Moist Banana Bread

Banana Bread is a sweet bread made from overly ripe bananas. So don’t pitch those old bananas sitting on your counter! Use them to make this moist banana bread recipe. It’s super easy to make and calls for ingredients that should usually be on hand (no need to run to the store for this recipe).

I’ve tested many banana bread recipes and this one is by far my favorite. It comes out super light and moist. This recipe is different because it uses sour cream which makes the bread really moist. Once you make this recipe, it will be hard not to eat it all in one day!

Banana Bread ingredients

The ingredients needed to make moist banana bread include ripe bananas (of course), butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, flour, baking soda, salt and sour cream. These are basic ingredients that are normally on hand. I like to use a mixture of brown sugar and granulated sugar in this recipe which gives this bread a really good flavor.

Make sure that your bananas are very ripe. The bananas that are heavily streaked with brown/almost black will be perfect. If you need to quickly ripen your bananas, place your bananas in a brown paper bag and loosely fold the top over. You can add other ripe fruit to the bag to speed up the process such as an apple or avocado. This should ripen your bananas over the next day or two.

How to make Moist Banana Bread

Peel and mash the bananas in a bowl using the back of your fork and set aside. In a separate bowl, fully cream together the butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla. This can be done by hand with a whisk or with a mixer. It will cream easier if the butter is room temperature vs cold right out of the fridge. Next, add in the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, salt) along with the mashed bananas and sour cream. Mix altogether by hand but do not overmix! Mix just until the ingredients are combined. Overmixing can cause the bread to become dense.

Pour into a prepared loaf pan and bake for about 1 hour at 350 degrees farenheit. Oven times may vary so check to make sure it’s done but sticking a toothpick into the middle and when it comes out mostly clean, the banana bread is done. Overcooking will create a more dry banana bread.

Variations to this recipe

• Banana Nut Bread – add in chopped nuts such as walnuts, pecans or almonds
• Banana Blueberry Bread – fold in 1 cup of fresh blueberries
• Chocolate chip banana bread – fold in 1 cup of chocolate chips
• Make this recipe into banana bread muffins

How to make Vegan Banana Bread

To make this a vegan banana bread, you will need to replace all of the dairy ingredients with vegan friendly ingredients. This includes the eggs, butter and sour cream.

• Eggs – replace with 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
• Butter – replace with vegan butter or oil
• Sour cream – replace with coconut milk

Tips on how to make this moist banana bread:

• Use very ripe bananas which will help sweeten the bread
• Mash the bananas using the back of a fork or masher
• Do not overmix the batter, this will make the bread dense. Mix ingredients just until combined
• Do not overbake which will dry out the bread
• Let the bread cool before cutting

How do you store banana bread?

To keep the bread soft and moist, I recommend storing on the counter in an airtight container for about 4 days. If you want to extend the life of your bread you can certainly place it in the fridge stored in an airtight container. It will last up to a week in the fridge.

You can also freeze banana bread for up to 3 months. Just wrap it in plastic wrap and then wrap it in aluminum foil and place in the freezer. Make sure the bread is cooled first before wrapping it. When you want to thaw it out just place it on the counter at room temperature and it will be ready to eat in about 4 hours.