Flour Bakery's Famous Banana Bread

4.53 from 19 votes

This banana bread from Flour Bakery is hands down the best banana bread I've ever tried!

Prep Time20

Cook Time1

Total Time1 20

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: bread

Servings: 9x5 inch loaf

Calories: 385kcal

1 2/3 cups (210 grams) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons 230 grams sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup (100 grams) canola or other flavorless oil
3 1/2 very ripe bananas peeled and mashed (about 1 1/2 cups or 340 grams mashed bananas)
2 tablespoons sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 cups walnuts toasted and chopped

With the rack in the center of the oven, preheat to 325°F. Lightly butter and flour pan(s) of choice.
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 9×5-inch loaf, and about 50 minutes for three 6×3-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!

Be sure to use very RIPE bananas! No green bananas here folks. I like to use very yellow with lots of brown flecks. If your bananas are not ripe enough, you can actually ripen them in your oven in a jiffy! Heat your oven to 300F, and put your unpeeled bananas on a cookie sheet and place in the oven for 15-30 minutes. Perfectly ripe bananas for your bread!
When you add the oil into your the sugar and eggs you want to S-L-O-W-L-Y add it in with your mixer on low. This step should take about a minute. So slow. If you add the oil in all at once you risk of deflating all that air you incorporated into the eggs and sugar in the step before.
This recipe calls for toasted walnuts. I know it probably sounds like a tedious step, but it's totally worth it. Toasting walnuts brings out the flavor and makes them so much better. So please toast them. If you have never toasted walnuts, you want to spread the walnuts on a cookie sheet and bake them for 8 to 10 minutes. No more. Any more and you run the risk of burning them and you don't want that.
When you go to add your flour and walnuts, you want to stop using your mixer at this point and fold them in with a spatula. By using a spatula you won't over mix the bread, which could result in a tough dense bread.