How to Make Moist Banana Bread

Super Moist Banana Bread

This is my all-time favorite banana bread recipe that I’ve perfected into a super moist loaf that’s simple to make with basic baking ingredients and the mushiest bananas.

The banana bread has the most intense banana flavor and an irresistible buttery soft crumb. In fact, the recipe does not have oil in it, just butter, so the taste is amazing!

You can easily mix in toasted walnuts and/or chocolate chips, too. Talk about delicious!

If you’re looking for a go-to banana bread recipe, give this one a try.

Why You’ll Love this Banana Bread Recipe

Made with ingredients you probably already have. If you find yourself with a few over-ripe bananas, chances are you already have everything else you need to make a quick loaf of banana bread.

A great way to save black bananas from the trash. You know the saying, making lemonade out of lemons? Maybe it could also be, making banana bread out of over-ripe bananas. Talk about making the best of a bad situation!

Comes out super moist, without any extra ingredients like sour cream or yogurt. All the moisture in this banana bread recipe comes from the bananas, vanilla extract, butter and eggs. And let me tell you, it has the most pleasing moist texture.

So how is this possible, without adding extra wet ingredients? It’s all about the banana ripeness and baking techniques. Read on (after the ingredients needed and steps to make sections), to see exactly what I mean.

Ingredients Needed

• Overripe Bananas
• Walnuts or Other Add-Ins
• Flour
• Baking Soda
• Salt
• Eggs
• Vanilla Extract
• Unsalted Butter
• Sugar

Ingredient Notes

Overripe Bananas – Only use bananas with a peel that’s at least 50% black. Yellow bananas are not sweet or moist enough and don’t have as nearly an intense banana flavor.

Softened Butter – This recipe calls for unsalted butter. If you only have salted butter, cut the amount of salt added to the dry ingredients by half.

Additionally, the butter needs to be softened to room temperature so it mixes up nice and fluffy and is easy to combine with the dry ingredients.

Eggs – Let your eggs come to room temperature along with the butter. Otherwise, cool eggs may make the butter firm up a little. Although, using eggs straight from the fridge isn’t a deal-breaker.

Add-ins – Walnuts or pecans are classic. When adding nuts, chop them up pretty small, and take the extra step to toast them in the oven for about 4 minutes at 350°F to bring out their nutty flavor.

If you opt to add in chocolate chips (a must for many), I suggest mini chocolate chip morsels so chocolate doesn’t overwhelm each bite.

Keep banana bread add-ins from sinking to the bottom. Before folding into the batter, give them a little dusting of flour.

Steps to Make Moist Banana Bread

1. Pre-heat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9x5x3 loaf pan with butter or line with parchment paper. When oven is heated, toast chopped nuts on a baking tray for about 4 minutes. Watch closely to prevent burning.
2. Sift the flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl. In another small bowl, mash the bananas with a fork or potato masher. Whisk eggs and vanilla extract in a liquid measuring cup with a spout. Set aside.
3. Cream softened butter and sugar in a large bowl using a handheld or standing mixer until light and fluffy. While continuing to mix, slowly pour the whisked egg and vanilla into the butter until incorporated. Mix in the mashed bananas.
4. Using a rubber spatula, stir the dry flour mixture into the wet ingredients just until combined. Do NOT overmix. Gently fold into the batter, toasted walnuts or other add-ins, like pecans or chocolate chips. Lightly dust with flour first to prevent sinking. Again, do NOT overmix.
5. Immediately pour batter into prepared loaf pan and bake for about 55 minutes. Loosely cover top with foil the last 20 minutes to prevent over-browning. Banana bread is done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
6. Cool in loaf pan for 15 minutes, then turn out onto a cooling rack until completely cool.
7. Banana bread is best served the next day. Wrap in plastic wrap or a sealed container only after the bread is completely cool. You can also freeze a full loaf or individual slices.

Detailed recipe and instructions are in recipe card at bottom of post.

Prep

Get ready to make the batter by preparing the ingredients first: toast the nuts, sift the flour, mash the bananas, and whisk eggs and vanilla.

Mix

Use an electric mixer, hand-held or standing, for the best results.

Fold

Put the mixer away and hand stir the flour into the wet ingredients. Then gently fold in nuts or chocolate chips. Don’t overmix!

Bake

Cover with foil the last 20 minutes for a golden-brown top.

Tips for Making Banana Bread Come Out Moist

Baking is actually science, and while you don’t need to understand exactly why something works, there are reasons to do or not do certain things that impact the result.

Here’s a list of best-practices for making perfectly moist banana bread.

Use overripe bananas for maximum sweetness, flavor and texture.

Blackened bananas may look sad on the outside, but the inside is magic for baking.

As a banana ripens, starches turn to sugar and the fruit gets softer. It’s distinctly sweeter than a banana with a yellow peel, and has more intense flavor.

It’s also easy to mash for banana bread-making, with lots of moisture in it.

Measure the flour properly and sift it.

Too much flour robs banana bread of moisture.

Do not scoop flour out of the canister with a measuring cup (you’ll get too much). Use the fluff, spoon and sweep method.

Fluff the flour with a fork. Spoon it into the measuring cup. Level it off with a knife. Then sift it to break up any lumps so it mixes easier into the wet ingredients.

Do not overmix the batter for the best loaf texture.

When incorporating dry ingredients into wet, mix by hand just until dry ingredients are wet. The more you stir, the more gluten forms. This results in a tougher (not as fluffy) loaf.

Does your banana bread come out with a high crown in the center? This is a sign you overmixed the batter. Next time, stir less for a loaf with a flatter top.

Bake immediately (do not let the batter rest).

Resting the batter allows the formation of gluten which makes tough banana bread (we’re going for a super-moist texture).

Before making the batter, be sure to pre-heat the oven and grease your loaf pan. As soon as the batter is ready, get it into the prepared pan and pop it into the heated oven right away.

What is quick bread? Quick bread is any bread that is leavened without yeast. Baking soda is the leavening agent in this banana bread recipe and is activated as soon as the dry ingredients are mixed into the wet.

Check for doneness.

Oven temps and different types of loaf pans bake differently. Your loaf is done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. (I start checking around 45 minutes.)

Cover with foil the last 20 minutes.

It takes time for banana bread to bake, so cover the top loosely with foil to prevent an over-browned top. This also traps heat inside, creating steam, which makes for a more moist banana bread.

Cool completely before slicing.

Warm-from-the-oven banana bread has an irresistible aroma, but wait until it’s cool or even the next day (dare I say) for the best flavor and texture.

Cooling banana bread long enough allows the texture to come together for a nice moist crumb that holds together.

First, let the banana bread rest in the loaf pan for 10-15 minutes. Then turn it out onto a cooling rack until it’s completely cool.

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