A loaf of sweet and moist Betty Crocker Banana Bread is all you need to fill your kitchen with joy. Anytime is good time to enjoy a slice of this warm bread, fresh from the oven.
Reasons To Make This Banana Bread Recipe:
- The classics are classics for a reason, and this is the delicious, old-fashioned banana bread we all crave.
- See those bananas on your counter, starting to turn brown? They are perfect for this recipe.
- This is a flexible recipe, you can enjoy it plain, or add in nuts or chocolate chips.
- If you like to fill your freezer, you’ll find that this banana bread freezes wonderfully.
- Making this bread is incredibly easy, it’s even a great recipe to bake with the kids.
The recipe I’m sharing today has appeared in every edition of the Betty Crocker cookbook. That means home bakers have been baking this bread for more than six decades! Betty Crocker Banana Bread may very well have been the very first banana bread you ever tasted. Made with plenty of ripe bananas, Betty Crocker Banana Bread continues to be one of my favorites.
Betty Crocker Banana Bread
Did you grow up with the Betty Crocker Cookbook? My mother kept her copy in easy reach at all times. When she was looking for a recipe, she checked her Betty Crocker first. When I grew up and had my own kitchen, a Betty Crocker Cookbook was one of the first cookbooks I added to my shelf.
Maybe it’s nostalgia or maybe it’s because this is just a good recipe, but I still love this quick bread every time I make it.
Betty Crocker Banana Bread Recipe
What is it about this bread that’s so good?
This is a no-frills bread that comes together easily. It’s dependable and the results are always delicious, the banana flavor really shines. The recipe makes two loaves, and I love how well this recipe freezes. It’s great to keep on hand for quick grab and go breakfasts or afternoon snacks for the kids. My kids LOVE this recipe!
Betty Crocker Banana Bread is pure banana goodness enhanced by chopped nuts folded into the batter. Unfortunately I can’t add nuts due to an allergy, but if you can – by all means, do so! You can also fold in other additions such as chocolate chips, dried cranberries or other things you like in the banana bread. Since this recipe makes two loaves, I often do one loaf plain, and one loaf with chocolate chips.
Ingredients
{At a glance; scroll down for the full recipe! }
- Flour
- Bananas
- Butter
- Sugar
- Buttermilk
- Eggs
- Vanilla
- Salt & Baking Soda
- Optional – Nuts (chopped)
- Optional – Chocolate Chips
How to Make Betty Crocker Banana Bread
You can make this recipe in one bowl in just a few straightforward steps. The full printable recipe is found at the end of the post, but here’s a quick run down for you to give you an idea.
- Cream your butter and sugar together in a large mixing bowl.
- Add eggs, mashed bananas and buttermilk and mix to combine.
- Add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Be careful not to over mix!
- Pour your banana bread batter into one large loaf pan or two smaller pans. Bake for about 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
I let the loaf cool in the pan for 10 minutes before turning it out and placing it on a wire rack to continue the cooling process.
This recipe would be great with either walnuts and pecans. Use whichever you like or a combination of both! When using chocolate chips, I prefer to use mini semi-sweet chocolate chips.
Tips for Making Betty Crocker Banana Bread
There’s nothing complicated about baking this bread. Everything comes together in one bowl, so clean up is extra easy. That said, I’ve learned a few things over the years about how to make the BEST Betty Crocker Banana Bread:
- Mash your bananas well! I use a mixer to do this but you can also mash them by hands. You don’t want any big lumps of banana left.
- Use VERY ripe bananas! The riper the better. Not only do ripe bananas have a higher sugar content, they also help lock moisture into this banana bread. I get excited whenever I notice we have extra bananas going brown because it means delicious banana bread is on deck.
- Grease your loaf pan (or pans) before adding the batter. A thin coating of canola oil, butter or cooking spray is all you need to ensure the loaf slips out easily.
- If you don’t have buttermilk it’s so easy to make your own!
Homemade Buttermilk
9 times out of 10, I don’t bother running out to buy a carton of buttermilk to bake with. You can make your own! Check out my homemade buttermilk post for the recipe.
Dairy Free Banana Bread
To accommodate my daughter’s dietary needs, I’ve often made this recipe dairy free. To do so I use Earth Balance sticks in place of butter, and make homemade buttermilk using vinegar and Ripple Milk. We use Ripple Milk due to a nut allergy, but if a nut milk was an option, we would likely use that instead. By also using an egg replacer, you could make this recipe vegan.
More Banana Bread Recipes To Try
You might also enjoy some of these other recipes with banana:
- Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
- Cinnamon Banana Bread
- Lowfat Pumpkin Banana Bread
- Simple Banana Bread
- Banana Bread Muffins
- Banana Bread With Sour Cream
Betty Crocker Banana Bread is pretty much guaranteed to end up delicious. This is THE tried and true banana bread recipe. My mother baked this bread, my grandmother baked this bread and chances are good yours did too. I hope you enjoy it as much I do!
Betty Crocker Banana Bread
Equipment
- Two 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 2 1/2 inch loaf pans
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter softened salted butter is fine to use as well
- 2 large eggs
- 1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas approximately 4-5 medium bananas
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cup chopped nuts or semi-sweet chocolate chips OPTIONAL
Instructions
- Move oven rack to a position that will allow the top of loaf pans to be in the center of oven. Then preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease the bottoms and halfway up the sides of two loaf pans. Set aside.
- Mix together butter and sugar in a large bowl until light and creamy. Add in eggs and mix until blended. Add in bananas, mix until blended. Add in buttermilk and vanilla and mix until well blended. Add in dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Do not over mix. Fold in nuts or chocolate chips if using. Pour batter into two loaf pans, dividing equally.
- Bake for approximately 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. Remove from oven and allow to cool on a wire rack, in loaf pans, for approximately 10 minutes. Then gently loosen the bread from the side of the pans with a dull knife or spatula, and remove loaves from pans. Allow to cool completely, for about two hours, on a wire cooling rack.
Notes
Nutrition
Originally published January 2020
Josh says
MMM, this sounds tasty! How does it vary in flavor compared to greek yogurt versions?
Christi Johnstone says
A Greek yogurt version will be slightly less rich and moist. This is definitely the traditional, moist banana bread.
Rick says
Simply delicious!
Freckled bananas are perfect for this.
Brenda Braswell says
I have made this bread for many years, always wonderful!
Ronda says
Could I double the recipe and bake in a 9 x 13 pan?
Christi Johnstone says
I haven’t tried so I can’t speak to the results.