Homemade Banana Bread Recipe (Video)
Published October 9, 2020. This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
Learn how easy it is to make the most delicious homemade banana bread recipe that is light, fluffy, and nothing short of delicious.
We are huge bread fans in our house, especially when it’s homemade. If you love baking bread then you have to check out my pretzels recipe or my dinner rolls.
Banana Bread
There is nothing like homemade bread, and if you happen to have quite a few bananas on hand then banana bread should be on your baking list. There is no firm date on when it was created but it’s said to be created in Southeast Asia quite a long time ago, i.e. 77 a.d. It is very easy to make and can definitely be made with just a whisk and a bowl, with no need for a stand mixer.
How Ripe do the Bananas Need to Be?
It is debatable how ripe bananas need to be to make banana bread. It seems nowadays that it is made with leftover bananas that have begun to go brown. My personal take is that the bananas definitely need to be ripe, but they do not have to be brown.
With that being said, the browner they become, the more intense in flavor the banana will be, and ultimately your bread. I usually look for bananas to be bright yellow with a few brown spots on them for me to use in this recipe.
How to Make It Moist
The trick to ensuring that your banana bread is moist lies in a few different factors being:
- Fat – You have to have plenty of fat such as butter or oil in banana bread for it to be moist, this is the most important factor.
- Cooking Time – Often times people overcook baked goods and they immediately dry out. I believe if you cook it just to 197° to 198° internally and pulling it out and letting it sit until cool is the perfect recipe for success.
- Over Mixing – Do not over mix this, you want some of those small chunks of ingredients in the batter before baking it.
How to Make Banana Bread from Scratch
Follow these simple instructions for making this amazing banana bread recipe:
In a large bowl completely whisk together the melted butter and sugar until combined.
Next, add in 1 egg at a time until they are completely mixed in.
Pour in the vanilla, oil, and milk into the batter and whisk until mixed in.
Add in the mashed bananas and whisk until combined.
Now, add in the baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon until they are mixed together.
Whisk in the flour and salt just until combined.
Fold in the walnuts into the batter and evenly divide it between two 9×5 greased loaf pans.
Top off with a little mixture of walnuts and brown sugar and bake at 350° for 80-90 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean in the center, or until it reaches 197° to 198°.
Cool in the pan for 20 minutes before slicing and serving.
Variations
There are a few different things you can do to alter the flavor and overall texture of this recipe to make it work for your needs.
- Pecans – Simply swap out the walnuts for pecans in this recipe.
- Gluten-Free Flour – Exchange the current amount of all-purpose flour for 1 to 1 gluten-free flour.
- Almond Flour – Swap out the all-purpose flour for the same amount of almond flour.
Make-Ahead and Storage
Make-Ahead: You can make this banana bread recipe up to 1 day ahead of time.
How to Store: Keep covered at room temperature for up to 3 days or covered and in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. This will freeze well covered for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator until soft.
chef notes + tips
- You can just use oil, or just use milk, or a combination of both like I did in this recipe. Feel free to also swap out the milk for full-fat yogurt.
- You can easily make 24 muffins using this recipe if you prefer banana muffins instead. Bake them for 25-28 minutes.
- In addition to the walnuts in this recipe, you can also add 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips.
More Amazing Bread Recipes
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Video
Homemade Banana Bread Recipe (Video)
Ingredients
- 2 sticks melted unsalted butter
- 1 ¾ cup sugar
- 4 eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- ¼ cup whole milk
- 8 mashed bananas
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- pinch of sea salt
- 1 ½ cups roughly chopped walnuts
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°.
- In a large bowl whisk together the butter and sugar until completely mixed.
- Next, add in 1 egg at a time until mixed in.
- Pour in the vanilla, oil, and milk until combined and then pour in the bananas and mix them in.
- Now, whisk in the baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon until completely mixed together.
- Whisk in the flour and salt until combined and then fold in the walnuts using a rubber spatula.
- Divide the batter between 2 9×5 loaf pans that have been sprayed with nonstick spray.
- This part is optional but mix together ¼ cup of packed light brown sugar with ¼ cup of roughly chopped walnuts and evenly sprinkle it over the top of the bread.
- Bake at 350° for 80-90 minutes or until browned and cooked in the center. If you press a toothpick in the center it should come out relatively clean. In addition, it will have an internal temperature of 198°.
- Remove from the oven and set on a rack and cool for 20 minutes before slicing and serving.
Hi Chef!
February we celebrate our 45th wedding anniversary. And Valentines today!
What do I gift my husband you ask?……
He love homemade banana bread.
So while he is golfing today, he will return to a fresh loaf of your banana bread recipe!
Thank you and Happy Valentines Day to you and yours!
Lived this my two loaves came out perfect
Sine banana varies in size, approximately how many cups of banana should be used?
it’s about 2 cups, but it’s ok if it’s a little more or less as it won’t change the recipe.
Hey Chef Billy Parisi,
This recipe is foolproof. I am no cook, always use less sugar than recipe states, only had two large bananas so I included two large apples, nonetheless excellent results! Delicious. I note there is quite a bit of flexibility re oil/yoghurt etc, and obviously the fruit too. What a useful recipe – cake, loaf, muffins any size … This recipe is a keeper! Thank you,
Nice to know for pancake batter.
Thanks for that
It turns out my “inherited” family recipe is almost exactly like yours! HA! But a a couple of additional tricks I’ve learned over the years takes it over the top: Don’t be in a rush to make the bananas into a baby-food textured mush – absolutely leave some large pieces the size of prunes, almonds and cashews – I usually just use a fork, and just mash it JUST enough to be able to measure it. And secondly, if you wrap the loaf up and leave it sit for a day – the bananas mature – and seem to develop a banana ‘liqueur’ scent/flavor which is divine. Finally – if you can – make your own butter: there’s something about fresh butter on the sliced banana bread that just blows up my brain and I can no longer work for at least an hour or two. Enjoy!!!
DELICIOUS!!
The best! It’s yummy and beautiful!
I have been trying banana bread recipes for a while…. No more this is it! Thank you
Oh! My goodness, this is definitely the best ,I mean the best ever banana bread recipe, congratulations to you,and congratulations to me for being a good student,🤣🤣I wish I could send you a photo, but I have to find out how 🤔 .Please stay safe God bless ❤
Thanks so much for the recipe. How much butter do you put in..Sometimes a stick of butter is 1 cup and the small sticks are 1/2 cup cutter. Please tell me how much cups of butter. Thanks – my bananas are getting too ripe.
Thanks so much, Linda
1/2 cup sticks
Love this recipe. I have looked for a great one for years. When I saw 8 bananas and the butter I knew it would be good.
Can you make without nuts?
yes