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 been following you from nearly the beginning and you are just as wonderful talented and delightful as ever! You have helped me so much! Simply amazing and delicious!!🥰
Thank you so much, Dawn!
Perfect recipe🤌🏽✨ all I did was substitute 1/4 of the granulated sugar for dark brown sugar, and added cinnamon and 3 tbsps of applesauce 🍞♥️
Thanks for sharing, Sierra! I’m so glad you loved it.
This is the best Banana Bread ever!! I’ve tried many and nothing beats this. So easy to make.
I’m so glad you found a favorite on my blog, Rhonda! Thank you so much for sharing that with me.
Raisins and Honey were my subs. Thank you for sharing this all time fav. Sliced and toasted with homemade butter. Heaven is all I can say.
Do you have an estimate on how many cups of mashed banana my bananas should provide? I could not for the life of me get the middle of my loaf to cook all the way through, and I’m wondering if it was because my bananas were too big!
Hi Jeri, for a single batch it is about 1 3/4 cups of mashed bananas
I have never made a banana bread and this is the first recipe I found. I will continue making this one because it’s simply delicious!
Thank you for your good comments and feedback!
Oh. My. Goodness. This is the best banana bread in the world. I have tried sooooo many banana bread recipes and yet nothing compares.. the texture, mouthwateringly moist. The flavor of the banana came through beautifully paired with the chocolate chips I added (measured with my heart). Heck, even the batter was better! AND the measurements were in the method?????? I am going to make this every time we have overripe bananas. In fact, I will buy bananas and not let anyone touch them and say oh! But I am about to eat that one! Oh I wanted to make a smoothie later! Until they are perfect for this bread… everyone will get sick of how often I am going to make this!!!!
Hi Frankie! I’m so glad you found this recipe! It’s our favorite too. Thanks for the wonderful feedback!
it is so so moist it’s insane. best recipe ever, just don’t even think about going to a different recipe for banana bread
Thanks for your awesome feedback!
This is absolutely the best banana bread I’ve ever eaten! I made some for my elderly neighbor, and he loved it and told me I could make it again anytime.
That’s great! Thank you for this wonderful review, Carrie!
Could I use baking powder instead of baking soda, and what will be the amount
Hi Anyi! We’ve had the best results with baking soda. If you want to experiment with baking powder, keep in mind that baking soda is 4 times stronger than baking powder so you’ll need to adjust accordingly.
My family loves this recipe for banana bread. I have made it several times and it just doesn’t last in our house. I’ve had to make substitutions at times when I run low on ingredients, like subbing oil for the butter or using half brown sugar and white sugar but i don’t change any of the measurements and this recipe always comes out great. I’ve made mini loaves and muffins with it too. It’s a no fail and comes out nice and moist every time. We omit the raisins and just use nuts or sometimes chocolate chips. It’s so versatile.
Thanks, Tina. Good to know that your family loves our Banana Bread recipe!
If you want to make banana nut muffins from this recipe what adjustments would you need to make? Thanks!
Hi Karen, please reference my Banana muffins recipe which uses a standard cupcake/muffin pan.
I added some cinnamon… very moist as I added a bit more butter…holy moly delicious!
Great idea, Mark. Thank you so much for sharing that with me.
I made this recipe and it’s delicious! I did add a big spoonful of sour cream and it definitely made it moist exactly how I like it! Thank you!
Thank you so much for sharing that addition with me, Dawn! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
This is my first time making banana nut bread and my husband and I absolutely loved it. It is nice and moist! We were super impressed! I went ahead and used three black bananas and still the same amount of sugar and it was perfect!! Will be making this again for sure!
Kudos to Natasha 😁
That’s great to hear, Sophia! Thanks for the review.
I followed this. recipe too. the letter. But I baked it for only 45 minutes. The flavor is very good, but there is no way I would call this a moist banana bread. Definitely on the dry side. Very disappointed because moistness is so important to me and I’m giving this to a sick friend.
Hi Cheryl! I’m so sorry to hear that. This recipe has always yielded amazing results and it’s one of our most popular recipes with thousands of 5-star reviews. If you followed the recipe as written without substituting any ingredients, the most common reasons for a dry bread would be either using too much flour by not measuring correctly or over baking the bread which can happen if your oven runs hot.
This recipe was written for a conventional oven on regular bake mode. I highly encourage the use of an Internal oven thermometer (Amazon affiliate link) to ensure your oven is calibrated.
If you’re using a convection oven then time/temp would need adjusting as it will bake faster and could dry out. I would also recommend watching my tutorial on How to measure ingredients here. I hope that helps.
It may have just been my oven or pan but 55-60 minutes was too much cook time and it was slightly overcooked. I have a gas range. I am making it again right now and I am going to check it after 45 minutes because even being slightly overcooked it was absolutely delicious. I used chocolate chips instead of nuts and the kids loved it!
Hi Andrea! That’s very possible. Other factors to consider are the type of pan and the material it’s made of which can distribute heat differently effecting the bake time. I would also encourage the use of an Internal oven thermometer (Amazon affiliate link) to ensure your oven is calibrated. I use this for all my baking. I hope that helps!
I love this recipe. But this time I changed it up a little. I left out the raisins. I added chopped mixed nuts as I had some handy, a 1/2 tsp orange flavor, 1/4 cup shredded coconut, 2 tablespoons of real maple syrup, and 1/2 cup more flour. I sprinkled a touch of brown sugar and cinnamon on top before I popped it in the oven. Amazing! Easy recipe to play with.
That sounds great, Rhonda!
Hello, Can this be made in a Bundt pan? Thank you. Turns out great every time.
Hi Anjum! I’m glad you’re loving the recipe. I’m sure it can be but you’ll have to experiment with the quantity of batter needed and baking time.
Absolutely delicious! Substituted All-purpose flour with 1cup 1-1 gluten free baking flour and 1/2 cup almond flour and made it with pecans because I didn’t have walnuts. Yummmmy 🤤
Hi Rhea! Thanks for sharing your experiment with the recipe. That’s great to hear.
I haven’t made this bread yet but I’m planning to tonight. How much honey did your sister use for her bread? Thank you for all of your yummy recipes.
Hi Michele! You can replace it in equal amounts or use less per your preference.