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.
Watch How To Make Banana Bread
Homemade banana bread that’s flavorful and moist. Just need a few common ingredients to make this amazingly delicious banana bread.
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!
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Banana Bread
Video
Ingredients
- ½ Tbsp unsalted butter (for greasing the baking dish)
- 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.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). For a convection oven, reduce the cooking temperature by 25ºF (15ºC). Grease the bottom and sides of an 8-inch square baking dish with ½ Tbsp unsalted butter.
- In a bowl, combine 1⅔ cups all-purpose flour (plain flour), ½ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt, ½ tsp baking soda, and ½ tsp baking powder and whisk all together.
- In another bowl, whisk together ½ cup unsalted butter (softened) and ½ cup sugar until well blended, fluffy, and pale yellow.
- Add 2 large eggs (50 g each w/o shell), 1 Tbsp neutral oil, and 1 tsp pure vanilla extract. Beat with the whisk until well blended.
- Mash 3 ripe bananas with a fork and mix into the egg mixture.
- Add the flour mixture to the banana mixture and stir just until blended. Add ½ cup raisins, if you‘d like to include them.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan, spreading it evenly with the rubber 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. Remove the baking dish from the oven and let cool for 20 minutes.
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.
Hi,
Can i use bread loaf tin instead of glassware to bake this banana cake?
Any idea how long will it take?
Hi ST! Sure, you can. I typically use the same amount of time. 🙂
Wonderful recipe! Easy and delicious! I’m usually terrible at baking but this time I got it right so easily! Thanks for the recipe!
Hi Gemma! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe. Thank you so much for your kind feedback!
Hi! I’m 19 and I’m approaching to baking. My mom really likes bananas so I decided to try and make this and we loved it! Thank you for sharing this recipe 😀
Hi Giulia! I’m so happy to hear that you and your mom enjoyed this recipe! Thank you for your kind feedback. 🙂
Hi Nami!
I used a bread tin and the top layer is cracking unlike yours. Is there anything to adjust if one is using a bread tin vs a square pan?
Hi Charmaine! You can use a bread tin instead of a square pan. I sometimes make it with that too. And cracking – that’s supposed to be. Good bread always cracks right in the middle. Some people purposefully make it a nice line by guiding the bread to crack by different methods.
https://www.justonecookbook.com/matcha-marble-pound-cake/ Read under “The Crack on The Pound Cake”
Hope that helps!
Thanks so much Nami!
Definitely felt better knowing I was indeed on the right path.
The cake is perfect, I love the dense texture! And the flavours are bold! I added chocolate chips into mine hehe.
Oh that sounds delicious! Thank you again for trying this recipe! 🙂
Hello Namiko,
Can I use a a rectangular bread pan instead of 8″ square to bake the banana bread?
Thank you & regards
Wennie
Hi Wennie! Sure you can do that! 🙂
hi Nami,
Can the all purpose flour replaced by cake flour or mix both?
Hi May! Sure, you can do that. 🙂
Hi Nami, am I able to use this recipe for an Instant Pot? I don’t have a rack but I’ve been really enjoying using it to make pork belly with your recipe (by the way, it’s SUPER delicious) so I was wondering if it’s possible to use it to bake banana bread. If so, what are the changes that have to be made? Thank you!
Hi Jean! Hmm I’ve never made a cake in the Instant Pot before – probably because I like the “burnt/char” taste that oven gives. Let me know if you try! 🙂 Thanks for the kind comment on the pork belly – I’ll respond to your comment on the pork belly post. 🙂
I made this with my trusted Zojirushi breadmaker set on cake mode. It worked out perfectly.
Hi Joanna! Wow, that’s wonderful! The bread maker has a cake mode! It must be so convenient!! 🙂
A first timer here! I love that the sweetness of this recipe is just right to my taste.
Tested cooking it yesterday and it turned out good. I’m making for the second time today.
So simple and easy to follow. Thank You!
Hi Lilia! Thank you so much for trying this recipe! I am happy to hear yours came out good! Thank you for your kind feedback and enjoy the banana bread! xoxo
I made it today and wow, it looks amazing. I’m not a fan of bananas, but for some reason, I love a good banana bread (such as this recipe). Many thanks!
Hi Julia! Thank you for trying this recipe! I’m glad you liked it! 🙂 Thank you for your kind feedback. xo
This was so delicious. I’m pretty sure I’m going to have to hide it from my partner so he doesn’t eat it all tonight! I will be making regularly for sure 🙂
Hi Georgie! Thank you for trying this recipe! I’m so happy to hear you liked it. Thank you for your kind feedback. Haha, you and I think alike: I worry about my kids and Mr. JOC eating up my favorite food. 😉
Hi Nami, I keep staring at those ripe bananas on the counter and then I remember your recipe. One question – how many cups of mashed bananas do I add to the batter? My guess would be 1 cup? Thanks!
Hi Elie! I don’t usually measure by a cup, so it’s a bit hard for me to answer… but google search told me:
1 medium banana = 2/3 cup sliced bananas
2 medium bananas = 1 cup diced bananas
3 medium bananas = 1 cup mashed bananas
2 medium bananas = 1/2 to 1 teaspoon banana extract
(Source: https://www.thespruceeats.com/banana-equivalents-1807459)
Hope that helps!
This helps! Thanks!
I’ve been wanting to try this recipe for a while, and yesterday the stars aligned finally and I had four ripe bananas and some free time to do some baking. It came out great — dense, flavorful, and beautiful. It was easy to make, and didn’t stick to the pan at all, either. Thank you for sharing it!
Hi Mae! I’m so happy you enjoyed it. Thank you so much for your kind feedback! 🙂
I love this banana bread recipe so much! The sweetness level is just right for me. I’ve made this a few times now this during quarantine and I eat it all haha.
Hi Jenny! Haha! I’m so happy to hear you enjoy this banana bread recipe! Thank you for your kind feedback. xo
Hi
I tried this recipe and the taste turned out great ! The only draw back when I made this was the inside was very dense and wet and it looks more like a cake than a bread . I can see two layers ( the bread layer and the heavy bottom layer )
I wonder what I did wrong .
Hope you can help !
Linda
Hi Linda! Seems like the batter got separated, heavier content stayed on the bottom. Maybe you could incorporate mashed banana with batter a bit more. It should be consistent throughout. And double check your actual oven temperature inside too (sometimes it’s different from what the oven says or what you set). 🙂
This recipe is my go to recipe. I have been making it for a long time. I switch ingredients around with things I have on hand. This recipe always works. I really recommend it.
Hi Paura! Thank you so much for trying this recipe! I’m so happy to hear you like it. Thanks for your kind feedback. Your comment made my day! 🙂