Mrs. Myers’s Sweet and Moist Banana Bread
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This is the BEST banana bread! I got the recipe from a college friend’s mother, who brought the bread to every lacrosse game. It is super moist, perfectly sweet, and always was first to disappear from the dessert buffet. Make it!
It likely comes as no surprise that many fond memories of childhood sports center around food. From the orange slices at half time, to the post game treats, to the end-of-season celebrations, food visions rival the victories, the losses, the nail biters.
When I think of soccer season, I especially remember one thing: Valentina’s brownies and rice crispy treats. Valentina, a tall, striking Venezuelan, never missed a game and always arrived with big smiles, huge hugs and loads of treats, the perfect antidote for a colossal whopping. I would share the recipes with you all — I tried to get them about a year ago — but Valentina swears she always just “followed the recipe on the box.” Likely story, Valentina. Her brownies and rice crispy treats were legendary.
When I think of lacrosse season, again, I especially remember another surrogate mother, Mrs. Myers, and again, her treats. Mrs. Myers’s banana bread was moist, perfectly sweet, and always first to disappear from the dessert buffet — I looked forward to it before the games even started. Midseason I remember even devising a post-game-buffet plan of attack, hitting up the dessert table first, tucking slices of banana bread under a napkin, sometimes stashing them in my bag for later. What can I say? This stuff was gold.
I was lucky enough to obtain Mrs. Myers’s recipe from her daughter, a dear friend with whom I spent many hours in the kitchen, mostly baking, always some sort of biscotti, often cinnamon flavored with chocolate chips. I’ve been making this banana bread for about 10 years now, and it never fails to please, kids and adults alike.
I can’t wait to assume the role as soccer mom. With this recipe on hand, I’m destined to become a legend, too.
PPS: Favorite Zucchini Bread (**Award Winning**)
How to Freeze Banana Bread
To freeze: Be sure to let the bread cool completely. Wrap in foil; then tuck into an airtight bag. Freeze up to 3 months. Thaw overnight at room temperature.
How to Freeze Bananas for Banana Bread
To freeze bananas, peel them and place them in a ziplock bag or airtight container in the freezer. When you’re ready to use them, place them in a colander in the sink to drain — they’ll give up a lot of liquid and look totally repulsive, but they work beautifully.
Here’s the play-by-play: Gather your ingredients.
Note: You can use frozen bananas here. Be sure to thaw them completely and allow the liquid to drain off.
You need about a quart of ripe bananas (roughly 6 to 8).
In a stand mixer, this batter comes together in just about 10 minutes.
Divide batter between two well-buttered loaf pans. I love these Chicago Metallic 8.5 x 4.5 – inch loaf pans for this recipe. The banana bread browns beautifully, and I never have an issue getting the bread out of the pans.
PrintMrs. Myers’ Banana Bread
- Total Time: 1 hours 10 minutes
- Yield: 2 loaves
Description
Notes:
Overripe bananas freeze beautifully — just peel them and place them in a ziplock bag in the freezer. When you’re ready to use them, place them in a colander in the sink to drain — they’ll give up a lot of liquid and look totally repulsive, but they work beautifully.
To make homemade buttermilk: place 2 teaspoons of vinegar or lemon juice in a liquid measuring cup. Fill cup with milk until it reaches the 1/2-cup line. Let stand for five minutes.
Loaf Pans: I love this Chicago Metallic 8.5 x 4.5 – inch loaf pan for this recipe. You need two pans for this recipe.
Flour: unbleached, all-purpose is best
Eggs: I almost always use 4 eggs, because the eggs I buy are fairly large. Recently, the eggs I purchased were on the small side, so I used 5 eggs. I can never tell the difference between using 4 or 5 eggs, so use the amount you wish. 4 eggs will likely suffice always.
Ingredients
- 2 cups (424 g) sugar
- 1 cup (226 g) butter, softened
- 3 cups (384 g) sifted flour (or not … I never sift)
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. table salt or 1.5 teaspoons kosher salt
- 4 to 5 eggs, see notes above
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 cup nuts, optional (I never add nuts)
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 1 quart mashed bananas, about 6 to 8 (ripe to overripe)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Butter two 8.5 x 4.5-inch loaf pans. (Butter generously to ensure no sticking.)
- In a stand mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt.
