Sour Cream–Banana Bread
TIME/SERVINGS
Total: 1 hr 30 mins
Active: 20 mins
Makes: 1 (9-inch) loaf
By Adela Jung
This banana bread starts as a thick, tangy batter full of mashed banana, and emerges from the oven with a golden-brown crust and a moist, almost cakelike texture.
Game plan: We tested this recipe using a stand mixer, but it could easily be made by stirring all the ingredients together by hand in a large bowl.
This recipe was featured as part of our Cooking with Winter Ingredients story.
INGREDIENTS
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 very ripe medium bananas, mashed (about 1 1/4 cups)
- 1/2 cup sour cream
INSTRUCTIONS
- Heat the oven to 350°F and arrange a rack in the middle. Coat a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with butter and dust it with flour, tapping out the excess. Whisk together 2 cups flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon in a large bowl to aerate and break up any lumps. Set aside.
- Combine sugar, eggs, oil, and vanilla in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and beat on medium speed until thoroughly combined, about 2 minutes. Add bananas and sour cream and mix until just combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add flour mixture, and mix until just combined.
- Turn batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, the top is golden brown, and the bread is pulling away from the sides of the pan, about 1 hour.
- Transfer to a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes. Slide a knife around the perimeter of the pan, invert to release the bread, and cool completely on the wire rack before serving.
COMMENTS | ADD YOUR OWN
This bread has a rich taste and a dense texture. Perfect for winter weather. I substituted butter for the oil, and my bread took about 1.5 hours to cook, as opposed to the 1 hour the recipe says.
I served with butter and fig spread.
I made this yesterday after staring at a freezer full of bananas. It is super moist and yummy. I didn't even use that much oil. I increased the sour cream a bit. I also replaced half cup of sugar with chocolate chips instead. Yummy !! It did take longer than the one hour. It's all good though!!
Yum...this turned out so well! I added dried cranberries and walnuts (and I substituted canola oil for veggie oil because I didn't have any), and added a tiny bit of nutmeg and it is absolutely delicious. It looks magazine perfect and has a great fluffy yet moist texture. It actually took less than an hour so I guess it really depends on your oven. The Cook's Illustrated version is great too (they use melted butter instead of vegetable oil and yogurt instead of sour cream)...it is just a bit more dense but still really moist and yummy.
Oh yeah I actually added nutmeg to mine too. I took a photo of mine it looked so good.
I baked this bread this morning and brought it in for work; it turned out so moist and delicious. I think next time I will decrease the amt. of sugar slightly. Baking time for me was around 50minutes.
I made this bread Saturday night for a Sunday get together and one on Sunday night to bring to the office today. The second loaf was better, the first one got too brown (my fault). The bread received rave reviews from all who tasted it. Took about an hour to bake.
I like this recipe because it isn't too mushy and dark on the inside - it's light in color and more cake-like yet moist. Highly recommend this recipe and it would be excellent too with some chopped walnuts or mini choc. chips or berries, etc.
I replaced 1/2 the oil with butter (2 1/2 tablespoons each) and added 2 tablespoons Kahlua, 1/4 cup toasted walnut pieces and 1/4 cup chocolate chips and cooked about 65 minutes...OMG
kahlua is not something I would have thought to put in. I will have to try that!!
I sub'd siggi's pomegrante yogurt for the sour cream and added pom seeds to the batter. YUMMY!
Replacing regular sour cream with low-fat tastes just as excellent!