5 Banana Bread Recipes and Tips for a Moist Loaf

Thank you for your fantastic recipe. This is literally the best banana bread I've ever had. It's light and chewy, but still moist even if I slightly over baked it. (I think my temperature was a little bit too high and I was using a dark pan.) My dog loved it, too!

If anyone has a really good banana bread recipe, please share! I tried making banana bread the other day, but the recipe I used called for an exorbitant amount of bananas and was as dense as a brick lol... so to say the least, it was not a success.

Sounds like we need to have an banana bread bake-off! Winner gets crowned banana bread king or queen and gets to be the official banana bread recipe!

Edit: Better idea. Start an cookbook that's featured in the wiki. The banana bread winner can be the first recipe added to it.

You’re just gonna say that here and not share the recipe??? Rude! XD

BANANA BREAD

2 cups (240g) AP flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp kosher salt

¼ tsp nutmeg

2 eggs

¾ cup (150g) white or brown sugar (I do half white, half brown)

½ cup (100g) neutral oil

¼ cup (56g) sour cream, greek yogurt, or buttermilk

1 tsp vanilla

1-1 ½ cups (250-350g) overripe bananas (2-3 bananas), mashed to purée texture

optional: 1-2 cups chocolate chips, chopped toasted pecans or walnuts, and/or chopped dried fruit (raisins, dates, apricots, etc.)   

To make buttermilk: 1 Tbsp of white vinegar or lemon juice in a measuring cup. Fill with milk to 1 cup. Stir and let sit 10 minutes to thicken and curdle.

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Grease (or line with parchment paper sling) a 9x5” loaf pan. (If toasting nuts: Arrange nuts in single layer on a baking sheet. Toast in preheated oven 5-8 minutes.)
2. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, spices. Set aside.
3. In a separate bowl, vigorously whisk together eggs and sugar until smooth and lightened in color, 2 minutes. Drizzle in oil while whisking to emulsify. Whisk in sour cream and vanilla, then mashed bananas, until fully incorporated.
4. Mix wet into dry with a spatula until just barely combined (stop as soon as no more dry streaks). Do not over mix.
5. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 55-65 minutes until top is cracked and deep golden brown, and a knife inserted into the center comes out with only a few moist crumbs. Start checking at 55 minutes, then in 5-minute intervals. If edges start getting too dark, cover top loosely with foil.
6. Let cool in pan 10 minutes, then tip out to remove. (You can leave it in the pan, but you might get a soggy bottom.) Wait at least 30 minutes before slicing—if you slice too early, it will release steam and dry out loaf. Ideally, leave overnight and slice for breakfast the next day.

NOTES

• Bananas: Mash with a fork until smooth. Don’t leave any unmashed lumps—they’ll sink and look gray/gummy after baking. Aim for purée texture. The ideal “banana bread banana” is very overripe, with a peel that’s more brown than yellow.
  
• 2 bananas = lighter loaf. 3-4 bananas = denser loaf. Don’t use more than 1 ½ cups (350g) of banana—it will get too dense.
• Toast nuts so they remain crisp in the moist loaf.
• Sugar: Use all brown, all white, or any mix. More brown sugar = darker, denser loaf with moist top. More white sugar = lighter, fluffier loaf with crisp top.
• Fat: Use oil, not butter, for a loaf that stays perfectly moist for days. Butter will lead to a dry, coarse loaf. The banana flavor is rich enough without butter.

I did the half and half sugar and I used fresh buttermilk from some butter I just made yesterday but I bet if you used yogurt or sour cream it'd give it a nice, tangy flavor.

ETA: I used 3 bananas which gives it just an edge of denseness but it doesn't feel too heavy.

I made this last week and it was awesome.

I like banana bread with chocolate chips but my husband says that chocolate chips don’t belong in banana bread

The America's Test Kitchen ultimate banana bread recipe is awesome! Uses 6 bananas (I use one extra to shingle banana slices on top before baking) tastes amazing!!!

Looking for those extra moist delectable examples! I’ve tried many recipes but I have not been able to recreate what my mother used to make. I am always let down.

Sorry guys I just woke up and posted this last night so here's to everyone who wanted to try the recipe. For those people who are saying that it looks like the ground sorry but the image doesnt give justice to what it actually looks like in person, it's super moist and looks so good.

Wet Ingredients 4 pcs medium size overripe bananas (just dont use those bananas that are black all over hahaha) 1/3 cup white sugar 1/3 cup brown sugar 2 eggs 2 tsp vanilla 1/2 cup cooking oil 1/2 cup milk 1 tbsp vinegar

1/2 cup chocolate chips

U could also add more sugar but I prefer mine just the right amount of sweet.

