Super Moist Banana Bread

This super moist banana bread is incredibly soft, tender and packed with banana flavor. The extra moistness is due to five simple ingredients & techniques: very ripe bananas, oil instead of butter, creamy Greek yogurt, rich brown sugar and a slightly lower baking temperature. In the tips section below, I will explain how each one of these helps to create a very moist banana bread.

Recipe Sections

1. Ingredients
2. Instructions
3. Helpful Tips

While this really moist banana bread was created by maximizing baking “science”, it is still pretty simple to make. Excluding the baking time, it takes me about 10 to 15 minutes to prepare and clean up. There are no exotic ingredients and no super advanced baking techniques required.

Super Moist Banana Bread – Straight from my Oven

Ingredients – Super Moist Banana Bread Recipe

• 1 1/2 Cups – Mashed Bananas (ripe) – 345 grams – This is roughly 3 large bananas but use exactly 1 1/2 cups of mashed bananas for the best results.
• 1/4 Cup – Plain Greek Yogurt – 59 milliliters – You can also use sour cream.
• 1/2 Cup – Vegetable Oil – 115 milliliters – Use a neutral tasting vegetable oil such as corn oil or mild/light olive oil.
• 2 – Large Eggs – 114 grams – Large eggs (not extra large or jumbo eggs).
• 1 Teaspoon – Vanilla Extract – 5 milliliters
• 1/2 Cup – Light Brown Sugar (packed) – 107 grams
• 1/2 Cup – White Granulated Sugar – 100 grams
• 2 Cups – All Purpose Flour – 240 grams
• 1 Teaspoon – Baking Soda – 5 grams
• 1 Teaspoon – Baking Powder – 4 grams
• 1/2 Teaspoon – Salt – 3 grams
• Optional – 1 Teaspoon – Ground Cinnamon – 3 grams – Some people love cinnamon in their banana breads & others do not. Your choice!
• Optional – 1 Cup – Fresh Blueberries or Cranberries – 100 grams – The addition of juicy berries will make this banana bread extra moist!

Servings – Roughly 12 slices

Equipment Needed – Measuring cup & spoons, mixing bowl, long wooden spoon, 9 by 5 inch metal bread pan, oven mitts, silicon spatula, cooling rack and an oven.

Batter for Super Moist Banana Bread

Wet Ingredients & Sugar for Super Moist Banana Bread

Instructions – Super Moist Banana Bread Recipe

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (163 degrees C).
• Mash bananas with a fork.
• Lightly beat eggs.
• Mix mashed bananas, Greek yogurt, vegetable oil, eggs, vanilla extract and sugars together in a large mixing bowl. Stir until completely mixed.
• Mix in the remaining ingredients (except optional fruit). Stir until the batter is fully mixed. FYI – I prefer to use a large spoon to mix the batter. An electric mixer can overmix the batter and this can lead to gummy & rubbery banana breads.
• Optional – If you want to add blueberries or cranberries, you should gently stir in 1 cup of blueberries or cranberries (after you have completely mixed the rest of the batter).
• Pour the finished batter into a nonstick or greased bread pan. Smooth out the top of the batter within the bread pan.
• Bake in the oven at 325 F (163 C) for 70 to 75 minutes.
• Take out of the oven and let the banana bread cool down in the bread pan for 10 minutes. Do not remove the banana bread from the bread pan during this 10 minute cool down period. Use oven mitts as the bread pan will be very hot coming out of the oven. FYI – Do not skip this step as the “cool down” completes the baking process.
• After 10 minutes, remove the banana bread from the bread pan. Place the banana bread on a cooling rack in order to completely cool. This cool down may take 1 to 2 hours. FYI – Gently slide a silicon spatula between the banana bread and the bread pan walls if the banana bread is stuck in the pan.
• Please READ the tips section below for extra information on how to make this recipe successfully & to avoid common banana bread problems.

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Helpful Tips – Super Moist Banana Bread Recipe

• The tips below are designed to help banana bread “novices” and/or people with limited baking experience.
• Click on this “print recipe” link if you want to print out this recipe. It includes all of the recipe’s ingredients and instructions. However, the recipe print function does not include my tips section. Please read the tips section in order to avoid common recipe problems.
• This recipe is part of Bread Dad’s series on easy Banana Bread Recipes such as eggless banana bread, banana nut bread and chocolate chip banana bread.

