Description
My Hawaiian Grandpa Clarence was famous for his tender Sour Cream Banana Bread…and now you can make it too!
Made with sweet, overripe bananas, tangy sour cream, and a generous amount of vanilla, the resulting treat is always super moist with a beautiful banana flavor.
Bake it into a loaf or muffins, be sure to add nuts or chocolate chips, and share generously with those you love – just like Grandpa! 🤙🏼🌺
Ingredients
Scale
- nonstick cooking spray
- 4 large, overripe bananas
- ½ cup unsalted butter (1 stick), at room temperature
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- ¼ cup sour cream
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- optional add-ins: ¾ cup dark chocolate chips or chopped nuts of choice (macadamia nuts, walnuts, etc.)
Instructions
- Prep: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F, ensuring a rack is positioned in the center of the oven. Spray a 9×5 or 8.5×5 loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray. Set the pan on a small baking sheet and set aside.
- Mash the bananas: Remove the bananas from a peel. Place on a cutting board. Using a fork, mash the bananas into a smooth mixture, doing your best to eliminate any large lumps or bumps. 4 large, overripe bananas should yield about 1 ¼ – 1 ⅓ cups mashed bananas. Set aside.
- Cream the butter: Add the butter and sugars to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Turn the mixer on medium-high speed and cream the mixture for 2-3 minutes, until the butter is light and fluffy. Stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Mix the wet ingredients: Add the eggs to the bowl one at a time, mixing well between additions. Add in the mashed bananas, sour cream, and vanilla. Mix until combined well, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Mix in the dry ingredients and finish the banana bread batter: Add the flour, baking soda, and salt to the bowl. Mix until just combined; take care not to overmix as doing so leads to a dense loaf. If using, gently fold in the chocolate chips and/or chopped nuts, mixing just until combined. Transfer the banana bread batter to the prepared loaf pan, filling the pan no more than ¾ full.
- Bake the banana bread: Transfer the pan to the preheated oven. Bake 65-70 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean. We like a deeply golden brown crust, but if you’d like a little less color, you may want to carefully tent foil over the loaf pan after about 45 minutes.
- Cool and serve: Once baked, set the banana bread aside to cool completely (waiting is the worst part, but Grandpa Clarence was a stickler for allowing the bread to cool!). Run a knife around the edge of the pan to carefully remove the loaf, then slice and serve with salted butter as desired. Enjoy!
Notes
Jess’ (and Grandpa’s) Tips and Tricks
- Add-ins: Grandpa most often made his banana bread with chopped walnuts or macadamia nuts, but when baking with his grandkids, chocolate chips were a non-negotiable. He’d often use mini chocolate chips for a more even distribution throughout the loaf and he always let us sprinkle extra over top. These days, I like to use a combination of mini chocolate chips and dark chocolate chips for extra texture and rich flavor.
- Or, make banana muffins! This banana bread recipe also bakes up wonderfully into a batch of muffins. Line a muffin tin with paper liners and fill them ⅔ full. Bake 20-25 minutes, until the muffin tops are browned and a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffins come out clean. One batch yields 15-18 standard muffins or 12 bakery-style muffins using larger parchment paper liners. Larger muffins will require a slightly longer bake time.
Storage and Freezing
- Storage Instructions: Once cooled completely, wrap the banana bread loaf tightly in plastic wrap and store at room temperature for up to 5 days.
- Freezing Instructions: Once cooled completely, wrap the banana bread tightly in a few layers of plastic wrap, then transfer to a freezer bag. Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight at room temperature.