Dry Ingredients 1 1/2 cup flour 1 tsp baking soda 1 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1. Mash the bananas, make sure to have small lumps.
2. Combine all the wet ingredients.
3. Combine the dry ingredients to a separate bowl.
4. Mix the dry ingredients by sifting it to the wet ingredients and u could use a spoon to break down the bigger particles to become fine (while sifting).
5. Mix all the ingredients together, don't overmix, just make sure all the ingredients are combined together.
6. Add the chocolate chips.
7. Grease the baking loaf pan and transfer the mixture.
8. Bake for 180°C on a preheated oven for 50 mins to 1 hr. I dont necessarily have an exact time, so just check it if it's already cooked.

Basically I bake using guts so by experience, it would probably improve its taste everytime you bake it. Please update me on the taste if you did follow this recipe.

I’m due to give birth in the next few weeks and want to make two loaves of banana bread (one for the nurses, and one for me and husband post-partum). Would love to know your favorite recipe!

Update: thank you for all the suggestions! I want to try all of these maybe this can become a mat leave project. I ended up making the Smitten Kitchen one because it worked best with the weight of bananas I had and it turned out amazing! So moist and delicious with a crunchy top. (I had to taste of course but froze the rest for the hospital) I added toasted walnuts too as someone suggested.

That looks really good, congrats!

I'm a big fan of Alton Brown's oatmeal banana bread and have had good luck with it. Its just the right amount of dense and moist without going overboard, and the toasted oats add a nice flavor and help with the texture.

I also love adding dark chocolate chips. My wife prefers it with walnuts, but that's just her being weird.

can you share the recipe pls

I love a MOIST banana bread, so I add sour cream (or Greek yogurt) and oil to mine. I use more brown sugar than white. I feel it gives it a deeper and richer flavor. I love using about 3 VERY ripe bananas (dark and spotty peels). Adding turbinado sugar to the top before baking creates a nice texture.

Mix-ins: Adding nuts, chocolate, spices. If I'm making a banana bread with chocolate, I add espresso powder. It gives it a nice flavor and complements the chocolate. It's also not overpowering.

A tip for if you are craving banana bread but have no ripe bananas: bake bananas on a parchment-lined baking sheet at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes until the peels turn black. Remove from the oven and let cool before scooping out the banana guts and proceeding with your recipe.

I love baking, but my problem is I think too much into it and look up too many recipes, then get confused. My bf has really gotten into banana bread recently and asks me to make it. It seems banana bread is notorious for having a huge variety. Yea, pretty simple recipe right? But I just get overwhelmed by the different recipes haha. And Yea, every time I’ve made it , it turns out really good, but I want the BEST. What are your secrets? Brown sugar instead of white? Browned butter? Brown sugar on top for a crust? How ripe do you like your bananas and how many for a loaf? We like it plain, as in no add ins like nuts or chocolate or fruit. But wondering what are your tips and tricks for the BEST banana bread? I am good at baking, well following a recipe at least. But bad at being creative and knowing what’s the best technique. I def at least like adding cinnamon to mine

I just made banana bread today so the recipe is still in my head. I use a recipe a friend gave me.

2 c flour, tsp baking soda, tsp salt, 2 eggs, 3/4 c sugar, 1/2 c butter melted, 2-3 mashed bananas, Tbs vinegar plus milk to make 1/2 cup.

Combine dry ingredients in large bowl. In small bowl whisk egg, sugar, and melted butter that has been allowed to cool a little or is tempered. Add egg mixture to dry ingredients and stir to combine. Alternate adding banana and milk until combined. Bake in greased loaf pan at 350 F for 55-65 minutes.

I also add chocolate chips sometimes to mine because my kids like it that way.

Will be using this! One thing though, Google says nutmeg is bad for dogs. I see it's only a very small amount but just politely FYI!

My grandmothers banana bread was always moist. Her advice was:

• when the recipe calls for 2-3 bananas, always use 3.
• when baking always put a pie plate (or shallow Pyrex) with water in it on the lower rack in the oven. She swore by this. So did my mom. My banana bread has always been moist.

It’s weird to see people here suggestion random ingredients and quantities. The ratio of ingredients is vital so just saying “I use 5 tbsp sour cream” doesn’t mean anything in a vacuum. I’d beware of this.

But this is my favorite banana bread recipe:

I’ve baked tons of different recipes and none have been nearly as beloved as this. I learned about it from it winning a 12-recipe, ~65 taste tester bake-off.