- With the mixer on low, add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Add the vanilla, buttermilk and bananas.
- Add the flour mixture in two additions, and mix until just combined. Divide batter between the two prepared pans. Bake for approximately 1 hour.
- Remove from oven and turn loaves out onto cooling rack immediately. Let cool.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hours
- Category: Quick Bread
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
853 Comments on “Mrs. Myers’s Sweet and Moist Banana Bread”
This recipe looks wonderful!!! I want to try it as muffins for my quilt club. I plan to share this recipe with family in Singapore and Taiwan.
I have a few questions that I hope you can help me resolve.
I use coconut sugar and dark brown sugar interchangeably. I also use pandan essence instead of vanilla essence. I am certain these substitutions shouldn’t affect the recipe…..
I don’t stock dairy milk in my kitchen so I was wondering if I could use coconut milk instead of the dairy milk?
Could I add cashews right before baking?
Please advise. Thank you very much for your help.
Hi Bunny,
Sorry for the delay here! It sounds as though you’ve had success using coconut sugar and pandas essence, so I don’t think these should affect the outcome. And I think coconut milk should be fine bc i’ve actually made it without the buttermilk, and it came out fine — it’s just 1/2 cup, and there is a lot of batter. Yes to cashews! Yum.
Baking powder is not listed in the recipe how much would be addd and when?
No baking powder! Only baking soda. Quantity listed. Good luck! I LOVE this recipe 🙂
What size bread pans did you use?
Hi Weezy, sorry for the delay! I use standard 8.5 x 4.5-inch pans but anything similar (9×5 for instance) will work well.
This is THE BEST banana bread I have tried. I looked for while and tried several, and this is the ONLY one I will ever make.from now on. My husband loved it. Thanks!
So happy to hear this, Weezy!
This banana bread comes out beautifully and it tastes exactly like I imagined banana bread should taste (growing up in Eastern Europe, we didn’t eat a lot of bananas, and never heard about banana bread)
Since finding this recipe, I have made it more than 10 times: plain or with raisins, with nuts and sometimes with chocolate chips. When I needed something fast, I even made it using a tablet (100gr.) milk and hazelnuts chocolate that I had on hand and halved the ingredients. I ended up with a perfect loaf of freshly baked goodness and needless to say it has always been a success.
I don’t usually comment on recipes I find online, either if I like them or not, because very seldom I cook them twice. This time I feel like it is my duty to comment and praise this Banana bread. I never cooked banana bread before finding this recipe and I will never make it in a different way. Thank you!
Hi, can I use sour cream instead of butter milk ?
Hi,
I am assuming I can freeze the second banana bread with no damage to the quality – am I correct?
Thanks so much
Delicioso, Gracias
Hi! I made this bread tonight and the flavor is so so delicious. It was extremely wet though and a cake tester was still coming out wet after an hour and 45 minutes! The outside all the way around was pretty dark but the inside still wet. I followed the recipe exactly—used 4 x-large eggs and the full 4 cups of ripe/overripe bananas mashed! Anyone else have this issue or just me? Thank you!
Hi Christina! This is definitely a very wet/heavy batter, and I have had the same experience as you. One tip: You can divide the batter into 3 loaf pans, which makes for shorter loaves, but they still turn out deliciously, and they bake a bit more evenly. Also, just be sure to bake it long enough — it’s forgiving, so erring on the side of over-baking is best, and you can turn the oven temp down to prevent over-browning. Hope this helps!
Can I make this as cupcakes?
The flavor is amazing! I made this recipe with slight modification. I used 1/2 cup brown sugar and 1/2 cup of regular sugar, instead of 2 cups of regular sugar. Instead of two loaves, I made 1 loaf and the other half in cupcakes (1 dozen). They were both ready within 40-45 minutes. Thank you for sharing this awesome recipe, I’ve been searching for a while and I think I found the perfect one! Thank you so much!!
Yay!! So happy to hear this, Karen!
Made this twice I added orange zest it was awesome. Thanks
Nice!
Having frozen bananas, I let them thaw and drain the liquid, reduce the liquid to half in micro. (trick from Am Test Kit.) watch out for ‘boil-over’ let it cool down for amazing added banana flavor.
Smart!! Love this idea.
