-y at all. It’s not the bananas – I taste checked them and they’re super sweet. I do believe we need more sugar, or even brown sugar, as other recipes have called for. Also 350 at 55 min was too long. (Oven calibrated perfectly fine – no issues with any other baking recipes). 40 min was plenty of time at 350 degrees.
It may be personal preference – perhaps all these 5 star reviews are by those that aren’t looking for anything super sweet. But where I’m brought up at, banana bread is sweet like cake.
I’ll definitely be going back to the other recipes!
Added 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp fresh grated nutmeg, and added an additional 1/2 tsp of vanilla. Left out the raisons. Loved it!! Thank you so much. I will be making this again. The consistency is perfect. Not too wet or dry. So many banana breads are soggy. The sweetness is also perfect. Just the right amount of butter.
Thanks for sharing, Danielle. Great to hear that you enjoyed the result!
Absolutely delicious! I made it without raisins because I didn’t have any. I will definitely be using this recipe from now on. Thank you!
You’re welcome! Thanks a lot for your good comments and feedback.
My husband loved this. He hates everything. I will keep this recipe forever!!!!! Thanks!!!!
Aaaw that’s really awesome! I’m so glad!
I baked this today due to all of the great reviews and everyone who had a slice LOVED it!! I ditched my old recipe and will be using this from now on! Thank you for sharing 😋
That’s awesome! Thank you for trying my recipe. I’m so glad you loved it.
The bread is in the oven. I’ll be sharing with associates at the Mosque today, maybe tomorrow and Saturday. We have so many bananas. Will let you know how things turned out. It’s smelling good. First time the walnuts were cooked. Ten more minutes, well actually 20, and I get to dig in!!!!
I hope it becomes a hit!
This was fantastic. Super easy to follow and perfectly moist and delicious! I threw in a little cinnamon for personal taste, couldn’t use walnuts because I have a picky eater as well, but still a wonderful recipe. I am just confused on what the serving size is as far as the nutrition information. I love that it’s customizable by servings as far as ingredients but what exactly is the service size for this?
Hi Laura! I’m glad it was enjoyed!
The number of servings is at the top of the recipe card, it serves 10 slices. So the nutrition facts are for one slice. I hope that helps.
Tried the exact recipe and turned out amazing. I have always been skeptical about using bananas but this was just perfect moist , fluffy banana bread.
Will be trying the healthier version with whole wheat!. Haven’t read any reviews on that though.
Thanks a ton 😊
Hi Amina! I’m glad you love the recipe. See my notes above, “Substitutions for a Healthy Banana Bread.”
Excellent recipe!
I was down to my last 4 tbsp of butter in the house so I subbed the other 4 for coconut oil. I added 1 tsp cinnamon. It was awesome!
That’s great, Cass! Thank you for the feedback.
Hi I’m a chef working in Yorkshire England, I’d like to try your recipe but here we work in both metric and imperial measurements for accuracy how could I convert these measurements accurately thanks for any help 👨🍳
Hi Paul! Yes, you can click on “metric” in the recipe card and it will convert the ingredient list for you.
Absolutely delicious. This is the only banana bread recipe I will use.
I subbed chocolate chips for raisins as personal preference, and Wow! Thanks for sharing this recipe!
I’m so glad you love it, Jade. Thank you for the feedback!
Oh, myyy! Very nice! Great recipe Natasha, thanks for sharing!
Made a couple alterations to fit my taste; subbed the raisins with chopped moist dates! Used brown sugar and honey. Added a pinch of nutmeg and cinnamon. And a splash of rum extract! Hehe. Delish!
Hi Nat! I’m glad you loved the recipe. Thank you for sharing that with us.
You’re very welcome, Natasha! 😊
I made it again yesterday. Fantastic! Gave a loaf to my mom, who doesn’t care for banana bread, but tried a slice and loved it! Win.
Took a couple slices, dipped them in egg, and made French toast with them! A slathering of homemade strawberry jam and sliced banana… omg 😵
That sounds so good!