Easy Banana Bread (Classic Banana Bread) - Bread Dad (2024)

This quick & easy banana bread recipe tastes delicious and is just like grandma’s old fashioned classic banana bread. It takes only 10 minutes or so to make this moist banana bread before putting it in the oven. In addition, this recipe only uses simple ingredients such as flour, butter, eggs, sugar… and of course, RIPE bananas.

The key to great banana bread is RIPE bananas! Not green bananas. Not even perfectly yellow bananas. The best bananas (for banana bread) are those bananas that are soft and have lots of small black & brown spots on the yellow banana peel. Hard unripe green or yellow bananas have too much starch and are not very flavorful. In contrast, ripe bananas are sweeter, softer and have much more delicious banana flavor. Therefore, the best tasting banana breads are made with ripe bananas!!

Quick & Easy Banana Bread – Delicious!!

As you probably know, banana bread is a type of “quick bread”. Quick breads use baking soda and/or baking powder to rise versus using yeast. Because quick breads rely on baking soda/powder, they rise more quickly than yeast breads. Most banana breads need only 65-70 minutes or so in the oven before they have risen & are fully cooked. Therefore, great tasting & moist banana breads are easy AND relatively quick to make! They are a perfect dessert or lunch snack.

Key Ingredient – Ripe Bananas

FYI – This easy banana bread recipe takes me about 10-15 minutes to prepare and clean up. Please be aware that this is an oven-baked banana bread recipe. It is not made with a bread machine.

Ingredients – Easy Banana Bread Recipe (Classic Banana Bread)

• 3 – Bananas (RIPE & large sized) – 345 grams – Use exactly 1 1/2 cups of mashed ripe bananas for the best results.
• 8 Tablespoons – Unsalted Butter (softened) – 115 grams
• 2 – Large Eggs – 114 grams – Not extra large or jumbo eggs.
• 1 Cup – White Granulated Sugar – 200 grams – If you want a slightly “richer” taste, you should use 1/2 cup of light brown sugar & 1/2 cup of white granulated sugar.
• 2 Cups – All Purpose Flour – 240 grams
• 1 Teaspoon – Vanilla Extract – 5 milliliters
• 1 Teaspoon – Baking Soda – 5 grams
• 1 Teaspoon – Baking Powder – 4 grams
• 1/2 Teaspoon – Salt – 3 grams
• Optional – 1 Cup – Chocolate Chips, Fresh Blueberries, Chopped Walnuts or Chopped Pecans

Servings – Roughly 12 slices

Equipment Needed– Measuring cup & spoons, mixing bowl, long wooden spoon, 9 by 5 metal bread pan, oven mitts, silicon spatula, cooling rack and an oven.

Instructions – Easy Banana Bread Recipe (Classic Banana Bread)

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
• Mash bananas with a fork.
• Soften butter in a microwave. FYI – I semi-melt the butter for better mixability.
• Stir bananas, butter, eggs & sugar together in a large mixing bowl. Mix until fully blended.
• Mix in the remaining ingredients. Stir until the batter is fully mixed.
• Optional – If you want to enhance this “basic” easy banana bread, you can stir in 1 cup of your family’s favorite dessert ingredient (i.e. chocolate chips or chopped walnuts) after you have mixed the batter.
• Pour the finished batter into a nonstick bread pan. Smooth out the top of the batter within the bread pan.
• Bake in the oven for 65-70 minutes at 325 degrees F or until golden brown.
• Take out of oven and let the banana bread cool down in the bread pan for 10 minutes. Use oven mitts. Do not remove the banana bread from the bread pan during this 10 minute cool down period.
• After 10 minutes, remove the banana bread from the bread pan. Place the banana bread on a cooling rack in order to completely cool. This cool down may take 1-2 hours.
• Please read the tips section below for extra information on how to make this recipe successfully & to avoid common banana bread problems.

If you liked this recipe, please leave a comment below & give us a 5 star rating. It is ALWAYS fantastic to hear from someone who has enjoyed our recipes!Jump to comment section

Other Bread Dad Sections

• Bread Machine Cookbooks
• Bread Machines – My favorites!
• Bread Mixes – Buttermilk, rye, sourdough, French, etc.
• Bread Tools – Bread slicers, etc.

