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Carla’s World’s Best Banana Bread Recipe

Close-up of a moist slice of the world’s best banana bread showing its rich, brown crumb texture.
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This is the ultimate banana bread recipe, perfected over years to deliver superior moistness, a tender crumb, and deep banana flavor. It is the highly rated, bakery style banana bread you have been searching for.

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
  • 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 cups mashed very ripe bananas (about 3 to 4 large bananas)
  • 1/4 cup milk (whole or 2%)

Instructions

  1. Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease and flour a standard 9×5 inch loaf pan.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Set this dry mixture aside.
  3. In a large bowl, use an electric mixer or a sturdy spoon to cream together the softened butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
  4. Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla extract.
  5. Add the mashed bananas to the butter mixture and mix until just combined. Do not overmix at this stage.
  6. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mixing on low speed or by hand until just incorporated. The batter will be thick.
  7. Gently stir in the milk until the batter is smooth. Be careful not to develop the gluten too much; stop mixing as soon as no streaks of flour remain.
  8. Pour the batter evenly into the prepared loaf pan.
  9. Bake for 55 to 65 minutes, or until a wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out clean or with moist crumbs attached.
  10. Let the banana bread cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Then, carefully remove the loaf from the pan and let it cool completely on the wire rack before slicing for the best texture.

Notes

  • Use bananas that are heavily spotted or almost entirely black for the deepest flavor.
  • For an extra moist banana bread, you can substitute the 1/4 cup of milk with 1/4 cup of sour cream or plain yogurt.
  • If the top begins to brown too quickly during baking, loosely tent the loaf with aluminum foil for the remaining cook time.

Nutrition

Find it online: https://cookingbycarla.com/worlds-best-banana-bread-recipe/