This super soft, moist and perfectly dense brown sugar banana bread recipe is the only way we make banana bread now! With the perfect amount of banana flavor and a crackly brown sugar top, this easy-to-make recipe delivers in every way.
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Jorge, and now our kiddos, absolutely love bananas, so we always have a few that end up getting overripe — perfect for banana bread or banana muffins! I’ve tried so many banana bread recipes over the years, but I always come back to this one. The brown sugar really does add something special. Trust me, after just one bite you will be hooked!
Why I Love This Brown Sugar Banana Bread
- Crispy Brown Sugar Topping: The brown sugar gives the bread itself a rich, caramel-like flavor… but the real star is the sweet and crackly brown sugar baked into the top!
- Simple Ingredients: You don’t need any fancy ingredients; everything in this recipe is probably already in your pantry.
- Easy To Make: It’s so simple to whip together, even my kids love helping to mash the bananas and mix everything together.
- Versatile: While this is a great classic banana bread recipe, feel free to add nuts, chocolate chips, or even a swirl of cinnamon.
Looking for more great ways to use up overripe bananas? Try my favorite banana bundt cake, easy banana chocolate chip pancakes, or these swirled Nutella banana muffins!
Key Ingredients
Below you will find helpful notes for key ingredients used to make this recipe for brown sugar banana bread. Scroll down to the recipe card below for the full ingredient list and exact amounts!
- Flour: I used all-purpose flour, but you could also use whole wheat flour or a mix of the two if you prefer.
- Baking Soda: Always check your label and make sure it’s not expired!
- Salt: This is just in there to enhance the sweetness of the sugar.
- Mashed Ripe Bananas: I used about 4 large bananas.
- Vegetable Oil: You can also use melted butter in equal parts.
- Brown Sugar: It doesn’t matter whether you use light brown sugar or dark brown sugar.
- Vanilla Extract: Maple extract is also a fun addition to banana bread.
How to Make Brown Sugar Banana Bread
I love that it takes me only 10 minutes to prep this banana bread with brown sugar! Below is a quick recipe overview, but please scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post for full instructions and to watch the step-by-step video.
- Prepare: Preheat oven to 350°F and grease a loaf pan. Line with parchment paper (where it hangs over the edges) for easy removal.
- Mix the dry ingredients: Whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
- Combine with wet ingredients: Whisk together bananas, oil, brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Gradually whisk in the flour mixture until there are no more lumps.
- Top with brown sugar: Pour the batter into your loaf pan and smooth the top with a spatula. Sprinkle with brown sugar.
- Bake the bread: Bake for 50-55 minutes. Around the halfway point, loosely tent the loaf pan with foil to prevent burning.
- Let cool and enjoy: Allow the bread to cool for about 15 minutes in the pan before slicing and serving.
Tips & Variations
- Add Chocolate or Nuts: If you like chocolate chips in your banana bread, feel free to add them. Toasted nuts are also a good addition.
- Using Regular Sugar: If you don’t have brown sugar, you can definitely sub in regular granulated sugar. If you have it, you can add a tablespoon or two of molasses to imitate that brown sugar flavor.
- Use Ripe Bananas: This is where your bread will get all the moisture. Bananas with lots of brown spots are best – bananas that are totally brown and way too soft will probably have too much moisture.
- How to Know When the Bread is Done: Use a toothpick to stick into the middle of the bread. When it comes out clean, the bread is done.
- Tent Your Bread: Make sure to make a foil tent over your bread (loosely cover the top of your bread with foil) half way through baking. Otherwise your bread will get too dark on top and the sugar will possibly burn as well.
Storing and Freezing
- Storing: Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week. You can also wrap this banana bread in a couple of layers of plastic wrap. If you would rather keep it on the counter, make sure to eat it within 2-3 days.
- Freezing: Store this banana bread in an airtight container or tightly-sealed freezer bags for 2-3 months. I personally like to wrap a slice (or the whole loaf) tightly in Saran Wrap, then a layer of foil and then into a freezer bag. This may be a little overkill, but my bread is always still delicious when I thaw it again!
Brown Sugar Banana Bread Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 cups mashed ripe bananas, about 4 large bananas
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup brown sugar, optional, for topping
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Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9×5 baking loaf pan and line with parchment paper (where it hangs over the edges) for easy bread removal. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk to combine the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon until well combined. Set aside.
- In large bowl, whisk together the bananas, vegetable oil, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla extract. Slowly whisk in the flour mixture, until there are no lumps. Do not over stir the batter, just stir until the batter is combined.
- Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and smooth the top with a spatula. Sprinkle the top with optional brown sugar.
- Bake for 50 to 55 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Around the halfway baking point, loosely tent the loaf pan with foil to prevent the bread from over browning on top.
