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Mom know’s best, which is how I know this is the BEST Banana Bread recipe! It’s my mom’s recipe and I’ve been eating (and making it) my entire life.
It’s so easy to make banana bread and my mom has a few secrets to getting the perfect taste, texture and that telltale crack down the center. This is a no fail recipe that stays moist for days – if it lasts that long.
Table of Contents
- BEST Banana Bread in the Whole World
- Recipe Video: Making the Best Banana Bread Recipe
- Banana Bread Ingredients
- Use Overripe Bananas for the BEST bread
- Mom Tip #1: Sour Milk
- How do you make Banana Bread?
- Mom’s Tip #2: Flour and Sugar the Pan
- Substitutions and Additions for this banana bread recipe
- How do you know when Banana Bread is done?
- How do you freeze banana bread?
- FAQ
- Mom’s Best Banana Bread Recipe Recipe
BEST Banana Bread in the Whole World
I make a lot of banana bread. I eat a lot of banana bread. In fact, I’ve posted lots of banana bread! Every single banana bread or banana-like muffin on this site has been based off of one recipe: my Mom’s. It’s one of those recipes I’ve eaten my whole life.
This recipe is the best because:
- It’s SUPER easy with banana in every bite
- Stays moist for days
- Has a nice long crack down the center
- Is a bit crunchy on the outside and super soft on the inside
I have to say, I think it’s the best banana bread recipe, ever. And while I love all my variations, I still love the original recipe the best.
Banana bread is the perfect way to use up overripe bananas – and it’s so easy to make. You’re going to love my mom’s recipe. She has two simple things she does that makes her bread stand apart: the milk and the pan.
Recipe Video: Making the Best Banana Bread Recipe
Banana Bread Ingredients
Banana Bread is a simple quick bread recipe. “Quick Bread” is bread that doesn’t have yeast (as in, it’s quicker to make it because it doesn’t need to rise).
- Bananas: see below
- Butter: you can use either salted or unsalted (see recipe notes)
- Sugar: lots of granulated sugar for sweetness
- Eggs: give body to the bread while keeping it moist
- Flour: use all-purpose flour for this recipe
- Baking Soda: my bread uses baking soda for leavening, helped along by some acid
- Sour Milk: see below for details and substitutions
Use Overripe Bananas for the BEST bread
Overripe bananas are sweeter and softer and they’re the best for baking. At one time of another we’ve all bought bananas and forgotten about them, right?
You know your banana is overripe because they’re brown and spotty, with no hints of green. My mom always called them “tired” bananas.
Did you know you can freeze bananas? Whenever I get ones that get too overripe, I just throw them in the freezer (peels and all). Then I defrost them on the counter to make banana bread or cake whenever I want.
Mom Tip #1: Sour Milk
This is a banana bread recipe with sour milk!
Basically, sour milk is the same thing as buttermilk. Back when this recipe was written, I’m figuring that milk went sour more than it does now, but if you don’t have sour milk sitting around, don’t worry, you can make your own.
The recipe calls for 7 tablespoons sour milk. You can use:
- 1/2 teaspoon vinegar or lemon juice + 7 tablespoons milk or nonfat milk
- 1/2 teaspoon vinegar or lemon juice + 7 tablespoons nondairy milk
- 7 tablespoons buttermilk
The acidity in the sour milk (or vinegar or buttermilk) active the baking soda, making the bread rise.
How do you make Banana Bread?
1. Blend: I like to blend my bananas with the egg, milk, and baking soda in a blender to make it nice and smooth.
You can also just mash your bananas with a fork and add them to the butter/sugar mixture along with everything separately.
2. Cream: Cream the butter and sugar in a large bowl or using a stand mixer.
3. Mix: Add the flour and the blended mixture to the creamed butter and sugar and mix until mostly smooth (some lumps will remain from the bananas).
4. Pan: Prepare the pan (see below) using my mom’s tip!
5. Bake: Bake until a toothpick comes out mostly clean from the crack.
Mom’s Tip #2: Flour and Sugar the Pan
You’ve probably “greased and floured” a pan before, right? For cakes or muffins or a whole multitude of things? Normally I use cooking spray for all my pans. But not for banana bread!
