Banana Bread is one of our absolute favorite treats. My girls love it and honestly I do too. There is something so comforting about warm banana bread, it just makes a perfect after school snack or homemade gift.
Whenever I pop over to a Starbucks I can usually count on the girls starting to ask for the Banana Bread. They just love it.
I have been playing with various recipes for banana bread for awhile now and finally stumbled across one that we really like and that is very, very close to what we usually get at Starbucks stores.
This one is simple to make, packed with banana and is delicious plain, with nuts or add some chocolate chips for a real treat.
This recipe is actually from Starbucks directly so hopefully you like it as much as we do!
For this recipe you can totally omit the walnuts but they really do add so much flavor. You can always substitute chocolate chips for the walnuts which would be delicious.
*****NOTE: I use a large loaf pan (10 3/4″ long, 5″ wide, 3 1/2″ tall)- if you have a smaller loaf pan, you might divide this into 2 batches or fill your pan 2/3 high and use the remaining batter in a muffin pan. Another option is to bake in a 9×9 dish.
- 2 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 egg
- 1⅛ cup sugar
- ½ cup vegetable or canola oil
- 2 tablespoons buttermilk or milk
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- 3 bananas mashed very well
- ½ cup chopped walnuts (optional)
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
- Add flour, baking soda and salt to a small bowl and set aside.
- Mix egg, sugar and oil and stir until well combined
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir well. The mixture will be thick and dry.
- Next add milk, vanilla and bananas and stir until incorporated.
- Mix in walnuts and pour into a loaf pan.
- Cook 50-75 minutes, checking regularly until a knife comes out clean.
Note the success of banana bread depends on bananas. You really want super ripe or slightly brown bananas for the best flavor.
If your bananas are fresh you can place them in a brown paper bag closed tightly for a day or two to help them brown, keep them attached at the stem for faster ripening or if you need them brown right away, place them in a 300 degree oven for 30 minutes and then let cool for 30 minutes. For delicious meals and desserts like these; check out Publix recipes. Be sure to place foil or parchment under the bananas before popping them in the oven as they may leak a tiny bit.
If you want an authentic Starbucks experience, add nuts to the dough and sprinkle on top as well.
So give this recipe and shot and come back and let me know what you think! If you want to freeze this bread, it freezes beautifully. Just let it completely cool, tightly wrap in saran wrap and then pop into a freezer bag.
When you are ready to have the bread, simply pull out of the freezer and let it defrost.
This recipe is slightly adapted from Food.com, based off a recipe released by Starbucks directly at a media event.
And here are a few other recipes you might enjoy:
Chocolate Cinnamon Rolls – perfect for Christmas morning!
Just made this at 11 at night. It’s WONDERFUL. I’m vegan so I substituted a flaxseed egg and soy milk (could use almond or other plant milk). I baked it at 325 for 20 minutes. Checked it and it was baking too fast. So I put the oven at 310 and baked for another 30 minutes and put aluminum foil on top. It came out perfectly! Other banana bread recipes always come out gooey in the center and cracked but not this one! Great recipe!
Thanks for noting your modifications. So happy it turned out. Gooey- undercooked banana bread is the worst. 🙂
Grease the pan?
Hi Christina, you don’t need to but it does make the bread easier to remove.
Wish I would have read the comments about the lower temp. Made two loafs and both were not cooked in the middle but browning way to fast…..
Hi Lindsay- no problem at all. Just put a little tin foil around the edges. The middle will continue to cook and the edges won’t brown.
My mother wanted a recipe for banana bread to use her ripe bananas. I found this recipe and we have used 3-4 times now! This is tried and true!!!! Delicious! My mother has 3 grandsons and they devour this bread in 2 days flat!
Ha ha! 2 days? It takes that long? 🙂 So glad you liked it!
Charlene
Is this a recipe for 9×5 bread pan?
I made this tonight and it was wonderful! Unfortunately not as moist as I wanted but that could have been a temp/time issue. I wish I could add a picture because it looks so pretty! I added pecans instead of walnuts and chocolate chips.
Is it plain flour or Self raising please
Hi Alyssa-
Hmm… I am sorry it wasn’t moist. Mine usually is. Maybe lower the temp slightly next time as you mentioned. Pecans and chocolate chips sound amazing!
