An easy and moist Banana Bread Recipe that is loaded with bananas, tangy-sweet raisins, and toasted walnuts. This is one of our favorite overripe banana recipes with hundreds of 5-star reviews.
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Banana Nut Bread Recipe:
This is my husband’s recipe which he has perfected over the years and he is known for his Banana Bread. He makes it frequently and it always disappears fast! It is simple to make and our favorite way to use up overripe bananas so they never go to waste. It’s super moist and makes a great breakfast on-the-go. We even created Banana Muffins from this recipe.
This loaf stays moist for days and also makes for a thoughtful and delicious gift idea for the holidays (I’ll take banana bread over fruit cake any day).
Banana Bread Video Tutorial:
Watch Natasha make this moist banana bread. You will be surprised at how easy it is. We will never stop loving this recipe. Now go forth and bake!
Ingredients for Banana Bread:
This is everything you need to make the best banana bread: flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, vanilla extract, softened butter, eggs and of course very ripe bananas. Adding walnuts and raisins is optional but adds great taste and texture, turning it into a banana nut bread.
Can I Omit Walnuts and Raisins?
YES! The recipe will still work if raisins and walnuts are omitted. We make it nut-free all the time due to a walnut allergy in the family. You will still have the softest, super moist and scrumptious loaf. You can also replace them with some chocolate to make Chocolate Chip Banana Bread.
How to Ripen Bananas:
- Quick Oven Method: If your bananas are a little green and you want them to ripen quicker, place them on a baking sheet and bake at 250˚F for 15 to 20 minutes depending on the initial ripeness of the bananas.
- 24 Hour Counter Method: If you are willing to wait 1 day, you can place the bunch of bananas (without separating them) in a paper bag, cover and leave at room temperature. Bananas emit ethylene which causes ripening. Adding an apple to the bag will speed up the process.
Can I Freeze Overripe Bananas?
If you have overripe bananas and aren’t ready to bake with them, DO NOT throw them away!
How to Freeze Bananas: place them un-peeled in a freezer-safe bag, remove any excess air and freeze up to 3 months. You can use thawed bananas for banana bread. You can also freeze them peeled and cut into pieces for easier use in smoothies. P.S. You can also freeze a whole banana bread with the same method!
How to Make Banana Bread:
This is the easiest banana bread recipe. We mix it in a stand mixer because it’s easy, but you can use an electric hand mixer and can even make it work with a hand whisk. There is no fancy equipment required. Watch the video tutorial below and you will be a pro in no time!
- In the mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar.
- Mix in mashed bananas and eggs.
- Whisk together dry ingredients: flour, salt, and baking soda and add to batter.
- Stir in vanilla, walnuts, and raisins, transfer to prepared loaf pan and bake.
Substitutions for a Healthy Banana Bread:
- My sister Anna made this into a honey banana bread; replacing sugar with honey.
- Use organic whole wheat flour instead of all-purpose flour.
- Replace 1 Tbsp of flour with 1 Tbsp ground flaxseed.
- Reduce sugar to 1/2 cup when using very ripe bananas; they add plenty of sweetness
Love Sweet Breads? Try these Popular Bread Recipes:
We love sweetbreads because they are easy to make and are such a treat, especially when you top them with Honey Butter! Don’t miss these reader favorites:
- Apple Bread – a pull-apart moist apple bread
- Pumpkin Bread – so easy and we love it year-round
- Banana Chocolate Chip Bread always disappears fast
- Persimmon Bread – great way to use ripe persimmon
Moist Banana Bread Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 very ripe bananas, (medium/large)
- ½ cup unsalted butter, (8 Tbsp) at room temperature
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup walnuts
- ½ cup raisins
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a bread loaf pan (9.25 long x 5.25 wide x 2.75 deep). Lightly roast walnuts on a skillet, continuously stirring so they won’t burn. Coarsely chop and cool to room temperature.
- In a mixing bowl, cream together 8 Tbsp softened butter and 3/4 cup sugar (or honey if using honey).
- Mash bananas with a fork until the consistency of chunky applesauce and add them to the batter along with 2 eggs, mixing until blended.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together: 1 1/2 cups of flour, 1 tsp of baking soda and 1/2 tsp of salt then add to batter.
- Add 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract and mix in chopped walnuts and raisins. Pour into prepared loaf pan. Bake at 350˚F for 55-60 min or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let banana bread rest for 10 min before transferring to a wire rack to cool.
Nutrition Per Serving
Filed Under
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen
This banana bread recipe was first published in 2009; one of the very first recipes on our blog! It has been a reader and family favorite ever since.
Can you leave out the walnuts and raisins? I don’t have those on hand.
Hi Brooklyn, they help with texture and flavor but that will work. We have a few other Banana bread recipes on my site, including this Chocolate Chip Banana Bread if you like chocolate chips and have some on hand.
I added a tsp of cinnamon to the mixture, 1/4 cup of raisins and 1/4 of a cup of vegetable oil. It was moist and full of flavors,
This is my “go to” banana bread recipe. We love it. I omitted the raisins, added a 1/2 t of cinnamon. YUMM
I’m so glad you were able to make it your own. Thank you for sharing that with me.
