Homemade Banana Bread

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:

• Moist Banana Bread Recipe
• More Quick Bread Recipes
• How to Pick the Best Bananas For Banana Bread
• Banana Bread Demo
• Ingredients in Homemade Banana Bread
• How to Make Banana Bread
• Banana Bread Variations
• Homemade Banana Bread Recipe

Moist Banana Bread Recipe

This simple Homemade Banana Bread Recipe is one of our favorites to make year-round.  It’s so scrumptious hot out of the oven, with just a little slab of butter.  It's so moist and tender and has so much flavor. 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 with Green Yogurt makes the perfect treat to toss into school lunches.  It’s made with whole ingredients you can feel good about feeding to your family.

More Quick Bread Recipes

• Lemon Poppy Seed Bread
• Lemon Blueberry Bread
• Mini Lemon Blueberry Bread
• Homemade Zucchini Bread
• Homemade Banana Bread
• Double Chocolate Banana Bread

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 throwing a few bananas into your freezer once they 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.

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 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 ¾ 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!

Banana Bread Variations

• You can substitute yogurt for Greek yogurt in this recipe. It will just lighten up the texture just a little.
• You can also substitute sour cream for Greek yogurt. It will make the banana bread a little denser.
• Mini Chocolate Chips are a favorite to add to banana bread. Simply fold in 1 ½ cups of mini chocolate chips into the batter before you pour it into the bread loaf pans.
• Shredded, unpeeled, and drained zucchini
• Chopped walnuts, pecans, or even peanuts
• Fresh blueberries or raspberries

Storing Banana Bread

• Freezing- Banana bread freezes really well. Just be sure the banana bread is cooled completely. Wrap the banana bread in plastic wrap. Be sure to make it as airtight as possible. Finish by wrapping with foil. You can store banana bread in the freezer for 1-2 months before thawing.
• Refrigerator- Banana bread will last longer in the fridge than on the counter. It will last for about a week in the fridge. Just place the banana bread in a sealed container or bag. As long as the banana bread doesn't smell or have mold spots, it's still good.
• On the Counter- Banana bread can be stored in a cool, dry place for 3-4 days. Since banana bread, by nature, is a moist quick bread, it has a tendency to mold quickly. Slow the process by adding a paper towel to the bag when storing the banana bread.

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!

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