Second time making this gorgeous loaf. It’s very dense almost…custardy. I make it in one large European loaf pan and is the only banana bread that never needs frosting/peanut butter/ jam. It’s perfect – as is!
Hi, Are you using all purpose flour and should I add baking powder? Thanks
Thank you for this recipe. I love to bake and of all the Banana Bread recipes I have tried, the is the BEST! It is the only one I have been using for over 2 years and the bread always come out perfectly. Everybody loves it! I made another batch yesterday to take with us on our trip to South Carolina.
So happy to hear this Susette! I absolutely love this one, too 🙂 🙂 🙂
Hi Ali!! I love reading your blog and seeing glimpses into you and your beautiful family 🙂 I have made so many of your recipes lately bc I have been on a cooking spree lately- I made your tofu and broccoli with sesame pesto for Alex one night and he said he would love to eat this at least 1x per week going forward! Done!
Anyways, I had so many ripe bananas and so I made your Mrs. Myers B bread and it was delicious! I tinkered with the recipe and substituted 1 cup of sugar for 1 cup brown sugar bc i love the flavor of brown sugar and it did not disappoint. I love this recipe and so easy and brings back lots of great memories! Also, lots of kid friendly steps that Bobby was able to help me out with. Hope all is well!
Anne xoxo
Anne! Do you know how I often I think of you and your mom?? Your mom’s banana bread recipe continues to be one of the most popular recipes here year round. I still make it once a week. Will definitely try your brown sugar swap next time. So happy Alex liked the broccoli/tofu recipe. I love that pesto! Sending you and your family lots of love. Think of you often. Thanks for saying hi xoxoxo
The best banana bread recipe on the internet, hands down! The other day I decided to bake it, but then realized I was out of flour and regular sugar. I used almond flour and powdered sugar instead, milk instead of buttermilk. With all these substitutions, didn’t know what to expect but it came out amazingly! Super moist and flavourful!
So happy to hear all of this Edita!
This is the best banana bread that I’ve ever had or made!
So happy to hear this, Wendy 🙂 🙂 🙂
This is the best banana bread I’ve ever made. Everyone loves it and wants it. I’ve given it as gifts and I’m thinking about making it and selling it. Love love love!❤️
Yay 🙂 🙂 🙂
I made one loaf and 24 muffins instead of two loaves. This recipe was so easy and tasty. Thank you so much!
Wonderful to hear this, Betty!
This makes a lot of banana bread. I only have one loaf pan so I made one in a Bundt pan and one in a loaf pan. The loaf isn’t real tall because of the Bundt pan. But it is still substantial. I added cinnamon because I think banana bread should have cinnamon. Lol. But it is AMAZING. Thank you for sharing the recipe.
So happy to hear this, Lori! Cinnamon sounds amazing 🙂
Hello. Can I replace butter of vegetable oil?thanks
I’ve never tried, but it’s worth a shot!
My ever first banana bread. Made this recipe today! My husband’s fave, and he loved it!
oh yay! So happy to hear this 🙂
This is the best banana bread ever!! It has the *perfect* hint of cinnamon, and the buttermilk makes it super moist! 👏👍
So happy to hear this, Steph!
Hint for the day! To freeze bananas, don’t peel them! Just stick them in the freezer in the peel. To use, just take out of freezer and thaw for 30 minutes or so, peel and let sit until completely thawed.
This was amazing banana bread!
So moist and full of flavor!
Best I’ve ever made!
So happy to hear this, Sue!
This bread is amazing! We sub Pamela’s Gluten Free flour and my family can’t get enough. I think they let bananas go bad just so I can make it sometimes 😋
Oh great to hear Pamela’s works well here. So happy this worked out 🙂 🙂 🙂
Wow! This is an incredible banana bread recipe. I have made so many different banana breads and I think this will be my go to now. I followed recipe exactly, did the homemade buttermilk – turned out perfect. I was a bit worried bc my defrosted bananas were still pretty cold and they curdled the batter quite a bit. But it all turned out great!
I added a sprinkling of turbinado sugar on top to get a yummy crunchy top.
Wonderful to hear this!! The turbinado crust sounds amazing.
Only need one loaf – Can I cut this recipe in half with the same great results???
Yes!
What difference does the 4 VS 5 eggs make? I’m using this recipe in 9in round cake pans for a naked cake with a little butter cream icing.