A loaf of banana bread half sliced on a marble surface with a dish of softened butter to the side.

Photo by Chelsea Kyle, food styling by Rhoda Boone

To create our ultimate banana bread recipe, the Epi test kitchen team baked the most popular versions in our archives to determine what made each one so delicious. Then we combined the things we liked about other quick breads into the ideal breakfast loaf: a sweet, nutty, and supremely moist banana bread with a delicate crumb. This is an easy recipe with minimal prep time, so you can go from looking for the best banana bread recipe to eating exceptional banana bread in under 2 hours.

A note about mix-ins: We like banana bread with walnuts, which add a warm, toasty, crunchy textural contrast. If you’re a nut-free household, leave them out. Or, if you prefer pecans, add those to your mixing bowl instead. Into chocolate chip banana bread? Our testers were divided, but ultimately determined that chocolate masked the delicate banana flavor more than we liked. If you swing the other way, add ½ cup chopped semisweet chocolate (or chips) along with or instead of the nuts. Interested in peanut butter banana bread? A pumpkin bread modification? Or recipes made with cream cheese or whole wheat flour? You’ll find those and more in the variations section of this other recipe.

To ensure your homemade banana bread easily pops out of the pan, line the pan with parchment paper: Brush melted butter (or use cooking spray) on the pan to anchor the parchment, secure it with binder clips, then grease and flour the pan as indicated below.

Recipe information

Total Time
95 minutes
Yield
Makes one 9x5” loaf (8–10 servings)

Ingredients

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for pan

1⅔ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pan

4 medium very ripe bananas (about 13 ounces), peeled and mashed

¼ cup sour cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup (packed) dark brown sugar

2 large eggs, at room temperature

½ cup chopped toasted walnuts

Special equipment:

A 9x5" loaf pan

Preparation

Step 1
Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9x5-inch loaf pan with butter and dust with flour, tapping out any excess.
Step 2
Combine mashed banana, sour cream, and vanilla in a medium bowl. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.
Step 3
Using an electric mixer, beat butter and brown sugar on medium speed in another large bowl until light and fluffy, about 3½ minutes. Add eggs one at a time and beat on medium speed until fully combined, about 1 minute each. Add banana mixture and beat until just combined, about 30 seconds. Add dry ingredients in 2 batches, beating on low after each addition and scraping down sides of bowl if necessary, until fully incorporated, about 20 seconds per batch. Fold in walnuts. Transfer batter to prepared loaf pan and smooth top with a spatula.
Step 4
Bake, rotating halfway through, until batter is set, top is dark golden brown and starting to crack, sides are starting to pull away from pan, and a tester inserted into center of bread comes out clean, 60–65 minutes. Cool in pan on a wire rack at least 15 minutes. Run a butter knife around perimeter of pan to loosen loaf, then tap pan gently on its side until loaf releases. Transfer to a cutting board or plate and let cool completely before slicing.
Do Ahead: Banana bread can be baked, cooled, then wrapped in plastic and left at room temperature up to 3 days, or frozen up to 3 months.

Editor’s note: This recipe was originally published March 24, 2015, as Our Favorite Banana Bread Recipe. Head this way for more of our best banana recipes →

Cooks' Note

If you can’t find overripe bananas (they should be riddled with black spots and be very soft) at the store and you don’t have time to wait, you can speed up the process by slow-roasting yellow bananas. Bake the unpeeled bananas on a baking sheet at 250°F until soft and the skins have turned totally black, 15-20 minutes. Let cool before continuing with the recipe.