This Bread is BANANAS

Bananas are one of my favorite healthy snacks, but I will shamelessly admit that I love to eat a couple then “forget” about the rest so I can use them for my ultimate banana bread recipe instead. Three years ago, when I was in the San Francisco Pride Parade, the company I worked for at the time bought a ton of fresh fruit as a snack for our team. As an end result of buying in bulk, we were left with a ton of apples, bananas, & cutie clementines. They completely overwhelmed our break room. We did our best to eat the fruit, but by the end of the week, our office manager offered the overripened bananas to the team to take home. I wanted to try baking banana bread in the past but never had the opportunity, because my family usually devours bananas within a few days. So that very night I was eager to finally have overripened bananas to try baking banana bread.

I’ve tried many different banana bread recipes in the past few years, & I’ve enjoyed tweaking my favorites ones in hopes of creating my very own banana bread recipe one day. Today, I’m going to share my ULTIMATE BANANA BREAD recipe, because I’ve finally perfected it. After three years of trial & error, let me tell you… this bread is BANANAS!

My Ultimate Banana Bread Recipe

  • Prep Time: 10 min
  • Total Time: 1 hr 10 min to 1 hr 15 min

Ingredients

  • 5 Overripe Bananas
  • Butter or Non-stick spray to grease
  • 2 cups of All-purpose Flour
  • 1 tsp of Baking Soda
  • 1/4 tsp of Salt
  • 1 tsp of Ground Cinnamon
  • 1 stick of Unsalted Butter
  • 3/4 cup of Brown Sugar
  • 2 Eggs
  • 1/3 cup Sour Cream
  • 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
  • Optional: 3/4 cup Chopped Pecans or Walnuts, and/or Chocolate Chips

Baking Tools

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350° F
  2. Grease loaf pan with butter or nonstick spray & set it aside
  3. Whisk the flour, baking soda, salt, & cinnamon together in a mixing bowl
  4. Mix the butter & brown sugar together until creamy in a separate bowl
  5. Add eggs to the butter & brown sugar mixture one at a time; continue to mix
  6. Mash your bananas in another separate mixing bowl or using the stand mixer bowl
  7. Add sour cream, vanilla extract, & butter & brown sugar mixture to the mashed bananas; mix until well combined
  8. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the mixture
  9. Optional: Fold in nuts and/or chocolate chips
  10. Spoon the batter into your loaf pan & bake uncovered for 30 minutes
  11. Remove from oven then cover with aluminum foil to prevent from over-browning then bake for an additional 30 to 35 minutes
  12. Use a toothpick or a fork to poke the center of the loaf. It should come out clean when fully baked.
  13. Allow bread to cool before serving

Tasty Tips

  • Banana bread is best, while served warm!
  • Top your slice of banana bread with:
  • Store at room temperature for up to 2 days
  • Store in the refrigerator for up to 1 week

Over the past three years, I’ve baked banana bread loaves for my close friends & family, because my secret ingredient to any of my recipes is LOVE. With three years of tweaking my recipe, I love to customize it for the person I’m baking for because not everyone has the same preferences. While I love putting pecans & chocolate chips into my banana bread for myself, my sister hates chocolate. I’m not opposed to pivoting & tweaking my recipe so that she can enjoy the banana bread too. I encourage you to adjust my recipe as needed for your own loved ones. Either way, I hope you enjoy my ultimate banana bread recipe! 🙂

XO Denise