There’s really nothing very fancy about a loaf of classic high altitude banana bread. Sure, you could add a streusel topping (a delicious option), or a handful of chocolate chips, or drizzle it with icing. You could swirl in some Nutella, or spread the slices with butter or jam. A trend these days is to slice a whole banana lengthwise, and then bake half the banana on top of the batter for a pretty presentation.
But a really good banana bread recipe that’s moist and flavorful doesn’t need anything else to recommend itself. A thick slice of plain and simple banana bread alongside a cup of coffee makes me pretty happy. My high altitude recipe is quick and easy to make, incredibly moist and flavorful, and lightly spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamom.
Looking for more recipes like this one? Don’t miss this banana bread crumb coffee cake, caramelized banana toffee ice cream, and oatmeal with caramelized bourbon bananas and hazelnuts.
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Ingredients
Bananas. With three bananas in one loaf, the bananas are the star ingredient, as they should be. If my bananas are on the small side and don’t fill up 1 1/2 cups after I mash them, I’ll often substitute some applesauce, or extra sour cream (if I don’t have any more bananas to use).
Sour Cream. Adds moisture, flavor, and acidity, which helps the bread rise when it reacts with the leavening.
Butter. The butter keeps the bread moist and delicious. You can also substitute vegetable oil for the melted butter, if you prefer.
Sugar. Sugar sweetens the banana bread, of course, but it also adds moisture. I use a combination of both granulated sugar and dark brown sugar.
Vanilla. Flavor.
Eggs. Eggs add richness and structure to the batter.
Flour. All-purpose flour strengthens the batter so that it holds together as it rises.
Baking Soda. Leavens the batter, making it rise.
Salt. Balances the sweetness.
Spices. You can add any spices that you like – I spice mine lightly with a little cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamom. The spices shouldn’t be too overpowering, but just enough to complement all the other flavors in the banana bread.
Instructions
If you want a simple and easy to make banana bread recipe that also tastes amazing, you’ve found the perfect recipe! This banana bread couldn’t be easier to make.
Whisk together the liquid ingredients.
Melt the butter, and then whisk together all the liquid ingredients in a large bowl until smooth. Depending on how well you mashed your bananas, you may have some banana lumps throughout, and that’s perfectly fine. The mashed bananas can be smooth or lumpy, and it’ll work out either way.
Sift the dry ingredients.
Now sift the flour, baking soda, salt and spices. Add the dry ingredients to the wet, and stir just until moistened. You don’t want to over-mix your batter, or your banana bread will be tough instead of tender and fluffy.
Bake.
Before baking your banana bread, prep your loaf pan by lining it with a piece of parchment paper. The paper should hang over two sides, so that you can easily lift the bread out of the pan while it’s warm. This is called a parchment paper “sling”.
Classic banana bread has a long bake time – about 55 minutes. The top will be cracked and golden brown, and inside the bread will be so moist and delicious.
Recipe Variations
Add Nuts or Chocolate Chips.
I didn’t add any nuts or chocolate chips to my banana bread, because I kind of prefer it plain, and my boys had no complaints. It’s great on its own, or spread with a little nut butter or jam. But I wouldn’t turn down a slice of banana bread that’s studded with dark chocolate chips or chopped pecans. Both complement this classic banana bread recipe perfectly.
Try it with a Crumb Topping.
What’s better than buttery, crumbly streusel topping? It adds a crunchy texture and salty-sweet flavor that’s just wonderful. I recommend the crumb topping recipe from my pumpkin streusel bread.
Drizzle with Icing.
A pretty loaf bread drizzled with icing is irresistible. Make a simple powdered sugar glaze and pour it over the top. Vanilla or maple icing would both be great. For a fancy finish, sprinkle the icing with chopped nuts or dried banana slices.
Double the Recipe.
My boys couldn’t get enough of this banana bread, and after it was gone, I made a second loaf to hide away in the freezer until later. Now I plan ahead so I can have enough over-ripe bananas to just double the recipe. That way we can have one loaf of bread to enjoy right away, and another to tuck away in the freezer for later.
Bake it in a Showstopper Loaf Pan.
I recently bought the Nordic Ware Fluted Loaf Pan, and I’m completely in love with it. It makes the most gorgeous loaf breads and cakes, and can turn something simple into a showstopper. Just look at the pumpkin bread I baked in this pan. Isn’t it stunning?
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High Altitude Banana Bread
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups mashed over-ripe bananas (about 3 large or 4 medium bananas)
- ½ cup sour cream
- 6 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup dark brown sugar, lightly packed
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- ¾ tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- ⅛ tsp ground cardamom
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line an 8-inch loaf pan with a piece of parchment paper so that the paper hangs over two sides, and spray with non-stick spray.
- In a bowl, mash the bananas. Whisk in the sour cream, melted butter, sugars, vanilla and eggs until smooth.
- Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices. Add the dry ingredients to the wet, and stir just until moistened. If adding chocolate chips or chopped nuts, fold them in now.
