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.
Came out quite lovely just added a little less sugar. May have been my best banana bread ever. I added a handful of raisins and my favorite chocolate bar
That’s wonderful, Lisa! I’m so glad you loved it.
I do not have unsalted butter on hand. Would it be bad to use regular butter or even margarine? I do not want to try it if you think it would make it taste bad.
Hi Becky! It could be a little salty. It will still work, just omit the remainder of the salt called for in the recipe.
Hi
Great recipe I used GF flour and added some chocolate chips on the top before cooking.
Thanks for recipe
You’re welcome, Joy. Great to hear that you loved ethis recipe with GF Flour too!
Hi! I was wondering if brown sugar could be used in this recipe?
Hi Jessica! I haven’t tested it myself. It should work but it will change tne flavor and texture a bit.
HI! From experience, brown sugar in loaf recipes should not be used unless called for. The reason? -Because of the density (brown sugar has more molasses as it isn’t as refined as white…) it comes out heavier and more easily burnt. I made this recipe and added 1/2 cup coconut to mix plus 1/2 c pver top in the final 15 minutes of baking. -Wonderful recipe!
I have six bananas begging for me to try this recipe out! I’d rather make them into muffins for a quick morning snack my fiance can grab on the way out as he never gets up early enough to have a real breakfast haha. Would you cut the baking time down in this case?
Hi Katie! Yes, you can reference my banana muffin recipe for that.
My husband loves Banana Bread! Tried several- not quite what I expected. This one is delightful! I used allulose instead of sugar, worked great.
Roasted walnuts- tried to not eat them! I think we buy bananas just for bread making. 🥰🥰
I’m so glad it was a hit! Thank you for the feedback!
I love a good moist banana nut bread. This was anything but.
Way too dense and not really as moist as I expected. I wanted to try out a new version. But dissatisfied 😒 Will keep using my original one.
Hi Diane! I’m sorry to hear that. This recipe has been tested and proven with thousands of 5-star reviews. Dense and dry bread has not been my experience when making this according to the instructions. Dense bread can be due to over-mixing the batter causing it to become dense and gummy. Dense and dry bread could also be due to using too much flour or over-baking. Did you spoon your flour into your measuring cup? Watch my tutorial on how to measure ingredients. I’m glad that you have a recipe you like but I hope this helps if you decide to try again.
Well, I have been baking, for years…Not consistently, as I cook far more than bake, BUT spooning the flour into the measuring cup IS a game changer! Scooping it, was how I was shown when I watched my mom. Now I understand, why my baked goods were not quite as moist as I expected. Thank you so much, for the expert tip!!
Hi Diana! You’re very welcome. It’s so true, total game changer in baking.
It’s so much easier to use metric. Cups just isn’t precise
Thank you for sharing that with us, Paddy. If it helps, you can scroll down to our printable recipe card, most of our recipes have a metric conversion option on the printable recipe card. We are currently working on adding metric measurements to all of our recipes, but it is taking some time to add them one at a time. Thank you so much for being patient! In the meantime, check out our post on measuring which should help.
The banana bread was a hit at our house. I also took some to friends and they loved it as well.
That’s wonderful, Sharon!
I loved this recipe!! 🙂 it did come out very moist and it’s excellent with chocolate chips! Thank you
So glad you loved it, Isabella!
Sooo delicious!!! We also made it with dried cranberries and chocolate chips!! Super yummy 🙂
I’m so glad you loved the recipe, Yelena!
best! soo delicious. I left out the raisins & did add the walnuts, very moist, not too sweet either.
That’s wonderful to hear, Susan! I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Thanks! Not a fan of raisins, so i was wondering how it would be without them!
Hi Ann! It’s very versatile and can be made without the raisins, or you could sub in another drier fruit like cranberries or cherries. You can also use chocolate chips.
This recipe is so easy! Just made my banana bread in 4 small loaves without nuts, just raisins, baked to perfection in 20 minutes at 350. It is a little bit sweeter than I expected without the nuts to balance, but still deliciously moist.
I’m a novice baker, dabbling here and there.
That’s great to hear. Thank you for the feedback!
Can you use pecans in this recipe instead of walnuts?
The bread looks so delicious and moist,so glad I came across this recipe… Thank you
Yes, you sure can!
Turned out amazing and was gone within the day! Substituted chocolate chips in place of the raisins(ok, maybe double the amount of chocolate chips, but shhhh!) and kept everything else the same.
So glad you loved it, Bri! Thank you for sharing.
This is, hands down, the best banana bread I’ve ever tasted in my life! It’s not dense, it’s light and moist. The only alteration I made was adding 1/2 tsp of pumpkin pie spice. It gave it just a touch of autumn flavour. Also, I know this recipe is for one loaf, but I split it into two, since self-control over something delicious is not my strong point. Now I don’t have to feel so bad admitting I polished off a quarter of a loaf in just a few hours. I can’t believe how good it is!
Hi Wendy! That’s great. Thanks so much for sharing. I’m so glad you loved it.
OMG! made this delish bananna bread last night! This morning I’m making muffins (cuz I still have bananas left over) good excuse anway! Make this yall!!!
Hi Joni! I’m so glad you loved it. Thank you for the feedback.
55-60 minutes, cook time is to long, it should be 45 minutes. 55-60 minutes makes it dry. The time, should be revisited.
Hi Diane! We’ve had great success with this recipe and so many great reviews from other who have tried it. Was your pan size larger, causing the batter to be laid out thinner? Dry banana bread could be due to a few other things. Be sure to measure your flour correctly. I have a tutorial on how to measure ingredients .
And I highly recommend using an internal oven thermometer (affiliate link) to see if your oven is heating correctly. I hope that helps.
Sometimes it can be because of the elevation that causes the difference in baking.
However, if Natasha has not heard anything on that, then it probably isn’t the issue.
I’m making it now and will give a report on how it turned out.
With a professional oven and extra thermometer inside to verify, 55 minutes was perfect. You might need to calibrate your oven if it overcooked.
I was disappointed. Was so careful not to over bake and it was dry. Good flavor but dry…won’t be making this recipe again. 😒
Hi Susan! This recipe has been tested and proven with thousands of 5-star reviews. Being dry has never been our experience when followed correctly. Dry bread is a result of over baking or using too much flour. Be sure to either weigh your flour or fluff it with fork and add it to your measuring cup spoon by spoon. Do not scoop it out or you will end up with too much. I’ve attached my tutorial on How to measure ingredients . I hope that helps.
Made this last week. I omitted the raisins (because ewww lol) and I omitted the nuts (only because I didn’t have any) and
I sprinkled brown sugar on the top before cooking and my son absolutely DEVOURED this. Sooooo yummy.
That’s just awesome! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review, Smithee!
Can I make this recipe in a 9×13 pan? If so, how long should I cook it? Thanks!
Hi Valerie, I haven’t tried this recipe in that size pan, but I recommend using THIS Adapt Baking Recipes to Fit Different Pan Sizes Guide.
Id like to use my bunt pan but it is not in the conversion chart.
I just used Pyrex bread pan for my pumpkin bread. It looked great out of oven, toothpick clean then became gooey in middle.
Now I don’t want to mess up my banana bread.
Would bunt pan have same time to bake?
I have never been much of a baker☹️
Hi Paula! I think that would depend on the size of the Bundt pan used. Sorry, I don’t have it tested in different size pans to advise on the baking times.