Secret Ingredient SUPER MOIST Banana Bread (2024)

The BEST banana bread recipe made incredibly moist by adding a secret ingredient! It may seem odd but once you’ve made it this way, you’ll never make it without it again!

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I have tried dozens of banana bread recipes through the years looking for THE BEST one. To me, that means, tons of flavor, tender texture and above all else, it must be super moist.

I mean, so moist that you don’t have to slather it with butter and you don’t have to pop it in the microwave before it’s worth eating.

I will always enjoy warm banana bread and love butter on just about anything but truly great banana bread shouldn’t require either to be delicious.

I’ve tried almost every recipe out there that calls itself “The Best!” or has “moist” in the name and some have come close but none have hit the mark I was after.

So I got to thinking… remember how my cornbread world got rocked earlier in the year when my buddy, Amanda used mayo in my recipe instead of sour cream??

Whoa, don’t freak out!Just stay with me… stay with me… I know it seems unorthodox, if not downright wrong, but y’all, I am telling you, this is it. This is the secret to SUPER MOIST banana bread. That stays moist.

As I’m typing this, I’m eating a slice that’s 4 days old, that’s been stored in a NOT airtight cake stand, and it tastes, smells and feels exactly like it did the day I baked it. Not one crumb has fallen off.

I can’t tell you why mayonnaise is the miracle cure (seriously, it’s just eggs, oil and a nip of vinegar... maybe because the fat is emulsified??). All I can tell you is that THIS is the best banana bread I’ve ever eaten in my entire life and I will never make it any other way.

NOTES ON MAKING SECRET INGREDIENT SUPER MOIST BANANA BREAD:

I only use Duke’s Mayonnaise but I’m sure any quality, traditional mayo will work (Hellmann’s, Kraft, Blue Plate, etc). Just don’t use Miracle Whip or anything sweet and tangy like it.
It’s an optional step but I highly recommend sifting your flour, baking soda and salt together. I’ve made banana bread one too many times that had little white nuggets in it from clumps of flour and/or baking soda. If you’re going to add nuts, don’t worry about it because any little white spots will just look like a chunk of pecan or walnut.
Speaking of, you can absolutely add chopped nuts to this! Add 1/2 cup or so when you mix in the flour. Husbands HATES nuts in anything sweet (yes, it is sad) so I don’t put them in mine, but I love pecans in banana bread.

I know warm banana bread, fresh from the oven, is the stuff of dreams but IF you can, try to resist getting into this until it’s completely cool – and let it cool in the pan. It will be EVEN MORE moist if you can let it cool in the pan. Remember, this banana bread doesn’t have to be warm to be moist and delicious – it’s going to be fresh-from-the-oven soft and tender for daaaaays.
Use 3 large or 4 small bananas. Just don’t use too many. Too much banana will yield dense bread and you’ll have a hard time getting it to cook through. I actually measured to see how much 3 large overripe bananas would yield and it was right at 1 1/2 cups. If you’re unsure, just mash them up and measure.
Don’t use a whisk to stir in the flour and only stir it long enough to combine it into the wet ingredients. Stirring develops the gluten in the flour which will create air pockets in quick breads like this and make it tough.
It’s also important to pour the batter into the pan as soon as it’s ready then bake it immediately. Overworking the batter will develop gluten and so will leaving it wet for too long before baking.

Recipe for Secret Ingredient SUPER MOIST Banana Bread

I love this recipe so much I used it to make pumpkin bread and apple bread! Check out my recipes for Perfect Pumpkin Breadand Apple Pie Bread too!