Try my Best Banana Bread recipe with 3 ripe bananas and easy secret tricks—chef-perfected & fan-approved with 1500+ reviews. Moist and tasty!
- 1½ cups (7 ½ oz/ 213 g) all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup (2¼ oz/64 g) quick cooking oats
- ⅔ cup (5 oz/142 g) granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (8 oz/225 g) mashed banana (3 small bananas)
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- ⅓ cup (2 ½ fl oz/71 ml) whole milk
- ¼ cup (2 fl oz/57 ml) vegetable oil
- 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
-
Preheat your oven to 350°F (180°C). Prepare a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan with parchment paper.
-
In a medium bowl combine the flour, oats, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.
-
In a separate large bowl, finely mash the bananas with a fork. Whisk in eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla.
-
Pour the dry ingredients into the bowl with the wet ingredients and mix by hand just until combined. Do not over mix as this can make the banana bread tough.
-
Pour the banana bread batter into the pan and bake for about 55 minutes or until a toothpick or cake tester comes out clean. While the bread cools I like to cover the warm bread with foil which moisten and softens the bread.
-
Enjoy as is with a cup of tea. Store at room temperature wrapped in cling wrap for up to 3 days. It also freezes really well for up to 4 weeks.
Watch the Recipe Video!
- Don’t use green, under-ripe bananas!
It is best to use brown, older bananas for a much sweeter and more pronounced banana flavor. Plus they’re way easier to mash. - Don’t mix all the wet ingredients and bananas together!
Speaking of mashing, mash the bananas first, then add the other wet ingredients. Mashing the bananas in the bowl by themselves first will allow you to get them much smoother and mushier. That is harder to do once the oil, milk, etc. are in there. - Don’t just dump all of the dry ingredients into the wet!
Always mix the dry ingredients in a separate bowl before adding them to the wet ingredients. By doing this you are ensuring your raising agents, spices, and salt will all be evenly mixed before the next step. - Do NOT over-beat your batter!
Gently mix the batter together gently until just combined. Leaving lumps is totally fine. Over-mixing means you can develop the gluten in the flour resulting in much tougher bread. Nobody wants a tough slice. - Don’t forget the parchment paper!
Always line your loaf pan with parchment paper. This is such a heavy, large loaf and you just want to buy yourself extra insurance that it will easily pop right out of the loaf pan. - Do not open the oven while baking!
Resist the urge to open that oven while baking!!! Opening the door in the first 20 minutes of baking lets out the steam and hot air and can cause the banana bread to fall leaving you with a flat loaf.