Try my go-to banana bread for a sweet, rich quick bread with a wonderfully soft, moist crumb. It's so easy to throw together before letting your oven do the heavy lifting!
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9x5-inch loaf pan with butter or baking spray.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the sugar and butter together on high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
Beat in the eggs one at a time, stopping to scrape down the bowl between each. Beat in the vanilla extract. Mix the mashed bananas in and then add the dry ingredients and fold together until just combined.
Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan.
Bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for 20 minutes then remove and finish cooling on a wire rack.
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Notes
Use brown sugar. You can swap the white sugar for light or dark brown sugar if desired for a more caramel-like flavor. It will also help keep the bread moist for longer.
Measure the flour. One of the main causes of dry, crumbly bread is an overuse of flour. The best way to use the correct amount of flour is to measure it with a kitchen scale. If you don’t have one, fluff the flour before spooning it into a measuring cup, then level it off with a knife.
Use different spices. A hint of cinnamon makes this recipe is so comforting, but you can amp up the flavor by adding your favorite warm spices. I often add all or a mix of the following: ½ teaspoon allspice, ¼ teaspoon ground cloves, ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom, or ¼ teaspoon nutmeg.
Softened butter works best. Softened butter, when creamed, yields a springy, light bread with a soft crumb. Melted butter will give you a more dense loaf.
Add sour cream or Greek yogurt. A dollop of either will add a little tang to balance out the sweetness of the bread, while also adding moisture.
Use room-temperature eggs. They bind everything together better if they are not straight out of the refrigerator.
A note on mashing the bananas. While you can mash the bananas until they form a smooth puree, I prefer leaving a few chunks in the batter. I love biting into a fresh slice and getting a chunk of banana! Use a fork or potato masher for the best texture.
Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients by hand. Overmixing the batter with an electric mixer can cause the loaf to be dense. Folding the flour mixture in by hand gives you total control so you can see exactly when the ingredients are just incorporated. Your bread will be more tender and fluffy this way.
Add nuts or chocolate chips. Chopped walnuts or pecans will give you a delightful banana nut bread. You’ll need about ¾ cup. For a richer, sweeter loaf, add some chocolate chips, or just whip up my chocolate chip banana bread!
Add frosting. I think this moist banana bread recipe stands just fine on its own with no additions. But if you want to dress it up, try my cream cheese frosting. Or, smear on a little honey butter.