Extra Easy Banana Bread (2024)

This extra easy banana bread has the best moist texture and amazing flavor thanks to bananas, brown sugar, and butter. You need three ripe bananas for my favorite banana bread recipe.

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I’ve tried a lot of banana bread recipes over the years. Still, I always return to this easy recipe with its incredibly moist texture and rich buttery banana flavor. We love this banana bread recipe so much that we’ve shared a few variations, including this chocolate chip banana bread and a lighter banana bread made with olive oil and less sugar.

So many of our readers have deemed this their forever banana bread. Our recipe below makes 1 loaf, but to be honest, whenever I make it, I double everything for 2 loaves. Then, I keep the second loaf in the freezer for another day (I’ve provided freezing instructions below).

Key ingredients for banana bread

• Bananas:For the best banana bread, use over-ripe bananas. I’m talking brown and speckled bananas. They are sweeter and make the baked bread soft and moist. I have shared tips for quickly ripening bananas below.
• All-purpose flour:I like the texture of AP flour, but this recipe works with whole wheat or white whole wheat flour (whole wheat makes the bread a bit denser). A few readers have used 1:1 gluten-free flour in our recipe with success.
• Baking soda:Helps the bread rise and brown.
• Salt, vanilla extract, & cinnamon:Add flavor to our banana bread and make it taste amazing.
• Butter:Makes the best banana bread! It adds a buttery flavor to the baked bread. We use olive oil when making lighter banana bread, which I love, but I still give the edge to butter on taste.
• Brown sugar:Keeps our quick bread flavorful and moist. You can swap other sugars, but the texture of the bread may change.
• Eggsprovide structure and stability to the bread. We use two eggs. To make this recipe egg-free, use 2 flax eggs or aquafaba.

How to make banana bread

We call this easy banana bread for a reason. It’s so simple to put together. To start, whisk together your dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.

Toss your ripe bananas into a bowl and mash them with a fork. There’s no need for a stand or electric mixer when mashing bananas, especially if they are nice and ripe.

When the bananas resemble a chunky paste, whisk in melted butter (yum), brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla extract. These are all of the ingredients that make our banana bread so moist and delicious. I love the brown sugar and butter combination. We use the same ingredients when making banana muffins and banana pancakes.

Fold in the dry ingredients until you no longer see streaks of flour, and then add extras like chocolate chips or nuts. I’m adding walnuts to the banana bread batter in the photos. They are optional!

Bake banana bread in a preheated 350 °F oven until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean, usually taking 55 to 65 minutes.

How to tell banana bread is done

Bake banana bread until the top is golden brown, and a thin knife (like a pairing knife) inserted into the center comes out clean. If you have an internal thermometer, you can check the temperature by inserting it into the center, and it should read between 200°F and 205°F.

Ripening bananas quickly

• Ready in 1 to 2 days:If you can wait a day or two, throw the unripe bananas into a brown paper bag. Bananas release ethylene (a ripening hormone). After a day or two, they should be ripe enough for banana bread. If you place the bag in a warmer area of your home, the process will go even quicker.
• Ready today:Try baking them in their peel to speed up banana ripening. This method works best when the bananas have already started to ripen and are not green. To do this, place unpeeled bananas on a baking sheet and bake them in a 300 °F oven until they become shiny and black, usually taking 15 to 30 minutes. Don’t worry if some banana flesh or juices leak out during baking. After baking, let them cool in their peel before using them in our recipe.

More tips

Promote even baking:Grease your loaf pan and place the pan on an insulated baking sheet, or use two regular baking sheets stacked on each other. We picked this trick up years ago from Dori Greenspan. The insulated sheet (or two baking sheets on top of each other) helps the bottom of the bread bake evenly.

Cool banana bread before slicing:Since the loaf continues to cook as it cools, it is best to allow it to cool to room temperature. I cool the bread in the pan for 5 to 10 minutes before turning it onto a wire rack where it can cool completely.

Storing tips

• Room temperature:Wrap banana bread or place it into an airtight container and store it for up to 3 days.
• Refrigerator:Wrap individual slices or the entire loaf (place them into an airtight container) and store them in the fridge for up to a week.
• Freezer:Double wrap with one layer of plastic wrap and one layer of aluminum foil, then freeze for up to 6 months. Freeze whole loaves or individual slices. Thaw on the counter for a few hours, remove the plastic wrap, rewrap with foil, and then bake in an oven preheated to 350 °F. You can also reheat in the microwave, but remove the plastic wrap and foil before microwaving.

Extra Easy Banana Bread

This is our favorite banana bread recipe. It’s so good that you’ll want to make two loaves. For the best moist banana bread, your bananas need to be ripe. It is even better if they are overripe, brown, and speckled.

Makes 1 loaf, approximately 10 slices

Nutrition Per Serving Serving Size 1 slice / Calories 254 / Total Fat 10.5g / Saturated Fat 6.1g / Cholesterol 61.6mg / Sodium 276.2mg / Carbohydrate 37.4g / Dietary Fiber 1.5g / Total Sugars 19g / Protein 3.7g

AUTHOR: Adam and Joanne Gallagher