No.2 The 100 Most Popular Recipes Ever · October 2026

Banana bread

Made famous by Elise Bauer

Photo: Shisma, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

From Simply Recipes.

Simply Recipes' one-bowl banana bread has been among the most visited recipes on the internet for twenty years, and banana bread is one of the most searched recipes every year.

Ingredients

• 3 very ripe bananas (about 1 1/2 cups mashed, 340 g), peels well freckled or black
• 1/3 cup (75 g) unsalted butter, melted, plus more for the pan
• 1 tsp baking soda
• Pinch of fine salt
• 3/4 cup (150 g) sugar (use 1/2 cup if your bananas are very sweet)
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups (190 g) all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup (60 g) chopped walnuts (optional)

Steps

1. Heat the oven to 350F (175C). Butter a 9 by 5-inch loaf pan.
2. In a large bowl, mash the bananas with a fork until mostly smooth, with a few small lumps left.
3. Stir in the melted butter, then the baking soda and salt.
4. Stir in the sugar, egg and vanilla until well combined.
5. Add the flour and fold with a spatula just until no dry streaks remain. Fold in the nuts. The batter will be thick and a little lumpy.
6. Scrape into the pan and smooth the top. Bake 50 to 60 minutes, until the top is deep golden and cracked and a skewer in the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs. If the top browns before the middle is done, lay foil loosely over it after 40 minutes.
7. Cool in the pan 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack. Slice when just warm; it slices more cleanly once cool.

Chef's tips

• To ripen bananas fast, bake them in their skins at 300F for 15 to 20 minutes until black, then cool.
• Wrapped well, it keeps 3 days on the counter and freezes for 3 months.

← No. 1Toll House chocolate chip cookies→ No. 3No-knead bread