My all time favorite banana bread recipe is Martha Stewart’s Banana Bread recipe.
I have been making this recipe for close to twenty years. It is my favorite banana bread recipe. I make it more often then any other banana bread I have tried.
It came from Martha Stewart’s Entertaining Cookbook, which was her first book, published in 1982. Martha Stewart likes to make her recipes just a little different then the average one. This one is no exception.
Martha takes a basic banana bread and makes it special by adding sour cream. Yes, it makes it less healthy and more cake-like, but it is so good!
I have served this so many times, and people always ask me for the recipe. After they make it, it quickly becomes their favorite as well.
When I have enough ripe bananas, I love to double this recipe so that I have a loaf to put in the freezer for an easy breakfast or dessert.
My kids get confused with banana bread. They can never figure out what it is. One time, I’ll serve it for breakfast, then another time I’ll serve it with a meal, and yet another time I’ll serve it for dessert.
Breakfast, side dish, or dessert, whatever you choose, Martha Stewart’s Banana Bread is delicious!
Gluten Free Banana Bread
This recipe also works well gluten free. I now use Bob’s Red Mill’s 1 to 1 Gluten Free Blend and it works great too. It is so good that no one will know it is gluten-free!
Ingredients
- butter
- sugar
- eggs
- all purpose flour or Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 Gluten Free Flour Blend for a gluten free version
- baking soda
- salt
- ripe bananas
- sour cream
- vanilla
- pecans or walnuts, optional
- 1/2 cup butter room temperature
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 1/2 cups flour Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 Gluten Free Flour Blend works well for a gf version
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup mashed bananas
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts optional
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
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In a mixing bowl cream butter, sugar, and eggs.
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In another bowl combine the dry ingredients and add to the butter mixture. Mix well.
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Add the bananas, sour cream, and vanilla. Stir well.
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Stir in the nuts if using. Pour into a well greased loaf pan.
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Bake for 55-60 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes then turn onto a rack to cool.
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Slice and enjoy!
More Martha Stewart Recipes
For more Martha Stewart recipes, check out my Martha Stewart Cooking Challenge.
The original picture I posted in 2008. Post updated April 2025.
Thanks for this fantastic recipe. I made it to surprise my sister on her birthday (she loves anything banana) and it was a big hit. The bread was very light with a nice moist crumb, different from most banana breads than tend to be dense. I used a non-dairy sour cream just because I had it (I bought it out of curiosity) and it worked fine.
Lynn,
I have made this twice in the last 3 days. I love the way the bread tastes. Excellent banana bread, but please tell me what I am doing wrong. The middle of the bread is on cooking enough and the outside is turning very brown. If I cook it longer, won’t I burn the outside?
Thanks for any help you can give.
@Eileen, My suggestion would be to place foil over the top of the loaf for just the last 10 minutes or so. I just gently lay it across. I have never done this with this recipe but I have with many other breads. This usually keeps the outside from getting too brown and will allow you to cook it a little longer with out ruining it. I hope that helps.
Eileen
I too make this bread all the time, but I have a little secret. I save up frozen very ripe bananas so I have enough to at least double the recipe. Then I grease a 9×13 Pyrex dish and pour in the batter…because it’s shallow, the bread cooks evenly and I I cut it into smaller loaves and sometimes have 5 little loaves I can share with my neighbors…It cooks a little quicker then the recipe says…but this works for me…then I wrap in Serrano wrap warm and then again in foil and either give away or store what we don’t eat in the freezer.
Enjoy
Linda Cavaille
Salem, Oregon
Thank you for sharing how you make the banana bread! I have made banana bread into cake many times, but I love the idea of making it in a 9×13 pan and cutting it up to freeze or give away.
Hi Lynn,
I’ve never made banana bread before, and always wanted to try. You and your wonderful recipes have never lead me astray thus far, so I’m gonna go ahead a make it.
One question: How “ripe” should the bananas be? Should the outside be yellow, greenish, or black?
Thank you!
~Linda~
@Linda Bond, Not green, they are best when they are at the yellow brownish stage. Ones with bruises work fine also. Usually I use the bananas that are past the stage that most people will eat them. I hope that helps.
Flour means bread flour or all purpose flour?
Thanks.
@Renee, Hi Renee, I am sorry that it took so long for me to get back to you. The flour in this recipe is just your basic all purpose flour. I hope that helps.
