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Banana Bread (Classic)

Banana Bread (Classic)

Updated October 24, 2026

A tall, tender loaf with deep banana flavor from very ripe bananas, nutty brown butter, brown sugar and a little sour cream, with a crackly sugar top. Measured carefully so it bakes all the way through without a gummy center.

Bananas not ripe yet? Bake them unpeeled on a sheet at 300°F for 15 to 20 minutes until the skins are black, then cool and mash. They'll be sweeter, though naturally ripened bananas still taste best. Toast the nuts in a dry skillet over medium-low heat for 4 to 5 minutes, shaking the pan, until fragrant.

Using frozen bananas: thaw them in a bowl. Drain off the liquid, simmer it in a small pan until it's reduced to a syrupy spoonful or two, and stir it back into the mash. That keeps the flavor without the extra water. Muffins: divide the batter among 12 lined muffin cups and bake at 350°F for 18 to 22 minutes.

Cook time
2 hrs 55 min
Rating
…

Ingredients

Scale
Measurement units
  • ½ cup unsalted butter
  • 2 cup all-purpose flour (250 g; spoon into the cup and level off)
  • 1 tsp baking soda (make sure it's fresh)
  • ½ tsp fine salt
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
  • ¾ cup light brown sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • ⅓ cup sour cream (full-fat)
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 ½ cup very ripe bananas (about 3 large or 4 medium, 340 g; heavily speckled to mostly black)
  • ¾ cup walnuts or pecans
  • 1 tbsp turbinado sugar (for a crackly top)

Instructions

Prep the pan and oven
Heat the oven to 350°F with a rack in the middle.
Grease a 9x5-inch metal loaf pan. Line it with a strip of parchment that hangs over the long sides, so you can lift the loaf out later.
Equipment: 9x5-inch metal loaf pan, parchment paper
Brown the butter
Melt unsalted butter (½ cup) in a small light-colored saucepan over medium heat. Cook, swirling often, until it foams, goes quiet, and the specks on the bottom turn amber and smell like toasted nuts.
Pour it right away into a large bowl, scraping in all the browned bits. Let it cool while you mix the dry ingredients.
Equipment: small light-colored saucepan, two mixing bowls
Whisk the dry ingredients
In a medium bowl, whisk together all-purpose flour (2 cup), baking soda (1 tsp), fine salt (½ tsp), cinnamon (1 tsp) and nutmeg (¼ tsp).
Equipment: two mixing bowls, whisk
Mix the wet ingredients
Whisk packed brown sugar (¾ cup) into the brown butter until smooth.
Whisk in eggs one at a time, then sour cream (⅓ cup) and vanilla (1 tsp).
Stir in mashed bananas (1 ½ cup). A few small lumps of banana are fine.
Equipment: two mixing bowls, whisk
Fold the batter
Add the dry ingredients to the wet and fold gently with a spatula, scraping the bottom of the bowl, just until you can't see any dry flour. The batter will be thick and a little lumpy.
If using, fold in toasted nuts (¾ cup) with the last few strokes.
Equipment: rubber spatula
Fill the pan
Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.
Sprinkle evenly with turbinado sugar (1 tbsp) for a crackly top.
Equipment: 9x5-inch metal loaf pan, rubber spatula
Bake
Bake 55 to 65 minutes. Avoid opening the oven for the first 40 minutes; if the top is getting dark by then, lay a sheet of foil loosely over it.
It's done when a thermometer in the center reads 200 to 205°F, or a skewer in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs but no wet batter, and the top springs back when pressed.
Equipment: 9x5-inch metal loaf pan, instant-read thermometer
Cool before slicing
Let the loaf cool in the pan.
Lift it out by the parchment and set it on a wire rack. Let it cool at least an hour before slicing, so the crumb sets.
Equipment: wire rack, parchment paper

Tomorrow's Meal

Banana Bread French Toast

Thick slices of day-old banana bread dipped in cinnamon custard and griddled in butter until crisp outside and custardy inside.

You'll need to pick up:

2 eggs1/2 cup milk1/4 tsp cinnamon1 tbsp buttermaple syrup for serving

Quick overview:

  1. 1.Whisk the eggs, milk and cinnamon in a shallow dish
  2. 2.Melt the butter in a nonstick skillet over medium-low heat
  3. 3.Dip 1-inch-thick slices for a few seconds per side; they're fragile, so don't soak them
  4. 4.Cook 2 to 3 minutes per side until golden and set
  5. 5.Serve with maple syrup

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