The secret to great homemade banana bread is having a tried and tested go-to. Here I share a classic recipe that I have been using for years. The result: Freshly baked banana bread that is always flavorful and moist with the perfect amount of sweetness!
Do you have recipes to go to that you love and keep making over and over again? For me, this banana bread recipe is one of those recipes. I’ve been making this same banana bread since college! It’s so moist and delicious and it’s definitely one of our family’s favorite.
I got this recipe from my best friend that I met in college. She was from Osaka and we met each other at the international students’ orientation when we moved to the US for college. She and her banana bread recipe have been my best friend since then, almost 20 years!
I wasn’t into baking until I met her. She loved making sweets and one day she gave me a few slices of this banana bread. It was very moist and it was different from other banana bread I had before. The texture is soft, with bits of banana and just the perfect amount of sweetness. The store-bought banana bread I’ve tried is usually dry and doesn’t have much real banana flavor.
My friend used a square 8” baking dish to make the bread. The height of the bread is shorter than your typical banana bread but you can slice bread into thicker slices. Simply pick up a slice with your fingers to enjoy a mouthful of this moist banana bread. What I love the most is enjoying it with a cup of great coffee in the morning.
This is one of the rare recipes, in which I measured ingredients with a measuring cup (I didn’t own a kitchen scale in college). Even though it’s not as precise, you will still get a good result. I put the weight measurement below for those of you that use a kitchen scale. I hope you enjoy this banana bread as much as my family does!
Try Other Delicious Recipes:
Wish to learn more about Japanese cooking? Sign up for our free newsletter to receive cooking tips & recipe updates! And stay in touch with me on Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, and Instagram.
Banana Bread
Video
Ingredients
- 1⅔ cups all-purpose flour (plain flour)
- ½ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ cup unsalted butter (softened)
- ½ cup sugar
- 2 large eggs (50 g each w/o shell) (at room temperature)
- 1 Tbsp neutral oil
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 4 ripe bananas (divided; a 7- to 8-inch, medium-sized banana is roughly 4 oz/113 g with peel; see Notes)
- ½ cup raisins (optional)
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients. The eggs must be at room temperature. I highly encourage you to weigh your ingredients using a kitchen scale. For weights, click the Metric button above. If you‘re using a cup measure, please follow the “fluff and sprinkle“ method: Fluff your flour with a spoon, sprinkle it into your measuring cup, and level it off. Otherwise, you may scoop more than you need.
To Line the Baking Pan
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). For a convection oven, reduce the cooking temperature by 25ºF (15ºC). On your work surface, place a sheet of parchment paper that‘s 13 x 16 inches (30 x 40 cm). Set a loaf baking pan on top (I use this pan that‘s 8 x 8 x 2 inches or 20 x 20 x 5 cm). Mark the four corners of the loaf pan on the paper. Fold and crease the paper on all four sides following the corner marks. Tip: Use a light-colored pan for the best outcome.
- Unfold the paper and cut slits up to the square‘s left and right corners. Rotate the paper and cut two slits on the opposite side. You will have four slits total. Trim off any excess flaps and place the paper in the baking pan. Secure the paper onto the edges with stainless steel clips to keep the lining from moving when you pour the batter.
To Prepare the Ingredients
- In a fine-mesh sieve (or sifter) over a bowl, combine 1⅔ cups all-purpose flour (plain flour), ½ tsp baking soda, ½ tsp baking powder, ½ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt, and sift all together.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat ½ cup unsalted butter (softened) until creamy.
- Add ½ cup sugar and whisk until well blended, fluffy, and pale yellow.
- Add 2 large eggs (50 g each w/o shell) and beat well.
- Using a silicone spatula, scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl and continue beating.
- Add 1 Tbsp neutral oil and 1 tsp pure vanilla extract. Beat until well blended.
- Add 3 ripe bananas (keep one for decoration) and stir to blend with the egg mixture. Tip: Even though eggs and butter are at room temperature, it is normal for the mixture to look slightly curdled when the mashed bananas are added. Fat and liquids don't easily mix together. However, once the flour is added, the batter will become smoother. If you don't want to see the curdled mixture, you can add a few tablespoons of the sifted flour mixture when you add the bananas.
- Add the flour mixture to the banana mixture and stir just until 80% blended. Add ½ cup raisins at this stage, if you‘d like to include them, and blend for 3 seconds.
- While the white specs of flour are still visible, remove the mixing bowl from the stand mixer. Using the silicone spatula, hand-blend the rest of the flour. This will avoid overmixing the batter.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan, spreading it evenly with the silicone spatula.
- Slice 1 ripe banana thinly into rounds and decorate on top of the banana bread.
- Bake at 350°F (175°C) until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean, about 1 hour.
- Take out the baking pan from the oven and let cool for 45-60 minutes. Remove the banana bread from the baking pan.
- Cut the banana bread in half and cut into 1-inch (2.5 cm) slices.
To Store
- Wrap each slice or the whole cake with plastic wrap. Store at the cool place and enjoy within 2–3 days.
Notes
Nutrition
Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on January 11, 2011.
Thank you so much for this simple recipe. It’s a keeper. This was my first time using a whisk to mix butter and sugar together. My butter was very soft, but it still was challenging to get the mixture fluffy. I think that’s why my banana bread came out a bit heavy.
In my convection oven, I baked at 325F for 45 minutes.
Hi PatRice! Thank you so much for trying Nami’s recipe and sharing your baking experience with us.
We are glad to hear this recipe is a keeper! 🤗
Can you substitute all purpose flour with oat flour in this recipe?
Hi Angel! Thank you for reading Nami’s post and trying her recipe!
The Oat flour has a different density and texture. We have never tried it for this recipe before and are unsure about the outcome.
If you try it, please let us know how it goes!
Is there a way to prevent the banana slices on top of the bread from becoming overly dark after baking?
Hi Maria, Thank you very much for trying Nami’s recipe!
You can brush the lemon juice over the sliced banana and place the aluminum foil during the last part of the baking to avoid getting dark.
We hope this helps!
A beautiful banana bread. My favourite. Easy to make and delicious to eat. Thank you for sharing this delicious recipe
Hi Katrina! Thank you very much for your kind feedback!
Nami and all of us at JOC are so happy to hear this became your favorite banana bread.🥰
Hi Nami-chan! I would like to ask regarding the recipe, shall I just mix the butter and sugar or beat until light? Am going to make this with my son 😊
Hi Haniem! Yes, that’s correct. Hope you have fun making this banana bread with your son!
The best I’ve tried so far! So moist and soft. My daughter finished a third of it before it cooled down.
Hi Ern! Aww. We are so happy to hear your daughter enjoyed the Banana Bread!
Thank you very much for trying Nami’s recipe and for your kind feedback!
I made it for breakfast yesterday, and it was wonderful, Nami!
My son and I enjoyed it very much. Thank you for the recipe!
Hi Uyen! We are so happy to hear you and your son enjoyed Banana Bread!
Thank you very much for trying Nami’s recipe and for your kind feedback!😊