Sour Cream Banana Bread
A basic banana bread recipe that calls for sour cream. You can use bread flour or you may use all-purpose.
Servings 12
Ingredients
- 1 stick unsalted butter, softened 4 ounces/114 grams
- 1 cup granulated sugar or use ½ cup brown and ½ cup white
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups bread flour or all-purpose (weigh if possible) (210 grams)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon salt reduce to half if using salted butter
- 1 cup mashed ripe bananas about 3 (sometimes 4 or up to 11 oz weight)
- ½ cup sour cream
- ½ cup toasted and chopped walnuts optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 9x5 inch loaf pan or use an 8 ½ by 4 ½ inch loaf pan for a slightly taller loaf.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar until creamy.
- With mixer on low speed, beat in the eggs one at a time. Increase speed to high and beat for 30 seconds. Beat in vanilla.
- In a second bowl, thoroughly whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt. Add to the batter and stir by hand until mixed. Stir in the bananas, then stir in the sour cream and nuts.
- Pour into the pan (make sure to leave at least an inch for it to rise, so not quite full) and bake for 55 minutes to an hour or until a meat thermometer inserted in the center registers between 205 and 210.
Notes
My loaves sometimes come out a bit lighter in appearance, and it seems to depend on what type of flour I use (bleach vs. unbleached) and how many bananas I use. If I go a little short on bananas it's whiter and more bananas makes it darker. Unbleached flour also makes it a little darker.
You can also halve the recipe and make a rather petite but nice 8x4 inch loaf. If you do this, check the bread at 40 minutes. A Bundt pan may also be used, but make sure to grease and flour it very well. And finally, this bread is also good with melted butter. If you use melted butter you can skip the electric mixer and just beat everything together with a spoon.
You can also halve the recipe and make a rather petite but nice 8x4 inch loaf. If you do this, check the bread at 40 minutes. A Bundt pan may also be used, but make sure to grease and flour it very well. And finally, this bread is also good with melted butter. If you use melted butter you can skip the electric mixer and just beat everything together with a spoon.