Lightly sweetened with brown sugar and with a touch of cinnamon, this moist banana bread recipe gets a hint of tanginess from Greek yogurt. Brown Sugar Banana Bread is easy to make using pantry staples, requiring just 20 minutes of hands-on prep followed by a one-hour bake. It’s freezer-friendly for meal prep and easy snacking. [ watch recipe VIDEO on the recipe card below ]
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Recipe Review: “This was absolutely delicious! And I’ll second that, this is the best banana bread recipe I’ve made.” ~ Belen
Highlights of Brown Sugar Banana Bread
When I was in pastry school, we made a lot of quick breads for the school’s cafe. A favorite, of course, was always banana bread! Classic for good reason, but it wasn’t until I started playing with the ingredients that I discovered how to create a super moist banana bread by including just a few different *key* ingredients.
Now, if you’ve made my Everyday Sourdough Discard Banana Bread, you know sourdough discard makes it extra moist. But since this recipe is classic, we’re employing tangy Greek Yogurt to bring a boost of flavor and moisture to this loaf. And the results couldn’t be better!
If you love homemade sweet bread recipes, you’ll enjoy this scrumptious banana bread.
At a Glance: How to Make Moist Banana Bread with Brown Sugar
Because banana bread is so classic, there are many recipes out there. But what I love about this recipe is that it’s lightly sweetened with 3/4 cup brown sugar verses a cup or more. So, while the brown sugar flavor is noticeable, it doesn’t mute other ingredients.
- First, prep your loaf pan, by oiling it and then optionally lining it with parchment paper. Toast the walnuts and mash three large ripe bananas.
- Second, in small bowl, whisk your dry ingredients.
- Third, in a large bowl, whisk the wet ingredients with brown sugar.
- Next, mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, fold in the Greek yogurt, and add chopped walnuts.
- Last, sprinkle the top with walnuts and bake.
I tested this recipe comparing light and dark brown sugar. Dark offers a bit more molasses, caramely flavor, richness and renders a slightly darker BB. The rise is a bit more even and lofty with dark, but the difference is subtle (light brown pictured).
Ripen Bananas in a hurry by baking unpeeled bananas in a 250 F oven for about 15 minutes or until the skin turns black. Allow the bananas to cool enough to be handled. Peel, cool completely then carry on with the recipe (epicurious).
Traci’s Tips
- Nuts: Walnuts are a perfect partner in banana bread, but you can leave them out or opt for pecans.
- Brown Sugar Cinnamon Banana Bread: I’ve included 1 teaspoon in this recipe, but for a more cinnamon-forward flavor, increase the cinnamon to 1 1/4 teaspoons.
- Flour: Make with either all purpose flour or whole wheat white flour. The results are similar!
Moist Brown Sugar Banana Bread
Ingredients
- 1 cup (110 grams) Raw Walnuts divided (1/4 cup will be used for sprinkling on top – optional)
- 1 3/4 cup (250 grams) Unbleached All Purpose Flour or Whole Wheat White Flour
- 1 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon Fine Sea Salt
- 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1/4 teaspoon Baking Powder non aluminum
- 1 1/4 cup (305 grams) Mashed Bananas about three medium bananas
- 3/4 cup (145 grams) Brown Sugar light or dark, packed
- 2 Large Eggs
- 1/4 cup (50 grams) Coconut Oil melted, warm or use canola oil
- 2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
- 1/2 cup (140 grams) Whole Milk Yogurt or Greek Yogurt plain, unsweetened
Instructions
Get Ready:
- Throughly coat a 9 by 5 inch (23 by 13 centimeters) loaf pan with coconut oil, or olive oil – get the corners good! Optionally line the pan with parchment for easiest release and removal. Set aside.
- Place 3/4 cup (80 grams) of walnuts in a pan and transfer to the oven. Preheat the oven to 350 Fahrenheit (177 Celsius). The walnuts will toast in the preheating oven for about 18-20 or until lightly toasted and fragrant. Rough chop when cool. If using the extra 1/4 cup for the top of the banana bread, they should be untoasted. Rough chop those too. Set aside.
Make the Banana Bread:
- In a small bowl, whisk the flour, cinnamon, salt, baking soda and powder. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk the mashed bananas, brown sugar, eggs, coconut oil, and vanilla extract until smooth – small banana lumps are okay. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until no dry patches of flour remain. Fold in the yogurt until no white streaks remain. The batter will be creamy and rich. Fold in the toasted walnuts.
- Scrape the batter into the prepared loaf pan and sprinkle with the remaining 1/4 cup of raw, untoasted walnuts (they'll toast in the oven).
To Bake:
- Bake the banana bread at 350 Fahrenheit for 60-70 minutes, tenting with aluminum foil at 40 minutes if the bread is getting too dark. The bread is done with a tooth pick comes out clean, the bread is golden brown and fragrant.
- Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer the bread to a cooling rack.
To Store:
- Store banana bread at room temperature in a covered container for up to four days. To freeze: freeze slices in a single layer on a sheet pan. Once frozen, transfer slices to a lidded container or freezer bag for up to two weeks. Sliced banana bread can go from freezer to toaster.
This was absolutely delicious! And I’ll second that, this is the best banana bread recipe I’ve made. Thank you for sharing your recipe with us all!
Only thing I did differently was used pecans, since that’s all I had.
And before adding the 2 eggs, I whisked them separately before adding to the bowl of mashed bananas.
Love hearing this, Belen! Thank you for your note and pecan tip! SO glad you’re enjoying the BB!
