Best Ever Banana Bread
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This Best EVER Banana Bread recipe is the only one you will ever need! It’s easy, flavorful, and will quickly become your new favorite.
Best Ever Banana Bread Recipe
This is honestly the best banana bread recipe ever! It’s basically my easy banana bread but with brown butter, buttermilk, and roasted bananas to give the bread the ultimate flavor and texture. Just take a look at the reviews and photos from people who have made it on Pinterest.
Brown butter adds to the nutty sweet flavor while yielding a melt in your mouth texture. Buttermilk adds extra moisture to ensure the bread stays soft and tender.
It can easily be enjoyed in place of dessert or for breakfast. It also makes a great snack between meals. And it can be made gluten free.
This best banana bread recipe is so moist and absolutely the most delicious bread you will ever taste. Why is this banana bread is so incredible?
To begin with, it contains 4 large bananas. As if that isn’t enough to make the bread flavorful, I went and roasted them.
That made the bread more flavorful and naturally sweet!
I used all brown sugar for a moist and sweet richness. Brown sugar will do wonders for quick bread, cakes, and cookies. I use it almost everything I bake.
To add to the already wonderfully rich flavor, I added brown butter. I’ve done this before with banana cupcakes and easy banana cake and let me tell you, brown butter and bananas are fantastic together.
Buttermilk in Best Ever Banana Bread
As if this banana bread could get any moister, I chose to incorporate buttermilk.
I love buttermilk in baked goods, especially in my cheddar jalapeno buttermilk bread. It adds a soft, tender texture that just melts in your mouth.
I added some chopped walnuts which are completely optional. I’m a huge fan of contrasts in texture and loved the soft crunch in each bite of bread.
This recipe has taken a classic banana bread and vamped it up to make it even more delightful. After one bite, I’m certain you will agree that it is indeed a tasty buttermilk banana bread recipe. And after you try it, you need to try my banana nut bread cookies!
How to make the best Ever banana bread?
Step 1: Roast the bananas and brown the butter
Roasting the bananas enhances their sweetness and flavor. That paired with browned butter make the ultimate banana bread.
Step 2: Mix the batter
Follow the usual technique for making quick bread – mix the wet ingredients, mix the dry ingredients, then combine the two.
Step 3: Bake the bread
Bake the bread in a light colored loaf pan for best results. Dark pans and glass pans retain heat too well and will cause the bread to come out too dark or possibly burn before the inside had finished cooking.
Common questions about Best Ever Banana Bread
Why are cup measurements not given for the bananas?
This recipe calls for roasting the bananas in their skin. You would not be able to measure out x cup amount before roasting. Choose the largest bananas you see in the market and you will have success with the recipe.
What can I use besides buttermilk?
You can replace the buttermilk in this recipe with plain yogurt or sour cream. Greek yogurt works best.
Can I use frozen bananas to make this bread?
While I’ve not done this myself, a reader has. She placed the frozen bananas directly in the oven to roast. She didn’t thaw them and the recipe came out perfect.
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Best Ever Banana Bread
Ingredients
- 4 large very ripe bananas
- ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter
- ¾ cup (158 g) light brown sugar, packed
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ¼ cup (60 ml) buttermilk, room temperature
- 2 cups (260 g) all-purpose flour, sifted
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup (57 g) chopped walnuts, optional
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350ºF.
- Leave bananas in the peel and place them on a foil-lined baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes. Cool completely.
- While the bananas are roasting, heat the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat for 2 to 4 minutes, until browned. Set aside to cool.
- Lightly grease and flour a 9×5-inch loaf pan. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the butter and sugar. Beat with an electric mixer for 2 minutes until combined. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Mix in the vanilla extract.
- Scrape the bananas out of the peel into a blender and pulse until pureed. You should have about 2 cups of puree. Pour the pureed bananas into the butter mixture and beat until well combined. Add the buttermilk and mix well. The mixture may look curdled. This is normal.
- In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir with a whisk. Add to banana mixture and mix just until the flour is incorporated, taking care not to overwork the batter. Stir in the walnuts if using.
- Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and bake at 350°F for 45 to 65 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with a few dry crumbs.
- Cool the bread in the pan on a wire rack for 30 minutes. Remove the bread and cool completely on a wire rack.