• Bread Dad wanted to create a SUPER moist banana bread so I did some extra research on the science of “moist” baked goods. Based on this research and my experience developing tons & tons of different banana bread recipes, this banana bread is moister than many other banana breads due to 5 scientific reasons:
• Moisture Secret 1 – It uses very ripe bananas. Ripe bananas have more natural sugars and a higher moisture content than unripe green bananas or even nice unblemished yellow bananas.
• Moisture Secret 2 – It contains Greek yogurt. Greek yogurt adds moisture, fat and protein. These help to create a moist, soft & tender banana bread. Why? Fat creates a richer, creamier & moister “mouthfeel” and protein helps to structurally retain moisture. FYI – If you don’t have Greek yogurt, you can use sour cream as a replacement.
• Moisture Secret 3 – It uses vegetable oil instead of butter. Banana breads made with oil tend to taste moister than banana breads made with butter. Why? Because butter is usually a solid at normal room temperatures whereas vegetable oil is a liquid. Because the oil is a liquid, the banana bread feels moister.
• Moisture Secret 4 – It contains some brown sugar. Brown sugar contains molasses, which is hygroscopic (which means it attracts and retains moisture). This factor helps to create a banana bread that is softer and moister than one using only white sugar. For more info on this baking characteristic, you should read the Wikipedia article on hygroscopy.
• Moisture Secret 5 – It uses a slightly lower baking temperature versus many other banana bread recipes. My recipe uses a baking temperature of 325 F whereas many of my peers use 350F. While using a lower baking temperature will add more time to your baking, it also reduces the potential for overbaking and drying out a moist banana bread.

• If you want to make this super moist banana bread even moister then try these bonus tips:
• Bonus Moisture Tip 1 – Add fresh blueberries or cranberries to your banana bread. These juicy berries will add extra bursts of moisture throughout the banana bread.
• Use whole blueberries or cranberries. Don’t cut them in half (so the juice leaks out) or you will be adding too much unplanned moisture to the banana bread (and this will throw off the baking time).
• Bonus Moisture Tip 2 – Don’t overbake your banana bread. Use a digital bread thermometer to test the internal temperature of this very moist banana bread. This will help you to determine when it is perfectly baked (and avoid an over or underbaked banana bread).
• Since this is a very moist banana bread, I strongly recommend using a digital bread thermometer to test your banana bread. Given potential ingredient measuring variations & oven temperature differences, the extra moistness of this recipe might throw off the baking time slightly. Testing the internal temperature of the banana bread will allow you to more accurately determine when it is done.
• FYI – Banana bread is ready when the internal temperature reaches 200 to 205 degrees F (93 to 96 C). If the internal temperature is below this range, your banana bread will be underbaked and more likely to sink in the middle. If it is higher than this temperature range, the banana bread could be overbaked and turn out drier with a harder crust.
• Visitors – Do you have an extra tips on how to make a super moist banana bread? Add your moisture suggestions to the comment section below.

• Optional – You can turn this into a super moist banana nut bread by replacing the 1 cup of blueberries/cranberries with 1 cup of chopped walnuts or chopped pecans. You can break the chopped nuts into smaller bits for better distribution in the batter.
• Optional – Or you can create a moist chocolate chip banana bread by replacing the 1 cup of blueberries/cranberries with 3/4 cup of mini chocolate chips. I like to use mini chocolate chips (versus regular-sized chocolate chips) because they “float” better in the batter and thus you get a better distribution of chips.
• HOWEVER, if you don’t have mini chips, feel free to use REGULAR-sized chocolate chips. If you decide to use regular chocolate chips, you should use 1 cup of regular chocolate chips (versus the 3/4 cup of mini chocolate chips).
• FYI – 3/4 cup of mini chocolate chips equals roughly 1 cup of regular-sized chocolate chips. Why? Because there is more air ‘pockets” between the larger regular chips. Therefore, there is less air between the smaller mini chips and thus there is a greater density of chocolate.
• Optional – To create a more unique/special extra moist banana bread, you can replace 1/2 of the chocolate chips with different chips such as butterscotch chips, peanut butter chips, caramel chips or cinnamon chips.
• Visitors – What extra ingredients do you like to add to a super moist banana bread? Chocolate chips? Blueberries? Chopped nuts? Coconut flakes? Other? Please post your banana bread secrets & improvements in the comment section below.

• Use RIPE bananas for the BEST flavor and moistness. Ripe bananas are soft and have a yellow peel covered with many small black spots.
• Hard bananas with yellow/green peels are too starchy and have much less banana flavor and moisture.
• A beautiful pure yellow banana (without any spots) is not fully ripe!!
• For the most consistent & best results, you should use a measuring cup and measure out EXACTLY 1 1/2 cups of mashed bananas. This will help to prevent your banana bread from being too dry or too wet. Given the variability in banana sizes, you are more likely to have problems if you use 3 random-sized bananas (as you might be adding too much or too little liquid) versus using exactly 1 1/2 cups of mashed bananas.
• Don’t try to sneak in a little extra banana because you have some leftover banana (after mashing your bananas) or you want even more banana flavor in your banana bread. The extra banana will throw off the liquid-to-dry ingredients ratio of the recipe. In turn, you are more likely to get a sunken middle, an underbaked banana bread, a wet & dense banana bread and/or a “weaker” banana bread (more likely to fall apart if it hasn’t been fully baked).

