Have you guys ever seen a banana tree in real life? They’re kind of freaky looking. I think I’ve seen them before when I was a kid visiting Thailand with my parents, but I must have put them out of my mind because of how strange they look. I saw a bunch of banana trees recently in Hawaii, and even here in LA and they’re just as scary as my five-year-old self thought they were.
I can’t imagine who saw bananas and thought they would be good to eat. I’m guessing we can thanks our monkey friends for figuring that one out. Speaking of monkeys, do you know that they like to peel them from the “bottom” end – opposite the stem? I forgot who taught me how to do that, but it’s the only way I open bananas now. I like the built in handle that you can hold on to and when you open them from the “bottom” end, which is actually the top, if you’ve ever seen a banana tree, the fruit inside doesn’t end up mushy or bruised.
Then again, sometimes all you want are mushy old bananas. Especially when you’re going to make banana bread. I’ve written quite a few posts about banana bread – apparently I’m pretty passionate about it – and if you’ve read any of them you know that I’m on a quest for the ultimate banana bread.
I’m forever asking people what their favorite banana breads are so I can test them out. Alana gave me a heads up for this recipe and I couldn’t wait to give it a go. I thought it would make a sweet gift for one of my close friends – she’s a banana sweets fiend (her fave is banana cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory) and she just had an adorable baby boy named Oliver.
This loaf was almost everything I dreamed. The flavor was intensely banana-y and the crumb was small, tender and moist. The only thing missing was a domed top. To me, flat top loaves just don’t have that same appeal. If I could figure a way out to dome this baby it would be the ultimate. In any case, it’s still my current top banana bread and that’s saying a lot, coming from me!
PS – Fun fact and also a little bit of insight into my crazy brain: another friend had gifted a loaf of banana bread and I couldn’t resist asking Amy which bread was better. She very sweetly said “yours, of course.” I’m not sure if I believe her though…
Flour Bakery's Famous Banana Bread
Ingredients
- 1 2/3 cups all purpose flour 210 grams
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar 230 grams
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup canola or other flavorless oil 100 grams
- 3 1/2 very ripe bananas, peeled and mashed about 1.5 cups or 340 grams
- 2 tbsp sour cream
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- With the rack in the center of the oven, preheat to 325°F. Lightly butter and flour pan(s) of choice. You can use a standard 9x5 loaf pan or three 6x3 mini loaf pans
- Sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a bowl and set aside.
- With a stand mixer fitted with the whip attachment, beat together the sugar and eggs on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
- Switch to low speed and slowly drizzle in the oil, taking your time.
- Add the bananas, sour cream, and vanilla, and continue to mix on low speed just until combined.
- Use a rubber spatula to fold in the flour mixture until thoroughly combined. No flour streaks should be visible.
- Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan(s) and bake for 1 to 1 1/4 hours for a 9x5-inch loaf, and about 50 minutes for three 6x3-inch loaves. The loaves should be golden brown on top and the cake will spring back when you press it.
- Let cool in the pan on a wire rack for 30 minutes, remove from the pan and let cool completely on the wire rack. Enjoy!
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-Steph & Mike
I’m making alot of grandmothers very mad lol…with my vegan banana bread. It’s a new way to bake, no kidding around. You can’t tell the difference between the old way with butter and eggs. So good!!! Thank you
is it okay if you share your vegan banana bread recipe? :o
this was, unfortunately, incredibly oily to the point where i could actually TASTE the oil. it’s a disappointment because the texture otherwise was great—but i’ll use butter next time.
Could i make these into muffins? If so how long would the bake time be and what temperature for the oven?
Thank you!
hi,
you can definitely make them muffins! do them at the same temp and start checking at 20-25 minutes for doneness.
Thank you so much!!
This has been my banana bread recipe for several years! Absolutely the best! I use EXTREMELY overripe bananas, and chopped walnuts. Even my child who hates bananas and nuts loves this bread?
the extremely ripe bananas are key!
Hi , I just left a review . Can you remove my last name? Thanks!
hi, done :)
If I don’t have sour cream, would plain greek yogurt work??
hi lisa,
absolutely, i’ve subbed plain greek yogurt with great success :)
This turned out terrific. It really is the best!
I usually use BA’s Best Banana Bread recipe as well, but decided to give this one a try. I got slightly domed tops. But I reduced the sugar to 3/4 cup and used 1/4 tsp table salt, since all I had was coarse kosher salt.
My pursuit of the “best” banana bread recipe is probably complete now… Now I have two favorites!
the pursuit of the best banana bread is noble (and ever so tasty) one :)
My new favorite Banana Bread recipe, with a few changes. I use half AP flour, and half White WW flour; 2 tsps BP and 1/4 tsp BS; 1/3 c white sugar and 1/3 c brown; add 1/2 c unsweetened applesauce; and, 1c toasted chopped walnuts and 1c dark choc chips. I made four breads this week. I like to have this bread on hand, so leave one out to eat and slice and freeze the rest.