Banana Bread Recipe With Sour Cream

This is the best banana bread recipe with sour cream that will become your family favorite! Made with overripe bananas, sour cream to make it moist, and a hint of cinnamon, this banana bread is quick to make and no mixer needed!

 

I don’t know about you but I always put a bunch of bananas in my grocery cart for the week. Always. Without. Fail.

And I usually do a pretty good job of eating them throughout the week. Mm, usually. Sometimes, not so much. 

There tends to be a few left behind at the end of the week. Sometimes two. Maybe just one. But rarely, do I get through the entire bunch. And throwing out ripe bananas just seems WRONG. AmIright?!

So here’s what I do. I throw them in my freezer until I have enough to make some banana bread. Sometimes in a week I have the perfect amount. And if not, I add each ripe banana to my freezer collection. And then when the banana bread craving strikes – Voila! I have ripe bananas in my freezer waiting for me. 

And so this time, my weekly batch and freezer bananas went to making good old, classic, (can’t believe it hasn’t been on the blog yet!?) banana bread. I’ve made a Healthy Banana Bread Recipe version, and even a Sourdough Banana Bread version…but a good old classic banana bread recipe made with sour cream? Nope. So it was high time I changed that!

But if you’re craving something a little more indulgent, these Banana Bread Cinnamon Rolls are the perfect treat to try next! Made with a soft yeast dough, fresh banana, brown sugar, and topped with cream cheese frosting, they’re the ultimate brunch snack! 🍌🍩

Why You Will Love This Recipe

• Uses up those bananas that are about to go bad. That’s the best part about making banana bread! You want to use bananas that are overripe – dark, black and speckled.
• Quick to whip up – Banana bread falls in the category of quick breads, which means its quick to whip up because it doesn’t use yeast. This bread uses baking soda so in about 15 minutes it’s ready to go in the oven.
• No electric mixer needed– To make banana bread all you need is a good whisk and a spatula and that’s it. No hand mixer or stand mixer needed here!
• Wonderfully moist – Sorry for those M word haters out there, but the addition of sour cream to this banana bread makes for a moist, soft, and just sweet enough with lots of banana flavor.

Use Ripe Bananas!

First let’s talk bananas. Your bananas for banana bread should very ripe. Black and speckled. This will mean they are very ripe so the sugars have really come through. 

You want to use brown bananas, not bright yellow bananas for the best banana bread. Here is my full tutorial on how to ripen bananas quickly.

Ingredients Needed

• All Purpose Flour – Be sure to measure your flour correctly so your bread doesn’t come out dry and cakey. Stir the flour first, then spoon into your cup and level off. Do not pack it down or you will end up with too much flour. For best results weigh your flour.
• Baking soda – There is ONLY baking soda in this recipe. The photo shows baking powder, but that’s an OOPS on my part! Baking soda will help make your bread rise. Be sure your baking powder is fresh by testing a teaspoon of it with some vinegar or lemon juice to see if it’s bubbly and active.
• Salt – I prefer fine sea salt, so it dissolves easily into the batter, but kosher or table salt also works.
• Eggs – Two room temperature eggs for this banana bread recipe.
• Large Bananas – Of course we need mashed bananas. I just mash mine in a bowl with a fork before I start. And be sure that you use very ripe bananas, that are black and speckled in color. 
• Vanilla extract – For flavor. I like to use pure vanilla but imitation vanilla will also work.
• White Sugar – I used granulated sugar, but you could also try swapping with coconut sugar for a healthier alternative. Or try replacing half of the sugar with light brown sugar! Sugar adds not only sweetness but also makes for a tender bread. If you’re looking to reduce the sugar in your quick bread, I recommend reducing by only a 1/4 to 1/3 cup.
• Cinnamon – I love adding a little cinnamon for flavor!
• Sour Cream – This adds fat and richness. I used full-fat sour cream, but I think light would work, but I don’t recommend fat free. You could try swapping out for greek yogurt, which I did in my healthy banana bread recipe.
• Oil – I used vegetable oil, but canola oil or other neutral-tasting oil also would work. You could try substituting with melted butter or coconut oil as well, but it might change the moistness and texture slightly. Read my full tutorial on oil vs. butter in quick breads. If you want to reduce the fat you could replace half of the oil with unsweetened applesauce.

How To Make Sour Cream Banana Bread

Step 1: Mash Your Bananas

Position a rack in the center of your oven. Preheat your oven to 350oF (177oC). Grease or line a 9×5 loaf pan with parchment paper.

In a separate bowl, you want to mash your bananas. I just do this with a fork. It’s easier to get this done ahead of time, and have them mashed ready to go. 

I used 4 bananas about 1 1/2 cups.

Step 2: Combine your dry ingredients

In a large bowl you want to whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. And then set aside. 

Step 2: Mix The Wet Ingredients

In a second mixing bowl you want to combine your wet ingredients – oil, eggs, vanilla, bananas, sugar and sour cream. 

Step 3: Fold In The Dry Ingredients

Now using a spatula, fold in the dry ingredients. Just don’t overmix! Overmixing will cause the gluten in the flour to form and too much gluten creates a tough bread. So stop mixing once the last streak of flour is incorporated.

Step 4: Bake The Bread

Go ahead and pour batter into the prepared loaf pan with a spatula and smooth the top.

Then bake the bread in the center of your oven for 60-65 minutes at 350^oF until a toothpick inserted comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs clinging to it. If baking with a glass loaf pan it may take a little bit longer.

Cool in the pan on a wire rack.

Mix-Ins

• Chocolate Chips – Try my Chocolate Chip Banana Bread version!
• Peanut butter- Swirl in a 1/2 cup of peanut butter.
• Nutella – Make my Nutella Banana Bread version and swirl in some chocolate hazelnut version.
• Toasted walnuts (or pecans) – Stir in 3/4 cup toasted, chopped pecans or walnuts before baking.
• Blueberries – I love tossing in some fresh blueberries, check out my Blueberry Banana Bread
• Whole Wheat – Replace 1/2 of your flour with whole wheat flour and make a Whole Wheat Banana Bread version.

Storage Instructions

I find it’s great wrapped up for a week in your fridge or at room temperature for up to 2 days as long as the bread is well covered. I like to wrap my banana bread in plastic wrap or aluminum foil also works. You can also store in an airtight container or place in a plastic bag for added protection.

You can also freeze this banana bread. Allow the bread to cool completely and place them in a resealable plastic bag and freeze for up to 3 months. When ready to enjoy, I just let mine thaw at room temperature and enjoy.

Recipe Variations

• Top with a cream cheese icing. You could make a 1/2 batch of my cream cheese frosting and ice the top of the bread once cooled. Or try my cinnamon cream cheese frosting or peanut butter cream cheese frosting!
• Bake into muffins – You could divide this batter into muffins. Fill the batter to the top of the muffin liners. I recommend baking at 400oF for about 20 minutes.
• Serve with warm butter – Or try my cinnamon honey butter or honey butter!

Recipe FAQ’s

More Recipes To Try

If you’re craving more banana bread be sure to try my peanut butter banana bread! Or if you have more bananas to use up try my easy banana cake topped with cream cheese frosting.

Of course you can’t go wrong with my no bake banana split cake!