- Allow to cool for 15 minutes before removing from loaf pan. Slice and serve warm, or allow to cool completely before serving!
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Delicious! I made them into mini muffins for a family dinner with a chocolate chip spin on some!
This is my favorite banana bread recipe! It is super easy to make & comes out perfect & delicious every time! My husband, kids, and I devour it SO quickly. I’ve made it for friends and am told it is “dangerously good”, which I 100% agree with! My personal favorite is with chocolate chips! The only things I do differently is use 6 super ripe bananas and less brown sugar on top than the recipe calls for. I sometimes even make the batter ahead of time, refrigerate it overnight, and bake it in the morning, and it comes out amazing! Thank you for sharing your recipe!!
I love this bread ! I will never use another recipe again. This is a keeper.
Great recipe! I hand squish the bananas while still in the skin!
Can you use a Bundt pan
Hi Debbie! Sure you can, but it will not fill the bundt pan up unless you are using a small (or mini) bundt pan(s).
my house smells heavenly
I did switch out the oil for apple sauce
I did not use parchment paper, i greased the baking dish with butter
This Brown sugar banana bread turns out PERFECT every time I make this recipe. I enjoy adding chocolate chips and pecans to make the bread extra scrumptious!
Hey there! I was just wondering if you think bread flour would work the same?
Hi Demi! Bread flour will create a tighter crumb and a slightly different texture. Bread flour has a higher percentage of protein and is better in certain yeast breads than a quick bread. I’d recommend sticking with all purpose for this recipe. Hope this helps!
Baking soda? No baking powder? For Brown sugar banana bread?
Correct, I do not use baking powder in this recipe.
This bread is sooooo
Good ! I keep making it and telling
Everyone they can try a piece , but I
End up eating it all myself !
Delicious!
I added roasted cocoa nibs for crunch,
Great tip about using stand mixer to mash bananas!
Did let it bake about 5 min longer for a total of 60 minutes
I’ve made this twice and both times I added dried cranberries. aone time I soaked the cranberries in some bourbon first. Holy moly was that good.
I’ve made this several times now using the mini loaf pan. I’ve tried with added fruit, mini choco chips and nuts, as well as swapping the banana out with sweet potato puree. This is my favorite banana bread recipe!
So glad you love it as much as we do Dawn! I will have to try it soon with sweet potato puree, we are big sweet potato fans!
Getting rave reviews from my husband — he’s ready for us to have leftover croissants again! Thanks for the fantastic recipe!
This is the best banana bread I have ever had!
Could coconut flour be used instead of the all purpose? I’m having to go gluten free and haven’t learned to bake with alternate flours.
Hi Karen! I am honestly not sure and only have a general knowledge of gluten free baking. I’d recommend searching a gluten free banana bread recipe instead, I would hate for you to waste ingredients or have it not turn out!
So delicious try it out people wants more I sell it
Could you use both both light and dark brown sugar. Use half and half and get the best of both worlds. I want to make this and try it.
Sure!
I just made this I think I over cooked it but it’s beautiful anyways. Made it for work tomorrow. Stay tuned for taste test.
Oh and I didn’t have walnuts so I chopped some pecans and sprinkled them on top with brown sugar
Hope you enjoyed it still Karen! 🙂
Do u know if you could do this in a ninja foodi on bake or steam crisp?
I sadly am not sure as I do not own a ninja foodi. If you try it, please share how it works out!
I made this recipe this morning and my 2 young kids and I absolutely LOVE this!! In fact, our loaf is already almost gone. It came out SO moist with a strong banana flavor. We also really enjoy the brown sugar topping. I did add some raw sugar cane to the brown sugar too. My husband also enjoyed this recipe except he has never really been a big fan of treats with sugary/crumb toppings like this. Other than that, he had no complaints and said he’d like to have this again. I will absolutely be using this recipe again in the near future! Also, I only had 2 ripe bananas, so I used those plus 3 additional not-so-ripe bananas. It still came out perfect! The recommended baking time was not enough for us. We ended up adding an additional 7-10 minutes. We also didn’t use parchment paper. I greased the loaf pan with canola oil and then sprayed a layer of canola cooking spray over it. The brown sugar topping stuck to the loaf pan some, but it was very easy to use a rubber spatula and loosen it off without doing any damage to the bread. Thanks for sharing this recipe!! 🙂
Do you know how long it I would cook these as cupcakes?
I don’t have an exact time, it depends on the size of your muffins. But with standard sized muffins, I’d start looking in on them around the 20 minute mark to see how they are doing! Check them with a toothpick to confirm they are baked through!
So good!!! I just made it this afternoon with my 3 1/2 year old! Super easy recipe and directions were easy to follow! It did take a little longer than the recommended 55 minutes to cook so I lightly covered it with foil and baked an additional 20 minutes!