Hi Christine- I use plain white flour not self rising.
Tried this recipe. Although I saved the pin, it’s not the best banana bread recipe I have tried. I would put a kayer of cinnamon and sugar in the m8ddke of the dough and in top to add a little flavor, and use 4 bananas instead of 3.
Thanks for your suggestions Deborah!
Very easy to make and taste delicious 🙂
Thanks for coming back to share your opinion Yeow! Glad you liked it!
Followed your recipe to a ‘T’ and turned out moist and delicious. Husby loves fact we can portions as big as we want and cost to prepare is around same price of single slice at Starbucks. Thank you Charlene.
Whoo hoo! So happy to hear that Sharon 🙂
Does this really taste similar to the starbucks bread?
Great recipe! I doubled it and put it in 4 smaller pans. 7″ I think. Cooked well at 325 for about 45 min.
Hi Tiffany- I like this recipe a lot. The Starbucks one is slightly oilier and I believe has more sugar but this comes pretty close. 🙂
So happy to hear that Kim!
Hi I just made your banana bread… followed the recipe exactly.. although it tasted very good.. mine was very dark on the inside…what could have caused that….?
Hmm… dark on the inside? The only think I can think is the rack position maybe? Do you remember where the rack was placed in the oven- was it low or higher up?
Maybe someone else has some thoughts because I am stumped. 🙂
-Charlene
The flavor was good, but mine turned out hard on the outside and a bit dry on the inside…
Hard and dry? Is it possible you baked a little too long or the oven temp might have been too high? Sorry to hear it was dry. I haven’t had that issue. 🙁
320° at 75mins…
Yes definitely overbaked. Ovens don’t always bake at the temperature indicated on the control panel. Next time you might consider lowering the temperature to 300 and start checking it at 60 min. If the center is undercooked and the outside is starting to brown, I like to put strips of foil all around the edges of the bread just to prevent the sides from getting overbaked.
I just followed your instructions, but will definitely do what you’ve just suggested and let you know. Thank you for your quick response… I really appreciate it ❤
For all my fellow Europeans:
Do not believe people who say you should add more sugar. Don’t. Less sugar. We are used to much less sweet things and you don’t need so much sugar anyways.
If you bake the bananas first, they will be sweet enough. I recommend like 3/4 cup of sugar.
Thank you for the recipe
I also added chia seeds to make it more interesting 🙂
I baked banana bread at 325° for 75 minutes. But it was still runny in the middle. I baked for another 15 minutes to get the middle to bake trough. I did cover with parchment paper. What size loaf pan should be used based on temp and time for this recipe?
Deborah- runny in the middle after 75 minutes? Have you ever tested the temperature in your oven? The loaf pan I usually use is:
Large: 12″ x 5″ x 3 1/2″ high; 3 lb. 8 oz
You can also use a 9×9 square baking dish too or divide the loaf into two smaller pans or muffins as others have mentioned.
Hope that helps!
Charlene
I made this using butter in place of the oil. It turned out perfect! Yummy- we all loved it. Will be my go to recipe for banana bread now.
This is my new favourite banana bread recipe. I reduced the sugar by half a cup and used pecans in place of walnuts.
Yum! I love pecans in this bread 🙂
I was really happy with this overall, but I definitely agree with Alex & Pam – reduce the sugar. I dropped it down to 1 cup, but will use less again next time as it was still super sweet.
Made this on Saturday. ….delicious
Thanks for the comment Nancy. 🙂 So happy you liked it.
I have made this four times in the past three weeks (lots of bananas in the freezer). It is AMAZING! Beats the recipe my mother and grandmother have been using for years, but I will deny if ever asked. I have shared this with family and friends, all of which loved it. Do not grease the pan, you won’t need to.
Can I make this in an 8×8 dish if I don’t have a bread pan?
Hi Meg- absolutely!
So happy to hear that Alexandra! 🙂
Does this recipe double well?
Hi Karen,
I am trying to think if I have doubled this. I am sure I have but for some reason I want to say it is better to just make two batches rather than double this one. I want to say I wasn’t as happy with it when I doubled but I could be thinking of another recipe.
Sorry I really should know that answer but at the moment I am drawing a blank. 😉
Have you tried using gluten free four
Judy I have not tried it. Maybe someone else has though and will share their results with us 🙂