Tips – Easy Banana Bread Recipe (Classic Banana Bread)

• The tips below are designed to help banana bread “novices” and/or people with limited baking experience.
• Click on our “print recipe” link if you want to print out this recipe. It includes all of the recipe’s ingredients and instructions. However, the recipe print function does not include our tips section. Please read the tips section in order to avoid common recipe problems.
• This recipe is part of Bread Dad’s series on easy Banana Bread Recipes such as no butter banana bread, blueberry banana bread and chocolate chip banana bread.

• Use RIPE bananas for the best taste. Ripe bananas are soft and the exterior peel is yellow with many small black & brown spots. Hard yellow/green(ish) unripe bananas are too starchy and have much less banana flavor. FYI – Beautiful pure yellow bananas are not fully ripe!
• If you use UNRIPE bananas, your banana bread will taste bland!!!
• Make sure to use 3 large bananas (not 3 medium bananas). Otherwise, this easy banana bread might turn out to be a little dry.
• To reduce errors (i.e. potential moisture variability) when making this recipe, you should use EXACTLY 1 1/2 cups of mashed bananas. This will help prevent banana bread problems (i.e. the banana bread being too dry or too wet).

• Emergency tip – If you have less than 1 1/2 cups of mashed bananas, you can add a little milk to the measuring cup until you reach the 1 1/2 cup level.
• FYI – In general, 3 medium-sized bananas equal roughly 1 to 1 1/4 cups of mashed bananas (not sliced bananas). 3 large-sized bananas equal roughly 1 1/3 to 1 2/3 cups of mashed bananas (not sliced bananas). Of course, banana sizes can vary greatly… and my version of medium and large-sized bananas may differ from yours!
• Emergency Tip 2 – If your bananas are not fully ripe, you can add 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon to this recipe. The use of unripe bananas results in a bland banana bread and the cinnamon helps to combat this “blandness”.

• Visitors – What do you like to add to banana bread in order to make it even better or special? Do you add chopped nuts, chocolate chips, ground cinnamon, add a glaze topping, etc.? Please post your banana bread tips & variations in the comment box below. Your banana bread suggestions & comments are a great help to beginning bakers.
• Optional – You can easily turn this easy banana bread into a banana nut bread by adding 1 cup of chopped walnuts or chopped pecans.
• Optional – Instead of chopped nuts, you also can “enhance” this easy banana bread by adding 1 cup of your family’s favorite dessert ingredient such as chocolate chips, blueberries, golden raisins, cranberries, etc.

• Optional – If you have run out of butter or you are trying to reduce the saturated fat in your family’s diet, you might like to try our No Butter Banana Bread. It is very similar to this recipe… but the main difference is that it uses vegetable oil instead of butter.
• Optional – If you want your banana bread to have a slightly “richer” taste, you should use 1/2 cup of light brown sugar & 1/2 cup of white granulated sugar.
• Optional – Some people like to add spices (i.e. cinnamon, nutmeg, etc.) to their banana breads. As I stated in the “emergency tip 2” above, you can add 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon to this recipe (especially if your bananas are not fully ripe).

• Use FRESH ingredients (i.e. baking soda and flour) for the best results. For example, if you use stale baking soda and/or baking powder, your banana bread will not rise properly and will be too dense. Baking soda & powder is best if used within 6 months of opening the container. Using baking soda from an open container (that has been deodorizing your refrigerator for months) may lead to subpar results. Old & hard baking soda/powder may lead to rising problems and/or leave small bitter clumps in your banana bread.
• Try to keep your ingredients (i.e. flour) in airtight food containers in order to extend their shelf life and avoid spoilage (i.e. exposure to moisture, pests and dust).
• Do NOT use an electric mixer to mix your ingredients (when combining the wet and dry ingredients). Stick to an old fashioned wooden spoon. An electric mixer can overmix the ingredients and the banana bread will turn out rubbery & gummy.