I just made two loaves. This is the best banana bread I have ever had! I followed the recipe exactly except I used high protein vanilla greek yogurt. This is absolutely fantastic, moist, not too sweet. Thank you! By the way, I really am not a fan of baking, but this was WORTH it!!! This will be our forever family banana bread recipe!
Hi Kristen! Thank you for letting us know and sending a smile. SO glad this recipe is worth the effort and your family is enjoying it!
We follow the directions to T, even went back through the recipe three times to make sure we didn’t miss anything. What we ended up with was a super thick dark crust on the outside, and essentially just banana pudding in the center. Soggy, mush. Two very disappointed kiddos. ☹️
Hi Gracie! How can I help? It sounds like the oven temperature was too high. I’m curious if you’re employing an external oven thermometer to accurately monitor the true temperature inside the oven. Oven default temperature settings often vary widely, from too hot to too cool. Using an external oven thermometer, whether a digital or analog style, indicates the true internal oven temperature, allowing you to adjust as needed. Even if you followed the directions and ingredients to a T, a too hot or too cool oven can result in improper baking.
Made this cake today using dark brown sugar & vanilla Greek yogurt. The cake was fabulous! It rose beautifully, is super moist and my husband says it’s the best one ever :)
Hooray! Love hearing this Kim. Thank you for your note. The vanilla Greek yogurt and dark brow sugar are perfect!
Love this recipe, thank you! I followed it to the T, and it turned out perfect.
Hi Kristine! Yay! I love hearing this. Thank you for your note and five star rating!
I absolutely love this recipe! How would I tweek this to make muffins?
Hi Shannon! Thank you for your note. Hooray for tasty BB! I’ve not made this recipe as muffins, but for my other muffin recipes, I use 1/4 C of batter each in tulip style muffin cups – and bake at 350F for 25-35 minutes. Do the toothpick test to test for doneness. I hope this helps!
Very Moist & Very Easy-Banana Bread.
Hooray! Thank you for your note and five star rating, DLux!
🙂
I just made the Brown Sugar Banana Bread and everyone loves it!!! I omitted the nuts but added raisins. This is definitely my new go to recipe for banana bread. Thank you Traci.
Hi Jennifer! Hooray! Super happy to hear. Thank you for your note, rating and tip about the raisins – yum!!
Hi, I made this yesterday, it was delicious! I used nutmeg instead of cinnamon and sour cream because I didn’t ave yogurt. This is my new go to banana bread! Thank you Traci🤓
Hey Thomas! Thank you for giving the BB a go and coming back to leave a note! Sour cream (omgeee) and nutmeg sound amazing!
This recipe is going to be in my regular rotation! So easy and delicious. I changed out the coconut oil for the Challenge butter/avocado oil spread because I don’t like the residual flavor of coconut and it was perfect! It also gave it that rich butter flavor and I was still able to easy mix by hand. I also made them into muffins and baked at 375 F for 16 min for a quick school day breakfast. It made 16 muffins This recipe is a winner!!!!
Hi Chrissy! Thank you for your note, FIVE star rating and sharing your helpful tips! Day made!
I made it. Easy recipe. Yummy. Thanks
Hooray! SO happy to read your note, Robin! Thank you for giving the BSBB a go :D
Oh my goodness this is so delicious..I didn’t have walnuts so I toasted pecans and you are a star! Thank you so much for sharing this is one I’ll keep!! ❤️
SO happy to hear, Lotteedottie! Thank youuu for giving the banana bread a go and returning to share a rating and note – loooove those pecans! Day made!
Made the Brown Sugar Banana Bread last weekend. It was a real hit. Was told to make this again. Thank you for a delicious recipe I actually tried and everyone loved!
Hi Marie! Thank you for your note, giving the BB a go and sending a smile! I LOL about “was told to make it again!!”
Hi Traci,
I made this banana bread this weekend and I really enjoyed it. The walnuts both inside and on top of the bread give it that needed crunch. I actually feel that it took less effort to make this bread than it does traditional banana bread, and the results were fantastic. I took a picture to commemorate how well it turned out :)
Thank you for sharing!
Hiii Kasey! Thank you for your note, rating and giving the recipe a go! Hooray for less effort and a photo of success. Aren’t the walnuts so nice? I like em’ chunky in this quick bread. So happy to hear you enjoyed the BB!
I would love to try this out but … Do you have a gluten free version ??? Or a good substitute for the all purpose flour ??
Hi Kalli! I don’t have a gluten free version of this recipe, but I do have Gluten Free Banana Nut Muffins you may like! Because I’ve not tested this recipe with GF flours, I’m unable to make a recommendation. If you play with the recipe, please let us know how it goes!
I found this recipe and decided to give it a try. When gathering my ingredients, I saw the lonely, oft unused almond flour in my cupboard and decided to give it a try. I love the taste and texture almond flour gives to recipes, and thought about this comment -so, why not? It tastes really good. I love that it’s not overly sweet, but sweet enough as I’d wondered considering it only calls for ¾ cup of sugar. It really was perfect in sweetness.
Besides swapping the almond flour for the all purpose flour (1:1) I omitted the nuts, as my family does not like nuts in quick breads.
The taste is great! Next time I will an extra egg, and maybe some extra leavening. The bread is not holding together very well and did not rise in the middle. I also think baking ‘lower and slower’ would help when using a nut flour, as it was in my oven for an hour and a half, but probably could’ve used some more time. I did cover it with aluminum foil after an hour, hoping to retain some of the heat for the center. The edges did start getting dark, but are a crispy deliciousness.
Thank you for the recipe. I will be making it again, but I’m going to try AP flour next time. 😊