• Optional – If your bananas are not super ripe, many of my visitors like to mix 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon into the banana bread batter. The ground cinnamon helps to “help” any missing banana flavor.
• My recipe uses a 50/50 mix of brown sugar and white sugar. Why? Because the use of 100% brown sugar can sometimes create a gummier banana bread (especially when combined with all of the extra moisture “secrets” in this recipe).
• Optional – If you like less sweet banana breads and your bananas are very ripe and thus contain lots of natural sugars, you can use 2/3 or 3/4 cup of sugar (instead of 1 cup) to make this very moist banana bread recipe.

• Use a neutral-flavored vegetable oil (e.g. corn oil) for the best results when making this extra moist banana bread recipe. Strongly flavored oils (such as extra virgin olive oil) can negatively impact the flavor of the banana bread.
• If you want to use olive oil (e.g. for health reasons), I would recommend using a “mild” or “light” olive oil as it would have the least impact on the flavor of this really moist banana bread.
• A number of my visitors like to use avocado oil to make their banana bread. Avocado oil has a neutral flavor and is high in monounsaturated fats. However, as you are probably aware, avocado oil is usually significantly more expensive than corn oil.
• Optional – To add a mild tropical flavor to this very moist banana bread, you can try replacing the vegetable oil with unrefined food-grade coconut oil (cooking oil). Be aware that unrefined coconut oil has a mild coconut flavor whereas refined coconut oil has a more neutral flavor.
• Visitors – What oil do you like to use to make a moist banana bread? Olive oil? Coconut oil? Corn oil? Avocado oil? Other? Please post your oil suggestions & tips in the comment section below.

• As I stated near the top of the tips section, banana bread made with vegetable oil tends to taste MOISTER than banana bread made with butter. The main reason is because vegetable oil remains liquid at room temperature whereas butter turns back to a solid at normal room temperatures.
• Moreover, about 15-20% of butter is water and some of this evaporates during the baking process (leading to a drier banana bread). In contrast, very little or none of the oil evaporates during the baking process.
• FYI – Some of my visitors like to use a 50/50 blend of oil and butter because they are trying to get the best of both ingredients (more flavor & more moistness).
• Visitors – Do you like to use vegetable oil, butter or both when making a really moist banana bread? Please leave your butter & oil thoughts in the comment section below.

• Store your ingredients (e.g. flour & sugar) in airtight containers to avoid “funky” flavors & smells being added to your baked goods. Airtight containers also prevent contamination by dust, pests, etc.
• Flour absorbs moisture from the air (if it is kept in an open bag and not an airtight container). This extra moisture can throw off recipes and leads to overly wet batter and/or underbaked banana bread.
• This recipe uses all purpose flour. Do not use bread flour to make banana bread or it is more likely to turn out dense and/or gummy. Banana bread recipes work best with all purpose flour.

• Do NOT use an electric mixer to mix your ingredients (when combining the wet and dry ingredients). Stick to an old fashioned wooden spoon. An electric mixer can overmix the ingredients and the banana bread will turn out rubbery & gummy.
• Make sure to use level teaspoons & tablespoons when measuring ingredients (such as flour and baking soda). You can level off the ingredients in a measuring spoon or cup with the flat back of a butter knife or similar utensil. No “mountains” of ingredients in your measuring spoons & cups!! Adding too much of an ingredient can lead to recipe problems (such as too much flour can result in overly dry baked goods).
• Many of my international visitors like to use a kitchen scale in order to more accurate measure their ingredients.

• To prevent your banana bread from sticking to the bottom of the bread pan, you should consider either “greasing” the bottom of the pan with butter or vegetable oil, using a cooking spray, using a nonstick pan or lining the interior of the bread pan with baking parchment paper.
• Some ingredients (such as chocolate & blueberries) are very sticky after the baking process. These ingredients often make the bottom of a banana bread hard to get out of the pan (without damaging the banana bread).
• Baking parchment paper is probably the best method for avoiding the problem of a potentially sticky “bottom”.
• FYI – Baking parchment paper is NOT regular paper. It is a specialty paper designed for use with baking.