I’ve been searching for the perfect banana bread recipe, and this is it! I only had two bananas, so I added 1/2 C Greek yogurt. Also for the sugar used 2/3 C brown sugar and 1/3 C white sugar. Was looking for moist crumb and crunchy exterior – this did the job! Really delightfully light for banana bread.
That’s wonderful, Lisa! So glad you found your new recipe. Thank you for sharing your experience.
I had no clue I was 10 people until I made this recipe. Imagine my surprise!
Haha! That’s hilarious, Josh! I can’t say that I haven’t been close to eating a whole loaf myself too.
I have rated this recipe before, but I am back to say thank you again. It truly is wonderful. I always make a recipe just as the author recommends and then later I might add some things. This recipe make glorious muffins. Seriously. I add cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger and then I sprinkle turbinado sugar on top for a little crunch. I have been told by many they are absolutely delicious. They are. Terrific recipe!!
That sounds wonderful! I’m so glad you’ve been enjoying it. Thank you for the review.
I’ve made this banana recipe one other time and it was a hit. I really loved it and now I’ve just made it again for the second time this time I made two loaves one for me and one for my man..
Thank you so much for this awesome review, Penny! I’m so glad you loved it.
I made it
It was so yummy
Unfortunatly I forgot to take photo 🙂
Thank you for trying the recipe! It’s one of my favorites.
I made it this is one of the best recipe and also I share with several other family members. Thank you for sharing your recipes.
You’re very welcome, Beena!
It’s moist but has no flavor. Before I made this I should have noticed there were no spices at all, leaving it flavorless.
Hi Andrea! I’m sorry to hear you didn’t enjoy it. This is a very popular recipe and I’ve made it personally so many times, it’s always been a hit. Were your bananas ripe enough? If not, they can be bland and flavorless, not adding much banana flavor to the bread.
You can add spices if you prefer, but we didn’t feel it was necessary. Make sure to use a good quality vanilla extract as well.
Wow .. this bread is so good. It was ao easy to make. A family favorite .. it disappeared in no time !! I actually had bought a whole bunch of bananas and many of them were going bad so I froze them.. These were the bananas that I used for this recipe. Definitely will make this again and again.
I’m so happy you tried it and loved it! My family devours this bread every time!
Can’t wait to bake this bread!! My question: no matter what recipe I bake, there is always a dark strip along the bottom of the bread. I end up slicing it all off but I hate to waste. Any suggestions? Thanks
Hi Frannie, I’m so glad you’re excited to bake this bread, I’m excited for you! It’s hard to say without being there, but typically the dark strip along the bottom is usually from the banana bread being a little undercooked in the center from the batter being to we or heavy near the bottom. You want to use very ripe bananas and measure them out if yours are larger (you’ll need about 1 3/4 cups of mashed bananas for this banana bread.). Also be sure to bake until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Also, be sure to not overmis the batter, that cane make the bread more dense also causing it to brown.
Can I omit the raisins? Will the bread be dry without them thanks Gloria from texas
Hi Gloria! Yes, that would be just fine. No changes are needed. You can also add chocolate chips or another dried fruit if you prefer.
Absolutely fantastic! I have followed a lot of your recipes an have never been disappointed. Thank you again for this one!
You’re so welcome, Dean! I’m so happy to hear that!
New favourite banana bread recipe! My kids devour it in no time at all. Could the batter be used to make muffins too?
Hi Chels! Yes, you can make muffins too. Reference my Banana Muffin Recipe here.
Banana Bread is #1 for me, But I use over ripe bananas, Yummmmmmy.
Hi Robert, That’s great to know—thank you for sharing what worked for you.
Hi Nat, thanks for the recipe. I made two loaves for a family potluck and both were the first desserts to be gone!! Everyone loved it. I’d would like to make it for a work potluck though I have coworkers who are vegan. What can I substitute the eggs for?
Wow – that’s so great! It sounds like the banana bread was a hit! Here’s what one of my readers mentioned about her experience making this vegan “I made this bread in a vegan version, I used flax seed meal as replacement for the eggs, and cranberries instead of raisins. It comes so good, moist and sweet. I have to put out few portions at a time, over the counter, because my husband uses any excuse to go to the kitchen. It is gone in few days, but I have to make it almost every week as is the only sweet treat we keep in the house. The best recipe so far. Thank you Natasha!” I hope this helps.
Thank you so much for a nutritional label. It is so hard to make home made food and figure that out. My daughter is diabetic and trying to make home made breads is so hard because we need to know carb amounts.
This is 1 of the recipes I followed and it did not disappoint….we LOVE it!!!!!!! I have already made it 3 times 🤭🤭. It has the perfec texture and is very delicious🤤🤤
Thanks Nat🤗
I’m so glad you gave it a try, and loved it! Thank you so much for sharing.
This recipe is in my faves – you can’t go wrong with it and you can easily experiment with all kind of addictions, like nuts, chocolate chips, flaxseeds, etc
I would like to change the sugar for the honey, but I have no idea how to substitute the two in terms of quantity. If anyone tried it with honey, could you please write the quantities? Thanks much!
Hi Anca, you may use honey in this recipe, you can use the same amount, or reduce slightly if your bananas are very sweet.
The Bread so so moist and delishish! Quick and easy for a sweet treat! 😋 Will be making again. Thank You for this recipe!!