• This doesn’t happen often but if the top of the banana bread looks too moist or under cooked, you should try the “toothpick test”. Gently push a toothpick into the top of the bread and see if any batter sticks to the toothpick. If batter is sticking to the toothpick then it hasn’t completely cooked. Place the bread pan back into the still hot oven for another 2 or 3 minutes. Make sure to wear oven gloves because the bread pan will be very hot. After the 2 or 3 minutes, remove the bread pan and test the banana bread again with a tooth pick.
• Instead of the “toothpick test”, some people like to use a bread thermometer to test if their banana bread is done. Generally, a “quick bread” (i.e. banana bread or pumpkin bread) is done when the internal temperature reaches 200-205 degrees F. Just make sure to measure the temperature in the center of the loaf for the most accurate reading.
• Make sure that your oven has been completely preheated. If the oven has not been properly preheated, this banana bread could come out undercooked. Use an oven thermometer (that hangs inside the oven) to check the interior oven temperature.

• Please use the suggested 9 x 5 bread pan to make this recipe. If you start using different sized pans, there is a greater potential for bread top collapses (potentially less bread pan “wall” support for the quick bread as it rises), different interior batter to exterior bread ratios (thus the need for different baking time lengths), smaller pans are more likely to overflow, etc.
• My recipes are based on using a metal bread pan and NOT a glass bread pan. Glass bread pans bake faster than metal bread pans. If you use a glass bread pan for my recipes, you are more likely to overbake your banana bread (i.e. burnt crust).
• My recipes are based on using a regular oven and NOT a convection oven. Convection ovens bake faster than regular ovens and require less baking time than what is stated in my recipes.
• Place your banana bread in the middle of your oven. If you place it on the top or bottom racks, the banana bread may be too near the oven’s heating element and bake faster than expected.

• Optional – To prevent your banana bread from sticking to the bottom of the bread pan (especially if you are using “sticky” ingredients such as chocolate chips or fresh cranberries), you should consider either “greasing” the bottom of the pan with butter or vegetable oil, using a cooking spray, using a nonstick bread pan or lining the interior of the bread pan with baking parchment paper.
• Baking parchment is probably the safest method for preventing sticking problems. It also allows you to lift the banana bread out of the pan without disturbing the top of the banana bread… in case you have added any special ingredients (such as chopped nuts or chocolate chips) to the top of the banana bread. FYI – Baking parchment paper is NOT regular paper. It is a specialty paper designed for use with baking. For more information, you might like to read this Wikipedia article.
• Long-term storage – If you want to keep your banana bread for more than 1-2 days, you will need to freeze it. Please read Bread Dad’s How To Freeze Banana Bread for more details.
• Problem with sinking middles? Then check out my Why Does My Banana Bread Sink In The Middle? page for reasons & potential solutions.

• If you have a problem with a banana bread recipe, please make sure that you are following the recipe exactly (i.e. using the correct oven temperature), using the correct amounts of ingredients (i.e. don’t eyeball the measurements versus using a measuring cup or accidentally add a tablespoon when a teaspoon is called for), using the correct ingredients (i.e. baking soda/powder versus yeast or all purpose flour versus bread flour), etc. Please don’t “wing” things with recipes.
• My recipes are based on US ingredient measurements (i.e. US cups & tablespoons). However, as a courtesy to our European visitors, I have also included some very ROUGH European equivalents (i.e. grams & milliliters). Since I rarely use European measurements when baking, please let me know in the comment section below if any of the European ingredient measurements need to be changed (i.e. for XYZ ingredient, milliliters are more commonly used versus the grams information listed in the recipe).
• Always wear oven mitts/gloves when dealing with a hot oven and bread pan.
• For more delicious banana bread recipes (i.e. cranberry banana bread or blueberry banana bread), please visit Bread Dad’s sections on easy Banana Bread Recipes.

If you liked this recipe, please leave a comment below & give us a 5 star rating. It is ALWAYS great to hear from someone who has enjoyed our recipes!! Jump to comment section

Missing Ingredients To Make This Recipe?

• Visit Bread Dad’s Ingredient Section for yeast, flour, oats, multigrain, etc.

Other Bread Dad Sections

• Bread Machines – My favorites!
• Bread Machine Cookbooks
• Bread Mixes – Buttermilk, rye, sourdough, French, etc.
• Bread Tools – Bread slicers, baguette pans, ingredient containers, etc.

Easy Banana Bread Recipe – Questions

What is banana bread?

