Easy Banana Bread made with ripe bananas and sour cream is the PERFECT combo of moist rich and fluffy, and ready in only 60 minutes!
This classic bakery treat is so easy, you can enjoy it for Breakfast or dessert with all your favorites like Cinnamon Rolls and Apple Crisp!
Easy Banana Bread is super simple to throw together on the weekend and grab all week for breakfast. Plus it’s super kid-friendly. You’ll be amazed when you see that this is the BEST banana bread recipe you’ll ever taste.
You can make a few different versions of this banana bread recipe by adding a handful of semi-sweet chocolate chips or a teaspoon of cinnamon to the batter. You could even add cocoa powder with the all purpose flour to make chocolate banana bread! Plus the kids will love helping you add the chocolate chips to the bread.
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Frequently Asked Questions
The real secret to this banana bread recipe is the sour cream. That coupled with the mashed bananas is what makes this the most MOIST banana bread you’ll ever have in your life. You can use low fat sour cream to cut back on some of the calories, or swap it out entirely for applesauce, but you’ll lose some of the insanely soft texture.
To get that great banana flavor in your banana bread recipe, you want the bananas to be as brown as possible, without becoming rotten. It’s the delicate balance between over-ripe brown and way too mushy brown. Your bananas should be completely brown with practically no yellow left, with a sweet aroma.
The more ripe your bananas are, the better sweet banana flavor you’re going to get in your banana bread, and the easier they’ll be to mash.
There’s a fine balance between ripe bananas and rotten bananas. If they’re past brown to black, throw them away. You also want your banana to be softer than the usual firmness, but not completely mushy. If it is difficult to peel the banana because of how soft they are, then it’s too soft.
There’s a few ways to make bananas ripen faster. First, you can place them in a paper bag and leave them alone in a warm area for 1-2 days. The peels create ethylene gas, which fills up the bag and helps them turn brown faster.
If you don’t have time to wait for the paper bag method, try baking whole bananas at 300 degrees F for 20 minutes, or until they turn brown/black. Make sure you cool them completely before using them in banana bread. You’re using large eggs in this banana bread recipe, you don’t want the hot ingredients to start cooking them in the batter.
A banana bread recipe can fall for a few reasons, mostly to do with measuring the ingredients. If you used too much baking powder, expired leavening agents, or over mixed the dough, your banana bread will have rising and texture issues.
Also make sure you follow the directions step-by-step. You want to mix your all purpose flour with the other dry ingredients to make sure they’re evenly dispersed.
And lastly, make sure you keep a constant even temperature while it’s baking. Resist the amazing aroma of banana bread baking in the oven and leave the door closed until it’s almost done. Also, invest in a good quality loaf pan for even heat distribution. Your banana bread recipe will thank you.
Tips for Making This Easy Banana Bread Recipe
- Make chocolate banana bread by replacing some of the all purpose flour with cocoa powder, and adding chocolate chips to the batter. Melt chocolate chips in the microwave and drizzle over finished loaf.
- Use this banana bread batter in a muffin tin for banana bread muffins!
- Swap ½ cup of sugar for brown sugar to add a deeper brown sugar banana flavor and brown color to the loaf.
- Swap the all purpose flour with whole grain flour or cup for cup gluten free flour for a healthy alternative.
- Cook the butter until it browns, then let it cool before adding it to the dough for a really nice browned butter flavor.
- Drizzle the top of this banana bread with honey, icing, or a dusting of cinnamon for a decorative look. You can also add some crunch to your banana bread by adding 1/4-½ cup walnuts.
- Mash your bananas in a food processor to make banana bread faster.
How to Store Banana Bread
- Serve: Once cooled enough to slice, serve Banana Bread with butter or your favorite fruit preserves.
- Store: Wrap your banana bread loaf tightly in plastic wrap and store at room temperature for 3-4 days. You can even leave it in the loaf pan. You can also cut the banana bread into slices and store it in an airtight container. Don’t store bread in the refrigerator as it will go stale faster.
- Freeze: Freeze a whole loaf or individual slices wrapped tightly in wax paper and then plastic wrap. Freeze up to 2 months, thaw at room temperature before serving.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter , melted
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 medium ripe bananas
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and butter and flour a 9×5 loafpan.
- In a large bowl, whisk together butter and sugar before adding in the eggs, then the vanilla, then the sour cream and finally the bananas.
- Add the flour, baking soda and salt, whisking it until just combined into the butter mixture until smooth.
- Add the mixture to the loaf pan and bake for 60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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Photos used in a previous version of this post.
Can yogurt be used instead of sour cream?
Yes!
This is my go to recipe for banana bread. It’s easy, only uses 2 bananas and always turns out great. I love to add a half cup of chopped pecans to it and
instead of 2 tsp of vanilla extract I add 1 and 1 tsp of cake batter extract. Next
time I would like to try to add some mini chocolate chips for fun, will have to see how that goes. Thanks for sharing a great recipe with us.
One of the best recipes for banana bread. Super easy to make and taste great.
Hi…..for this recipe, would the temp and time be different if I used a glass pan? Thanks!
Great question Sylvie. For most recipes we recommend lowering the temperature by 25°F. when using a glass pan. Glass slows the flow of heat between the oven’s air and your batter, until the glass itself heats up. Glass pans retain heat far longer than metal pans. Start checking the bread at 1 hour to see if it pulling away from the edge of your glass pan and do the “toothpick” test. Insert in the middle of the bread and if it is “doughy” set the timer for another 3 – 5 minutes until the toothpick comes out clean!
This is great bread! I think the sour cream makes the difference with this recipe. I reduced the sugar by 1/2 a cup and added a dash of pumpkin pie spice and a handful of walnuts. I’ve followed many of your recipes, and I can say they’re consistently excellent. Thank you!
Thank you so much! Love your feedback and “adds” to this recipe! And…really appreciate the 5 star rating 🙂