Homemade Banana Bread {Video}

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This Homemade Banana Bread recipe is soft and tender, and packed with ripe bananas, melted butter and Greek Yogurt making it super moist and full of flavor.  It’s the perfect way to use up all of those ripe bananas!

Jump to:

• The Best, Most Moist Banana Bread Recipe
• How to Pick the Best Bananas For Banana Bread
• The Best Pans to Use For Banana Bread
• Banana Bread Demo
• Ingredients in Homemade Banana Bread
• How to Make Homemade Banana Bread
• Simple Banana Bread Additions
• How to Freeze Banana Bread
• Homemade Banana Bread Recipe

The Best, Most Moist Banana Bread Recipe

This simple Homemade Banana Bread is one of our favorite recipes to make year-round.  It’s so scrumptious hot out of the oven, with just a little slab of butter.  We also love to eat it lightly toasted with a little Honey Butter or jam for a simple breakfast, or as-is for a delicious afternoon snack.  

You’ll also find that this Homemade Banana Bread makes the perfect treat to toss into school lunches.  It’s made with whole ingredients and has a little extra protein, thanks to the Greek Yogurt, making it a recipe you can feel good about feeding to your family.

How to Pick the Best Bananas For Banana Bread

The very best bananas for banana bread are the ones that you wouldn’t necessarily want to eat.  You want to choose the ones that have brown spots on the peel, or perhaps even black spots.  These will release the most moisture and have the highest sugar content.

An easy trick is to throw a few bananas into your freezer once they begin to get a little riper than you might like.  That way, you’ll always have some on hand when you need them.  You can keep bananas in your freezer for up to 3 months!

If you’re in a pinch, there are a couple of simple tricks: 

1. You can speed up the process ASAP by tossing the bananas, peel and all, onto a baking sheet and baking in a 300 degree oven for about 10 minutes.  Remove from the oven once they start to look brown and shiny, and let them cool completely before mashing and using in this recipe.
2. If you aren’t planning on making this recipe for a few days, you can toss unripe bananas into a paper bag for 1-3 days to accelerate the process.

The Best Pans to Use For Banana Bread

Our favorite pans to use for this Homemade Banana Bread - or any quick breads, for that matter - are light, non-stick loaf pans.  But, if you only have glass pans, or dark-colored pans, those will work, too.  

No matter what, you’ll want to be sure and spray your pans with cooking spray since banana bread has a tendency to stick.

Banana Bread Demo

Ingredients in Homemade Banana Bread

• Bananas - you can mash your super ripe bananas using a fork, potato masher or even in the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment.  This recipe uses approximately 6 full bananas.
• Butter - use melted butter.  Salt or unsalted work great.
• Sugar - this recipe uses regular granulated white sugar.  You can try substituting brown sugar if you want a slightly different taste and texture.
• Vanilla Extract - you want to use pure vanilla extract if possible.  You can substitute imitation vanilla if necessary.
• Greek Yogurt - any brand will work, as long as it is unsweetened plain or vanilla.
• Eggs - any kind of large eggs will work.
• All-Purpose Flour - you can use either bleached or unbleached.
• Baking Soda - this is what helps give your banana bread some lift.
• Salt - we like to use sea salt best.

How to Make Homemade Banana Bread

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Spray (2) 9" x 5" baking pans with non-stick cooking spray.
3. In a large bowl, combine the mashed bananas, melted butter, sugar and vanilla and mix well using a spatula or wooden spoon. Next, add the Greek Yogurt and eggs and stir just enough to combine completely.
4. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt until well combined, then fold gently the dry ingredients into the banana mixture.  Do not overmix.
5. Pour the batter evenly between the prepared loaf pans.  They should be filled about 3/4 full.
6. Bake in a preheated oven for 50-60 minutes, or until the banana bread is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
7. Remove the pans from the oven and let the bread sit for at least 10-15 minutes before turning them on their side and gently teasing the loaves out (you may need to use a knife).  Let cool on a wire rack until ready to eat.  Enjoy!

Simple Banana Bread Additions

One of our favorite additions to Homemade Banana Bread is chocolate chips.  Who doesn’t love chocolate chip banana bread?  The combination is a classic!  For this recipe, we recommend adding 1-2 cups of chocolate chips, depending on how chocolatey you like it!

Here are a few other delicious ideas to try adding to your next batch.  We suggest 1 cup of each:

• Shredded, unpeeled and drained zucchini
• Chopped walnuts, pecans or even peanuts
• Fresh blueberries or raspberries

How to Freeze Banana Bread

If you want to freeze a loaf for later, just be sure to cool completely, then wrap in 2 layers of plastic wrap or aluminum foil and place into a freezer bag, making sure to remove all of the air before sealing.  You can store frozen for up to 4 months.

To thaw, just pull from the freezer and let come to room temperature overnight.  It will be as good as new!

Here are some other quick bread recipes that we love!

• Homemade Zucchini Bread
• Double Chocolate Banana Bread
• Triple Berry Muffins
• Greek Yogurt Banana Muffins
• Einkorn Pumpkin Muffins

If you’ve tried this recipe, please rate it and leave a comment on this post. I love hearing feedback from you helps me and other readers too! If you love Pinterest,  feel free to leave a comment and photo there too.  Also, if you like to share, use the hashtag #thecarefreekitchen on Instagram and tag me @thecarefreekitchen so I can find you and give your post some love. You can also find me on Facebook at The Carefree Kitchen. Thank you!!

 

This homemade banana bread is made with a ton of ripe bananas, a little butter, and Greek Yogurt.  It's packed with flavor and so moist - the perfect way to use up those ripe bananas!