To get the amazing pan effect for this bread you grease the pan with butter or shortening, then you add some sugar and move the pan around so that you coat all the greased parts with sugar. Add the batter as you normally would and bake.
The sugar gives an amazing crunchy sweet crust to the bread. See that outer edge around the bread? That’s from the sugar on the pan. It’s crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside.
Note: do NOT try and sugar your pan using a cooking spray instead of butter or Crisco. I’ve had reports that it turns the bread black, which is not appetizing.
Substitutions and Additions for this banana bread recipe
- Butter: I use unsalted butter but my mom always uses salted. If you’re using salted butter, reduce salt by 1/4 teaspoon.
- Oil: You can substitute vegetable oil, but make sure to use the salt in the recipe in that case (oil doesn’t have salt in it).
- Flour: substitute half whole wheat flour (so 1 cup each whole wheat and all-purpose) if you want. Make this gluten-free using 1:1 All-purpose gluten-free flour (such as Bob’s Red Mill teal bag).
- Milk: You can use buttermilk or regular/lowfat/nonfat cows milk with 1 tsp vinegar, or even nondairy milk (any kind) with 1 tsp vinegar.
- Add 1 cup of your favorite mix-in: chocolate chips, chopped nuts, chopped candy.
How do you know when Banana Bread is done?
Banana bread bakes for a long time (about 45-55 minutes, depending on your oven).
The bread will get dark golden on the top and there will be that nice long crack running through the center. The crack is my favorite part!
You know it’s done when a toothpick comes out with just a few crumbs from the center of the crack.
Then you just have to wait until it cools a little. In a perfect world you’d wait until it’s totally cool and then remove the whole loaf from the pan.
The only time it’s ever been a perfect world in my house is when I knew I was doing a photo shoot. Otherwise? Fork to pan.
How do you freeze banana bread?
You can slice the cooled loaf and freeze the slices in sandwich baggies. Then pop one into a lunchbox for a yummy mid-morning snack.
FAQ
It won’t last long because you’ll eat it fast, but store it covered on the counter. If you’re like us, it’ll be gone in a day.
This recipe also makes great mini loaves or muffins. I’ve done them all. Just adjust the baking time.
This recipe calls for blending them but you can also just mash the bananas with a fork and add them to the recipe that way. Or, use your mixer to mash them!
The bananas and eggs in the recipe help keep it moist, along with the sourness/acid combination from the baking soda and sour milk. Don’t over bake it for ultimate moist bread and keep it wrapped well so it doesn’t dry out.
Some banana breads are darker than others because of sugar (brown vs. granulated) and also because of pan. I find darker pans bake them darker than glass or light colored pans.
Yes you can – see additions and substitutions above.
Other recipes great for using overripe bananas:
Have you made this recipe?
Tag @crazyforcrust on Instagram or hashtag it #crazyforcrust
Mom’s Best Banana Bread Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar plus more for the pan
- ½ cup (113g) salted butter softened (plus more for the pan)
- 2 medium tired bananas brown spotted
- 2 large eggs
- 7 tablespoons (103ml) sour milk see note
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 cups (248g) all-purpose flour spooned and leveled
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease a 9x5x3” loaf pan with butter and coat it with sugar. (You do this like you would grease and flour a pan. Grease it first, then add about 2 tablespoons sugar to the pan and move the pan side to side until the bottom and sides are coated with sugar. Do NOT substitute cooking spray for the butter. You can skip the sugaring and just use cooking spray, if you wish.)
- Cream butter and sugar with a hand mixer. Set aside.
- Add bananas, eggs, milk, and baking soda to a blender jar and blend until smooth.
- Pour half the banana mixture into the butter mixture with 1 cup of flour. Mix with hand mixer until just incorporated, then add the remaining banana mixture and flour. Mix until just incorporated. Stir in nuts if using them. Pour into prepared pan.
- Bake for 50-60 minutes until a toothpick comes out with just a few crumbs. The edges will be a dark brown and there will be a nice crack down the center.
- Cool completely before removing loaf from pan, but you can cut slices from the pan after it’s cooled for about 15-20 minutes.
