Buttermilk Banana Bread is a certainty in my life… I know I love it and I know I always will! This recipe is special not only because of the sweet, moist, and delicate crumb but because it turns out very light in color, something that is not the norm when making banana bread! If you love this recipe, don’t miss my Best Banana Muffins!
Buttermilk Banana Bread
The perfect banana bread contains one special ingredient, buttermilk! It helps to produce this light, almost white, banana bread that cannot be achieved with a normal recipe. The flavor is spot on, with all the banana goodness you would want, but also a presentation that will leave people with questions. “How did you get it so light?” The answer is simple, buttermilk. And I happen to have a homemade buttermilk recipe that you could use!
How to Bake the Perfect Buttermilk Banana Bread
I prefer a course mashing of the bananas as I love the small chunks peppered through the loaf. To achieve this simply lightly mash with a fork. If you want a smoother consistency, add the bananas to a food processor.
Make sure your baking powder and baking soda are fresh! This is what helps the loaf to have a beautiful rise and be a lighter crumb practically falling apart in your hands. The buttermilk in this recipe helps to activate the baking soda.
Stick to a tried and true method of adding the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Stir until just combined and your banana bread will bake to perfection.
Tips and Tricks
- Use ripe bananas. This may seem like a no-brainer, but I can’t tell you how many times I have heard from people that their recipe didn’t have a strong banana flavor. When asked if their bananas were ripe, the typical response is, “does that make a difference?” Yes, SO MUCH yes. If you need to ripen bananas in a pinch, try placing them on a baking sheet in a 250°F oven for about 15 minutes.
- Room Temperature Dairy. Make sure your buttermilk is not cold. This applies to the butter (and eggs, even though not technically dairy) in this recipe as well. You will find they incorporate much better and the resulting texture is second-to-none.
- Sifting the Flour. We want a tender banana bread, and this is one of the tricks to achieving that. It helps to keep the recipe consistent and make sure there are no lumps.
Can This Banana Bread Be Made Gluten-Free?
You can use all gluten-free flour substitutes. Just follow the instructions on the bag to make sure it is a 1:1 ratio with all-purpose flour.
How to Make Buttermilk Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips
We prefer to add milk-chocolate chips when making chocolate chip banana bread, but you can use whatever flavor you prefer. (White chocolate is also a great addition!) Simply fold in 1/2 cup chocolate chips and then reserve a few for sprinkling over the top before baking. For a specific recipe, check out my Chocolate Chip Banana Bread. Or, go all out and make my Triple Chocolate Banana Bread!
Looking for More Bread Recipes?
Homemade Cinnamon Raisin Bread
Buttermilk Banana Bread
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ⅛ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1¼ cups mashed bananas, approximately 3-4 ripe bananas
- ½ cup (113g or 1 stick) butter, softened
- 1½ cups (300g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- ¼ cup buttermilk, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F and spray a 9x5-inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. (Do not skip this step!) Set aside.
- In a separate medium bowl, use a fork to mash the bananas and set aside.
- In a stand mixer on medium-high, cream butter and sugar together for about 2 minutes, stopping to scrape the sides of the bowl as needed.
- With the mixer on low speed, add eggs, one at a time. Add in buttermilk and vanilla until the batter is just combined (about a minute).
- Slowly pour the flour mixture into the egg mixture, about ½ cup at a time. Mix on low until just combined.
- Remove the bowl from the mixer and fold in the mashed bananas until evenly incorporated throughout the batter.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 65-70 minutes, checking the bread at 50 minutes. The bread is done when a toothpick comes out mostly clean with a few crumbs, but no wet batter.
Did you make this recipe?
Thank you for making my recipe! You took pictures, right? Well go ahead and post them on Instagram! Be sure to mention me @iambaker and use the hashtag #YouAreBaker.
This recipe was absolutely easy and delicious. Usually my banana breads come out dark looking almost burned. This one baked and came out looking cake like. I’m glad I found this recipe because I was successful with it.
YAY!! I felt the same way the first time I made it… SOOOOOO glad you were also able to enjoy it!
Tried this recipe. The bread was moist soft and fluffy. However the inside color of my cake is not as the same color as yours.
I stirred the bananas after i mixed the flour. Mine came out light inside.
Hello! This is Cindy. I would like to try out this. But i have a few questions here regarding the recipe. What type of flour should i use? Bread flour or cake flour? And is there any substitute for buttermilk?
Hope to hear from you soon. Thanks:)
Yup – headed to the grocery store after work to buy ingredients for this deliciousness!
It’s a cold rainy day in Castle Rock CO today. I had some bananas that were past their prime, so I looked on your site and of course I found the perfect recipe! I doubled the batch and made some muffins too (and added a maple brown sugar streusel to them too!) Thanks for always having what I need for my baking days! 🙂
<3
How is it that this banana bread comes out so white on the inside?? Especially if you are using ripe bananas? Every banana bread I’ve ever made has brown flecks in it, and had a deeper interior. What’s the secret? I think I’d actually prefer the paler version! Thanks!!
When you say in this banana bread recipe that you “use two smaller loaf pans,” what size are you speaking of? In making any of the breads … pumpkin, zucchini or what have you, I always make two regular sized loaf pans. So in making YOUR recipe, how many “regular sized” loaf pans will this make? One or two? I think possibly this is a recipe for one regular size loaf pans … right?
Yes, one regular sized loaf pan is just fine. 🙂
I just used this recipe to make banana bread muffins. This recipe made 18 standard muffins. I adjusted the time to 30 minutes for the muffins. Came out great! I do think they would be good with a topping next time.
Good to know!
Okay, my family has a banana bread recipe that’s been handed down from generation to generation. Everyone in the family loves it, and i do mean everyone! Cousins, aunts, uncles, 2nd cousins, etc. while it is good, I just never loved it. Maybe I’ve just had it too many times, maybe I’m just weird, maybe I was switched at birth not really a member of this family after all! (That would explain so much) So, I ventured out, on a quest for a new perfect banana bread recipe. Sorry Grams. While I’m usually reluctant to admit that ANYONE could make something better than my family, I must be honest and say that this IS the best banana bread I’ve ever tried. This will now be my go-to banana bread recipe. My mouth says thank you. My hips, maybe not so much…
I just made this banana bread today and it came out so perfect. It has a beautiful crumb and the texture is to die for. I only had one smallish loaf pan, so I used the rest of the batter in a cupcake tin and made muffins out of it. They are delicious. It is already almost gone, and I just made it this morning. This is going into my cookbook to be rotated frequently. I might try it with a brown sugar crumb next time. So yummy
Yay!!