Notes
- Cup measurements are not given for the bananas because they are roasted in their skin. There’s no way to measure them before roasting. Choose the largest bananas when shopping for this recipe and you should have great results.
- Place the roasted banana in the refrigerator to speed up the cooling process.
- Greek yogurt or sour cream can be used in place of buttermilk.
- Loosely tent aluminum foil over the bread if the top begins to brown too much before the center is done.
- The bread will stay fresh in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the refrigerator for up to 10 days.
- Baked and cooled bread can be frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight.
Nutrition
The nutrition information provided is for convenience and as a courtesy only. It is not guaranteed to be accurate because nutrition information can vary for a variety of reasons. For precise nutritional data use your preferred nutrition calculator and input the exact ingredients and brands you used in the recipe.
Inspired by Simply Recipes
Looks wonderful!
This bread sounds so amazing!!
Hi Jen,
I tried this recipe to a Tee! And the crust was quite delicious.. but the inside was VERY dense. Almost oily like when squeezed, it doesn’t look fluffy like your photo. What did I do wrong? Did I beat the mixture for too long perhaps? Not enough flour?
Please kindly let me know any tips you may have for lighter fluffier banana bread.
Thanks!
It’s really hard for me to say what you did wrong because I was not in the kitchen with you to see you make it. If the bread was dense, perhaps you used too much flour or over baked it. You could have also overmixed it which would make it tough. I have no idea why your bread was oily. Banana bread should be moist but I’ve never had it come out oily. I’m sorry, I wish I could be more helpful.
I am in the process of making this now. I think it would have been helpful if you had said that things needed doing in advance! I have the bananas in the oven roasting, but it says to then cool completely. Also, the butter needs to be heated and then cooled. This means you can’t go ahead and make the mix up for some time. Maybe I should have read the recipe through first so that I knew bananas needed to be done a long way in advance. Hopefully, the result will be worth it!
It is always best to read through any recipe before beginning the process of making it. With that said, the bananas do not take long to cool down and you can speed this up by putting them in the refrigerator. While the bananas are roasting, make the browned butter so they both can cool down at the same time. It’s really not that long of a process and certainly well worth it to avoid scrambling the eggs by adding in hot ingredients.
Hi all, I really love to cook, but when it comes to baking, I’m just not the best at it. I LOVE banana bread and have tried a handful of recipes, but I can’t ever seem to get it right. I tried this recipe today (the ingredients sounded so delicious!) I followed the recipe exactly except I didn’t have any light brown sugar and used dark. I checked the bread at 45 minutes and the toothpick was slightly sticky so I put it in for another 5 minutes. Resulting in it being just slightly over done. The flavor was good, but it’s dry. I said all that to say this happens EVERY TIME I make banana bread, no matter the recipe. Can anyone give me a few pointers or tell me what it is I’m doing wrong? Thanks!
You could possibly be adding too much flour. Make sure you are using the proper measuring technique. I have an article on how to measure flour. It may be helpful.
Your oven could also be the issue. Sometimes the temperature can be off or there could be hot spots within. Use an oven thermometer to make sure the oven temperature is correct.
Also, with this particular banana bread, the bananas are roasted before going into the batter. This softens the bananas and makes them “juicy”. Try not to lose those juices as you cut the skin open to scrape the banana into the batter.
Delicious! Not too sweet but with great banana flavor!
Delicious! Not too sweet but with great banana flavor!
Just wondering….I freeze my overripe bananas. Can I roast them? Do I thaw first?
That’s a really good question! I’ve never roasted a frozen banana so I can’t answer this with confidence. But, I would imagine that you could as long as the skin is intact. I would try it without thawing them first. I’m actually going to test this theory to see which is the better option!
I used whole frozen bananas and baked them (thawed for maybe 10 min while heating up the oven) and I used them still warm without mashing before. It absolutly worked and I can’t wait to take the bread out of the oven…Thanks for the recipe!!!
Thanks for sharing that! Enjoy the bread. It’s our favorite!
This is my first time, but it works. Thanks Jen for the recipe. Thats a good idea to bake the banana first. I really enjoy the cake, and so my baby 🙂
I’m so happy to hear!
This is my first time, but it works. Thanks Jen for the recipe. Thats a good idea to bake the banana first. I really enjoy the cake, and so my baby 🙂