- Spread the batter into the prepared pan. Bake on the center rack for about 55 minutes, until the top is cracked and a cake tester or sharp knife comes out clean or with moist crumbs clinging to it.
- Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then lift the bread out by the paper and set on a cooling rack to cool for several hours before slicing. Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to three days.
Notes
- Leftovers should be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
- Banana bread can also be baked in advance, wrapped in plastic wrap, and frozen for 3-6 months.
- Chocolate chips and/or chopped pecans would be great in this recipe – about 1/2 cup of each.
- If you like your banana bread with crumb topping, I’d recommend this recipe for streusel topping.
Followed this recipe, but made muffins instead, and topped with some turbinado sugar. Great recipe! Moist and delicious!
Excellent recipe! Made so many times and typically add chocolate chips. Loaf comes out perfectly!
Beautifully baked at 6400′ – made a completely dairy free version!
I lived at 5000 for 23 years and never made any altitude adjustments. Moved to 7500 four yrs ago and until I found you, just used my neighbor’s simple “add 1/4c flour and 10 minutes baking time to any recipe”. That worked ok, but this banana bread being the 5th recipe of yours I’ve followed, I can fully say you have made me a better baker. The Pie in the Sky author tested recipes at different elevations so I made her 7000’ brownies and they didn’t work. It may be helpful for you to know that all of your mile-high recipes come out perfect for me at 7500’. Thanks!
Marci, that’s such nice feedback, thank you!
Great recipe but the 8inch pan is too small do you have an adjustment for the smaller pan?
A 5×9 inch loaf pan is the best size for this recipe. If your pan is a little smaller, I’d recommend simply filling it with a little less batter, and baking a couple of muffins with the extra batter.
I would like to add nuts. How much should I use?
I’d probably go with 1/2 – 3/4 cup.
I made this tonight at 10,000′, using the guide from your website (King Arthur high altitude instructions) to adjust for my elevation., and I left out the baking powder completely. It took 75 minutes to bake until the center was done (toothpick came out clean). Since I only had 2 1/2 bananas, I added applesauce to get the 1 1/2C. It didn’t overwhelm the banana flavor. I will probably make this again, using altitude appropriate adjustments, and cover the edges of the pan with aluminum foil at the 45 minute doneness check to prevent over-browning. The flavor is great, and we are enjoying it!
So glad you enjoyed it! Interesting that you didn’t use any baking powder at all – did the bread still rise?
Yes, it rose just fine.
I am at 6800 ft in Ecuador. Cardamom doesn’t seem to exist here so I’ve had to omit that, but I add walnuts and grate in some ginger and it is super rico. I have a friend that I shared this bread with and now he pesters me to make it every week!
That sounds yummy with the walnuts and ginger!
6,700 ft. just outside of Santa Fe, NM. Excellent recipe! Added walnuts. Husband loves it! I sliced it and wrapped individual slices so he can grab and go as he wants. Your recipes never fail to impress!
Any suggestions for baking in mini loaf pans? Should the bake time be reduced?
I’ve never made mini sized versions, but yes, they’ll need less baking time with less batter in the pans.
Since moving to Denver, I’ve been looking for high altitude recipes. This turned out AMAZING! I added chopped pecans and it’s really tasty. It also freezes well. Thanks for sharing your baking talent.
I’m housesitting in Golden (~6,000 ft) for a couple of months and have been testing recipes for my sister’s files. This was absolutely so tasty. I used 3 1/2 bananas and did not add any nuts. I’m making another loaf tomorrow with nuts. Unbelievably moist and easy to make. I can’t find the lower altitude changes as I want to continue to make it when I return to sea level. Thank you!!
I’m so glad you love it!
Please see my FAQs for guidance on adjusting recipes for other altitudes: https://curlygirlkitchen.com/baking-faqs/
I followed the recipe exactly at 7,000 ft. It was perfect, thank you!
I’m so glad!
Worked great at 7,500 feet elevation. I had to substitute kefir for the sour cream. Will make again for sure!
I made this recipe today and made muffins instead of bread. Since I live above 10,000 feet, I made a few modifications and the muffins turned out moist and delicious! Thanks so much for these recipes!
My modifications for above 10,000 feet:
– added 3 Tablespoons of milk
– subtracted 1 Tablespoon of granulated sugar
– used only 1 egg
– added 2 Tablespoons of flour
– reduced baking soda to 1/4 tsp
– reduced baking powder to 1/2 tsp
– used 3/4 tsp salt (instead of 1/2 tsp)
– baked muffins at 350 degrees for 22 minutes
Learning how to bake above 10,000 feet!
I’m so glad you loved them, and thanks for including your altitude adjustments!
Made this recipe for Banana Bread for the first time today. It is the most moist and tasty recipe I’ve used. The bread is fluffy, too. All the other recipes handed down to me are now discarded! With browning bananas on hand and my husband threatening to toss them, I did need an easy, quick substitute for the sour cream, and found online to use 1-for-1 mayo in its place. Always see Curly Girl references in the high altitude baking group on FB. You really know your stuff, CG!