Whenever I go to the supermarket I always buy bananas. Everyone in my family loves bananas. We definitely eat a lot of it, but in my house bananas means more to us than just a fruit. It’s a quick snack that’s already pre-packaged and ready to go into the kids’ lunch bags, it’s a natural sweetener for our morning smoothies, it’s that energy boost that I (really really) need right before a run, and with a little dab of peanut butter it becomes my son’s favorite afterschool snack. There are so many ways we enjoy bananas, and as a mom I am happy to know my kids are getting their vitamins from it. But our ultimate favorite way we enjoy bananas is by using it as the sweet creamy ingredient for our favorite kind of bread…banana bread.
There are countless banana bread recipes available, and trust me I’ve tried many of them, but this banana bread recipe is the one I’ve been making for years, and I have no intention of replacing it with another banana bread recipe. As with all banana bread recipes you must use very ripe bananas, but this particular recipe requires sour cream and lemon juice to further enhance the quality and taste that perhaps not all banana bread recipes have. The sour cream makes the bread super moist every time, and the addition of lemon juice over the bananas not only keeps the bananas from turning brown but it also helps maintain the full sweet banana flavor.
When I make banana bread I always double the recipe and make 2 loaves. It’s such an easy recipe to simply double and everyone will surely love you for making two. Sometimes when I am able to hide the second loaf from my family I like to wrap it up and gift it to a friend, neighbor or colleague. It’s a great way to show your appreciation to someone, or better yet a good excuse to reach out and visit a friend.
Luckily, bananas are available all year round. Anytime you want banana bread it’s just a matter of letting your bananas ripen. If your family loves bananas like mine does, then you just might have to hide a few bananas to allow them time to ripen. And if you have leftover bananas that are just too ripe to eat, then you already have the perfect ingredient to make this delicious banana bread recipe.
Recipe adapted (with slight changes) from allrecipes.com.
Banana Bread
Ingredients
- 2 medium ripe bananas
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1-1/2 cups (190g) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup (125g) unsalted butter, melted
- 1 cup (200g) white sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup (125g) sour cream
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
Directions
- Step 1 Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9×5 inch loaf pan.
- Step 2 In a medium bowl mash the bananas. Add lemon juice and stir to combine. Set aside.
- Step 3 In a large bowl add the flour, baking soda and salt. Stir to combine. Set aside.
- Step 4 In another large bowl, stir together the melted butter and sugar. Add the eggs and vanilla extract. Mix well. Add the flour mixture (from step 3) into the butter mixture and stir until smooth.
- Step 5 Fold in the sour cream.
- Step 6 Fold in the bananas.
- Step 7 Fold in the chopped walnuts (optional)
- Step 8 Spread evenly into the prepared pan.
- Step 9 Bake for 60 minutes. When a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean, it is ready. Cool loaf in the pan for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack. Cool completely.