Homemade Banana Bread

Ingredients and Notes 

Please be sure to scroll down to the recipe card for the complete details. 

• Butter – Use unsalted butter to add rich flavor, moistness, and contribute to a subtle crust. We use plain butter, but browned butter also works if you prefer a slightly nuttier taste. Don’t substitute oil, or the taste and texture won’t be the same. 
• Sugar – Granulated sugar enhances the natural sweetness of the bananas and gives the bread a little extra structure. 
• Eggs – Let them come to room temperature for easy mixing. 
• Ripe Bananas – The riper your bananas, the sweeter your banana bread will taste! At the very least, they should be speckled with brown spots. 
• Flour – All-purpose flour forms the base of the bread. We’ve also substituted a 1:1 all-purpose gluten-free flour, and it works just as well!
• Baking Soda – Make sure it’s fresh, or your banana bread won’t rise properly. 
• Salt – Don’t skip this! A little bit of salt goes a long way to enhance the flavor of the rest of the ingredients. 
• Lemon Juice and Milk – When combined, these create a homemade buttermilk mixture, adding moisture to the bread and giving it a tender crumb. If you have it on hand, buttermilk also works. 
• Nuts – These are optional, but my grandma always includes them! She’s partial to pecans and adds them to everything. However, we go a more traditional route, adding chopped walnuts to make banana nut bread instead. 

Tip: Add mix-ins. Swap the nuts with chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, caramel chips, coconut flakes, or dried fruit for a different taste. 

How to Ripen Bananas for Banana Bread

Bananas not ripe enough? No worries! You’ve got a couple of options: 

• Paper Bag: Place your bananas in a paper bag with an apple or avocado, and let them rest at room temperature for an extra day or so. The bag will trap the ethylene gas released by the fruit, ripening the fruit in 12-24 hours. 
• Oven: Arrange unpeeled bananas on a baking sheet, and bake at 300F for 10-30 minutes or until the skin is black and the fruit is soft to the touch. 

How to Make Homemade Banana Bread (without Buttermilk!) 

1. Prep the “buttermilk”. Add one tablespoon of lemon juice to a liquid measuring cup, and fill it to the one cup mark with milk. Whisk to combine, and set the mixture aside to curdle at room temperature. 
2. Mix the wet ingredients. Use a hand mixer or stand mixer to cream the butter, sugar, and eggs in a large bowl. Then, fold in mashed bananas. 
3. Whisk the dry ingredients. In a separate large bowl, whisk the dry ingredients until well combined. 
4. Combine. Working in alternating batches, add the dry ingredients and buttermilk to the bowl of wet ingredients, whisking just until smooth. Avoid overmixing, or you won’t have moist banana bread. It will become dense and dry.
5. Bake. Transfer the batter to a greased loaf pan, and bake until the bread is lightly browned and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. If the bread begins to brown before the center is set, cover the pan with foil, and continue to bake until set. 
6. Cool. Let your homemade banana bread cool in the pan slightly. Then, transfer it to a wire rack to cool completely, slice, and enjoy! 

How to Store 

Once cool, transfer leftover banana bread to an airtight container or wrap it tightly with plastic wrap, followed by aluminum foil. It will keep fresh at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the fridge for up to 1 week. You can also freeze banana bread for up to 3 months! 

To do so, slice the loaf and store it in a freezer bag, placing a sheet of parchment paper between each piece. Then, thaw in the fridge overnight. Enjoy cold or quickly warm individual slices in the microwave. 

Common Questions 

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