Banana bread is a type of sweet “quick bread” focused on the wonderful taste of bananas. It is much more similar to a muffin or cake than a sandwich-type bread. You can make many different banana bread variations including Blueberry Banana Bread, Brown Sugar Banana Bread, Cranberry Banana Bread, Chocolate Chip Banana Bread, No Butter Banana Bread, Vegan Banana Bread, Walnut Banana Bread & many more. Banana breads are perfect as a snack, breakfast treat or lunch/dinner dessert.

Banana bread and other sweet quick bread recipes generally use baking soda and/or baking powder as a leavening agent (which helps the banana bread to rise). Banana breads do not use slow rising bread yeast as a leavening agent (unlike regular sandwich type breads).

Can I make banana bread without butter?

Yes, you can make banana bread without butter. You just need to substitute vegetable oil for the butter. They are almost equal substitutes. For example, 1 tablespoon of butter equals 3/4 to 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil (depending on the oil used). In addition, when making banana bread, you should use a neutral flavored vegetable oil (i.e. corn or canola oil). Strongly flavored vegetable oils can negatively impact the flavor of banana breads.

Many people like to make “no butter” banana breads because they have run out of butter, they want to use a cheaper alternative to butter or they are trying to reduce the saturated fat in their diet. Therefore, if you are looking for a classic banana bread recipe made without butter, you should try our easy Banana Bread with Oil recipe.

I want to make my banana bread special. What other ingredients can I add to banana bread?

You can add a ton of different ingredients to a classic banana bread recipe in order to make it special & a hit with your family. Some common ingredients that people like to add to basic banana bread include blueberries, chocolate chips, cranberries, chopped walnuts, peanut butter, butterscotch chips, etc. If you would like to see recipes for a wide variety of moist banana breads with lots of different flavors, you should visit our section on Easy Banana Bread Variations.

My grandmother made banana bread with walnuts. Do you have a recipe for a classic banana bread with walnuts?

If you are looking for an old fashioned banana bread with walnuts, you should try our Walnut Banana Bread recipe. It is delicious and easy to make. In contrast, the recipe on this page is for a classic banana bread without nuts and is for people who dislike nuts or who have a nut allergy.

Is banana bread a type of quick bread?

Yes, banana bread is a type of sweet quick bread. In the United States, quick breads are breads that use faster rising baking soda/powder and do not use slower rising bread yeasts. Other types of quick breads include beer bread, carrot bread, cornbread, etc. Check out our Quick Bread Recipes section for many different sweet quick bread recipes.

I have run out of bananas. Can I make a similar type of quick bread dessert?

If you have run out of bananas and can’t easily get to the store, you can make an applesauce bread. An applesauce bread tastes very similar to banana bread. It just has a mild apple flavor versus a banana flavor. Moreover, an applesauce bread uses most of the same ingredients as a banana bread (well except the bananas!). You can also easily add your family’s favorite dessert ingredient (i.e. chocolate chips or blueberries) in order to “enhance” your applesauce bread and make it a special treat.

Can I make muffins from banana bread recipes?

Yes. It is very easy to make muffins from banana bread recipes. You are essentially taking the banana bread batter, pouring/scooping it into muffin trays and creating banana bread muffins. Check out our Easy Muffin Recipes section for many great banana bread muffin ideas (such as our Blueberry Banana Muffins, Cranberry Banana Muffins, Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Muffins and No Butter Banana Muffins).

What other fruit can I add to banana bread?

Besides bananas, you can add a huge variety of fruit to banana bread. For example, you can add fresh fruit such as blueberries, cranberries, strawberries, etc. You can also add dried fruit such as golden raisins, dried cranberries, etc. You can also mix & match! Anyone for blueberry & cranberry banana bread?!!

If you liked this recipe, please leave a comment below & give us a 5 star rating. It is ALWAYS great to hear from someone who has enjoyed our recipes!! Jump to comment section

Reference Sources

• Wikipedia, Banana
• Wikipedia, Banana Bread

Related Recipes

• Bread Machine – Banana Bread
• No Butter Banana Bread
• No Egg Banana Bread
• 2 Banana Bread
• 4 Banana Bread
• Vegan Banana Bread

Please leave a comment & recipe in the comment box below.