• This doesn’t happen often but if the top of the banana bread looks too moist or undercooked, you should try the “toothpick test”. Gently push a long wooden skewer into the top of the bread and see if any batter sticks to the wooden skewer. If batter is sticking to the skewer then it hasn’t completely cooked. Place the bread pan back into the still hot oven for another 2 or 3 minutes. Make sure to wear oven gloves because the bread pan will be very hot. After the 2 or 3 minutes, remove the bread pan and test the banana bread again with the wooden skewer.
• Instead of the “toothpick test”, many people like to use a digital bread thermometer to test if their banana bread is done. Generally, a “quick bread” (e.g. banana bread or pumpkin bread) is done when the internal temperature reaches 200 to 205 degrees F (93 to 96 C). Just make sure to measure the temperature in the center of the loaf for the most accurate reading.
• Make sure that your oven has been completely preheated. If the oven has not been properly preheated, this quick bread could come out undercooked. I like to use a hanging oven thermometer to check my oven temperature and ensure the oven has been properly preheated.
• It takes roughly 10-20 minutes to preheat most ovens with some variability due to the size of the oven, planned baking temperature (hotter takes longer), etc.
• FYI – Do not open your oven during the baking process in order to “check” on the banana bread. This will allow the hot air to escape & cold air to rush in and this can cause your banana bread to collapse.

• Problem with a sunken or collapsed middle in your banana bread? Then check out my Why Does My Banana Bread Sink In The Middle? page for reasons & potential solutions.
• Problem with dry banana breads? Check out my Tips For Making A Moist Banana Bread for information on how to avoid making dry banana breads!
• Long-term storage – If you want to keep your banana bread for more than 1-2 days (depending on your home’s temperature & humidity), you will need to freeze it. Please read Bread Dad’s How To Freeze Banana Bread for more details.

• In case, you didn’t see this in the “equipment used to make this recipe” section, this recipe is based on using a standard 9 by 5 inch metal bread pan. This means that the interior of the bread pan (not exterior) measures 9 inches in length, 5 inches in width and 2 1/2 inches in depth/height. Of course, Bread Dads are crazy about exact measurements… thus the use of measuring tapes! Ha!
• Please use the suggested 9 x 5 inch bread pan to make this recipe. If you start using different sized pans, there is a greater potential for bread top collapses (potentially less bread pan “wall” support for the quick bread as it rises), different interior batter to exterior crust ratios (thus the need for different baking lengths), smaller pans are more likely to overflow, etc.
• My recipes are based on using a metal bread pan and NOT a glass bread pan. Glass bread pans bake faster than metal bread pans. If you use a glass bread pan for my recipes, you are more likely to overbake your banana bread (e.g. burnt crust).
• My recipes are based on using a regular oven and NOT a convection oven. Convection ovens bake faster than regular ovens and require less baking time than what is stated in my recipes.
• For the best results, I recommend using the right tools when making banana bread. Check out my Banana Bread Equipment Guide for more details.

• Place your banana bread in the middle of your oven. If you place it on the top or bottom racks, the banana bread may be too near the oven’s heating element and bake faster than expected.
• Always try to use relatively FRESH baking soda & powder for the best results. For example, using baking soda from an open container (that has been deodorizing your refrigerator for months) may lead to subpar results. Old & hard baking soda/powder may lead to rising problems and/or leave small bitter clumps in your walnut banana bread.
• If you have a problem with a banana bread recipe, please make sure that you are following the recipe exactly (e.g. using the correct oven temperature), using the correct amounts of ingredients (e.g. don’t eyeball the measurements versus using a measuring cup or accidentally add a tablespoon when a teaspoon is called for), using the correct ingredients (e.g. baking soda/powder versus yeast or all purpose flour versus bread flour), etc. Please don’t “wing” things with recipes.

• My recipes are based on US ingredient measurements (e.g. US cups & tablespoons). However, as a courtesy to our European visitors, I have also included some very ROUGH European equivalents (e.g. grams & milliliters). Since I rarely use European measurements when baking, please let me know in the comment section below if any of the European ingredient measurements need to be changed (e.g. for XYZ ingredient, milliliters are more commonly used versus the grams information listed in the recipe).
• Always wear oven mitts/gloves when dealing with a hot oven and bread pan.
• For more delicious banana bread recipes (e.g. banana nut bread or eggless banana bread), please visit Bread Dad’s sections on easy Banana Bread Recipes.

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Reference Sources

1. Wikipedia, Banana Bread
2. Wikipedia, Brown Sugar
3. Wikipedia, Greek Yogurt
4. Wikipedia, Hygroscopy
5. Wikipedia, Vegetable Oil

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