Recipe Notes
- 1/2 teaspoon vinegar + 7 tablespoons milk or nonfat milk
- 1/2 teaspoon vinegar + 7 tablespoons nondairy milk
- 7 tablespoons buttermilk
- Unsalted butter: add 1/4 teaspoon salt to the recipe
- Gluten-Free 1:1 AP Flour – use equal parts
- Whole Wheat Flour: use 1 cup each whole wheat and AP flour
- Oil: substitute 1/2 cup vegetable oil for the butter
- Pan: Use an 8×4-inch loaf pan and make just 1-2 muffins along side
Recipe Nutrition
Click here for easy ways to use overripe BANANAS
This is the BEST Banana Bread Recipe ever – it’s an easy moist banana bread that’s my mom’s recipe. Make this plain or with chocolate chips or walnuts – it’s such a simple classic and the BEST recipe!
Last Updated on March 8, 2022
This is the exact recipe that I have made for years…EXCEPT… mine does not contain any milk. That makes sense when looking at your loaf…looks like it folds back in on itself from moisture. I will have to try it, and compare. Also, I want to suggest adding the large crystal sugar sprinkled on top. (The big crunchy kind that bakery style muffins come with). It will put this over the top. Considering the wetness of the batter, I would suggest waiting to sprinkle them on until about 15 minutes before end of bake time.
hi for the bananas in this recipe, what is the approximate weight of 2 medium bananas. this recipe is awesome!
About 300g, give or take a few.
Hi
Can I use sparkling sugar for the
pan or I must put granulated sugar?
Thanks for the recipe
I think you can use either, but I haven’t tried sparkling sugar.
My husband and I love this banana bread recipe. I used bananas from the freezer but I removed the watery juice that is produced during thaw. I love preparing the pan with butter in sugar instead of flour because it makes the crust crisp and very easy to come out of the pan. This is the first time my banana bread did not have a doughy top and I believe it is because of blending the eggs, milk (I used naturally soured half & half), bananas and soda. I reduced the sugar to 3/4 cup and it was plenty sweet for our liking. This is so moist and tasty that we could not stop ooohing and yummmmming as we ate. My husband said it’s the best banana bread he has ever had.
I wish I could give this 10 stars!!! By far the best banana bread I have ever eaten and it was so easy to make. My husband said it to,”Best ever! It’s a keeper!” I do think adding the vinegar and coating the pan with butter and sugar really sets it apart. It is so light and fluffy, moist, and oh so delicious!! Mine came out really dark inside for some reason, not like your normal banana bread, but it didn’t affect the taste one bit. Definitely will be making this again!
Hi! Thanks for the recipe. I think reducing the flour to 1 3/4 cup could make the bread a little moister. I baked the bread for 40 minutes and the toothpick came out dry. I replaced the sugar with date syrup (healthier) and used one cup of whole wheat rye flour. I love the crack on the top and the sugary bottom.
I made this recipe and it was amazing. In the previous recipes I’ve used I have mashed the bananas but I think blending them really makes a difference. This is now my favorite banana bread recipe. Thank you!
Just for your info the bananas are not over ripe. They are getting ripe. But that’s okay because most people think that way. It turned out real good, the banana bread that is.
How long should I bake these if I’m using medium sized muffin cups? I’ve only baked a few times before so I’m a bit scared of messing it up 😅
My first time making banana bread, and miraculously came across this recipe that does not require a single tweak. The best part is fighting over the sugared end pieces — you know — those pieces that often get thrown out because no one wants a heel? It’s the best part of this loaf, but the rest is also moist and delicious.
I don’t have a larger loaf pan so I made 2 smaller loaves and adjusted the time accordingly.
Also, used left over cinnamon sugar to line one loaf and added chocolate chips to another. All turned out great. It’s impossible to mess up with this recipe if you follow the directions.
This is the best banana bread recipe I have had in years. It reminds me of banana bread that I ate when I was a child. My husband is not a big fan of banana bread but he absolutely loved this. Using sugar instead of flour on the pan gave the bread a great taste. I wouldn’t recommend changing a thing. Enjoy!!
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