The Best Banana Bread Recipe

August 12, 2023August 12, 2023

The Best Banana Bread Recipe By: Cece Kirkwood This post may contain affiliate links.

This is THE BEST BANANA BREAD RECIPE.

I mean it. It is the perfect amount of moist and melt in your mouth deliciousness that will give any weekday morning a little pick-me-up. Thanks to the peanut butter and chocolate chips, this isn’t your grannie’s banana bread. This is… the best banana bread.

I think I love banana bread so much because bananas are one of the only things we consistently buy at the grocery store that society has accepted and even encourages you to let it go “bad”. I mean how fun is that?

I will literally buy 4 bananas, knowing that I will put them in the fruit basket, forget about them and then inevitably bake banana bread a week later. It’s so silly. And yet, I keep buying them, thinking I’ll eat them ripe and yet… I don’t.

So grab those over ripe bananas you definitely have sitting in the kitchen and let’s get to baking.

The Best Banana Bread Recipe Process

Preheat the oven to 350ºF, grease and line a bread pan and pre-measure the ingredients. Then, in a large bowl, mash the ripe bananas using a fork, potato masher or a hand held electric mixer.

To that bowl, add the melted butter, peanut butter, sugar, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla and whisk together. You can use a handheld whisk or a handheld electric mixer. Set that banana mixture aside.

Ingredients for The Best Banana Bread Recipe

Eggs, sugars, peanut butter, butter and vanilla added to the mashed banana in a large glass bowl

In a separate, medium sized bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. Fold in that combined dry to the banana mixture, using a rubber spatula. Be sure to combine all the flour and not to miss any dry spots! Finally, toss in the chocolate chips and mix that on up!

Dry ingredients added to the banana mixture

Banana bread batter added to a large glass bowl

chocolate chips added to the banana bread batter

Once your batter is fully combined, add that to the greased and lined bread pan. Finally, before baking, dip a butter knife in a little bit of melted butter. Then, run that knife through the center of the banana bread batter. This will create a perfect “crack” down the banana bread while baking.

Now its time to place the banana bread batter in the oven and bake for 60 – 65 minutes. The bread will be fully baked when a toothpick can be stuck into the bread and it comes out clean.

Once completely baked, remove the bread from the oven and allow it to cool completely (1-2 hours) before removing from the pan, slicing and devouring!

Chocolate chips added to the top of the best banana bread recipe in a bread pan

Melted butter dipped into the banana bred batter

The Best Banana Bread Recipe baked and in a bread pan

The Tips

Do I have to use peanut butter in this recipe?

While I am a peanut butter fanatic, I know many people either do not like it or are allergic to it. So don’t worry… you’ve got options. The best substitute for peanut butter in this recipe is a little bit of plain, honey or vanilla flavored greek yogurt. You can swap this out 1:1, but do not just omit the peanut butter. The banana bread will end up a bit too dry.

My top 2 banana bread tricks:

#1 How to line a bread pan

Banana bread (or any loaf bread) can be tricky to remove from the pan. So what I like to do is generously spray all sides of the pan. Then I’ll take two long strips of parchment paper and place one long-ways and another horizontally in the pan. These two strips create little “handles” to lift the best banana bread out of the pan once its cooled down.

#2 Getting the perfect “crack” on the best banana bread

To get that perfect banana bread “crack” down the center of the best banana bread, simply melt a little bit of butter. Then take a butter knife, dip it into the melted butter and run the knife down the center of the banana bread batter once it is in the pan. This butter will guide the banana bread during the rise in the oven and give you that perfect “crack”.

Why is this recipe in grams?

Baking is a science and in science you want things to be exact and precise. The best way to do this is by weighing out your ingredients using a simple scale. Ever baked a cookie using the same recipe, yet somehow it turns out slightly different each time? That is because when measuring by volume, you can’t be as precise. It is vital that your ingredient ratios are accurate for a reliable bake every time.

How long does the best banana bread recipe last?

Wrapped tightly, this banana bread will last up to 1 week in the fridge. I like to keep mine cold and either eat it a little chilled or warm it up slightly in the microwave. Place a little bit of melted butter on top and oh my goodness… this banana bread is delicious day after day.