Thanks 🙂
Do you think I can make this without sour cream?
@Sara, The sour cream is what helps make this moist, but I have used yogurt in place of the sour cream. I hope that helps.
That was quick! thank you so much
About how many bananas make a mashed cup?
@Dana, Usually about three. I hope that helps.
Thanks. I am baking this right now.
Best banana bread ever! Works equally well with vanilla low fat Greek yogurt instead of sour cream.
This banana bread is moist, tender and sooo tasty. My husband loves it too!
I am so glad you like it. Thanks for letting me know!
I made this bread but made it into muffins, it was moist and great. I added Choco chips, I also added 1 teaspoon baking powder and 3/4 tsp of baking soda instead of 1 tsp in the recipe. To make the muffin top rise, I place it in the oven at 400 degrees first for only 5 minutes, then 350 degrees for the next 12-13 minutes. Thanks for the recipe. The sour cream made a huge difference and I cut back on the sugar used only 1/4 cup instead because of the ripe banana and Choco chips.
I love making quick breads into muffins so thanks for sharing what you did. I agree with the sour cream in this. It is what makes it so good. And of course chocolate added always makes it better. 🙂
Question:
Will this Banana Bread turn out just as good if l am using ripe bananas that have been frozen?
This looks like a recipe worth trying and making a gluten free one for my daughter as well.
Thanks Lynn
They should work fine. I hope you enjoy it!
There is a Banana Cake recipe that is a Mennonite recipe that uses 4 cups of bananas that is unbelievably delicious and I love that it uses so many bananas because we sometimes have that many turning brown at the same time.
Hi Lynn – love your site and recipes, thank you. I wanted to add that I use frozen bananas, let them thaw for a bit and mash and they work great, plus I have used buttermilk instead of sour cream and it gives the loaf a nice texture. For a larger group, the same mix goes a long way if you make muffins. I also add in cinnamon 1 tsp.
Thank you for sharing what you do. I have not tried this with buttermilk, but will soon. And yes I love this recipe as muffins too. The muffins freeze well for breakfast.
What would be your cooking time for muffins?
18-20 minutes. Same oven temperature. I hope you enjoy them!
18 minutes was perfect in my dark muffin tin. We are enjoying one now! I nededto put 2 in a lighter pan and they needed a couple more minutes. Thanks!
I made this banana loaf but my problem is it would rise so high in the oven but when I take it out it fell and I follow the recipe to a T I have three dozen loaves to make and it is not turning out well.Could you tell me what I am not doing?
Often that happens when the bread is not quite done in the middle. Was the texture of the bread fine?
I made this recipe exactly as Lynn suggested with Bibs 1 to 1. Oh my goodness!! It worked perfectly! My gluten free buddy at school was amazed!
I am so glad that you enjoyed it! I love helping others make gluten free easy and delicious!
When we were remodeling our kitchen in 2016 somehow my recipe box with all my hand-me-down family recipes disappeared. I have been sick about it, but try to tell myself that people who have had a fire or tornado are much worse off than me of, course. But here I am at Thanksgiving trying to remember my Nana’s Banana Bread recipe.
I used to make a huge amount of loaves to give as gifts so you would think I would remember the recipe.
It had milk with a Tbls of vinegar added to to curdle it…so basically buttermilk. Also she used Crisco not butter. I know that is a no-no now, but tasted wonderful. I see a lot of recipes with Vanilla in them…I don’t think Nana would have liked that. Anyway I need the recipe closest to Nana’s…with the curious black squiggles running through each piece.
Not pale cake.
I would have been so sad to lose family recipes, but you are right, it could have been worse! Maybe some day it will show up in an odd or unusual place. I am glad I could help with this recipe. It is one of my favorites.
This sounds just like my wonderful, sweet late mother’s recipe. I have to be gluten free now, and it is so good that Bob’s Mill 1 to 1 gf flour works in it. I hate trying out gluten free recipes made from regular flour and then wasting all those ingredients when it fails. Thank you for trying to do that for me! My mother put raisins in hers, and it would be heavenly to taste it again. I miss her everyday.
I hope you enjoy the gluten free version. I love hearing stories about family recipes, so thank you for sharing that! I have never had raisins in banana bread, but that is a good idea and a way to change it up.