Sour Cream Banana Bread {One-Bowl!}

This one-bowl sour cream banana bread recipe is amazingly popular for good reason! Super moist and fluffy, it is crazy delicious and so easy to make!

One of the best banana bread recipes ever, this bread has been a tried-and-true favorite for over a decade. And you don’t have to take my word for it! With over 1,000 five-star reviews, it’s popularity speaks for itself.

One reader, Rebecca, commented: I found this recipe online in 2021! So glad I found it! It’s the easiest best tasting banana bread ever!! So moist. I have made it so many times. I occasionally add some cinnamon but other than that I follow the recipe as written. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

1. This banana bread is ultra-moist and fluffy.
2. It is a one-bowl recipe! No need to dirty extra bowls or mix the dry ingredients separately.
3. The recipe makes one standard loaf. The recipe can easily be doubled and/or made as muffins (see the FAQ below).
4. The baked bread freezes very well.
5. This recipe works well with add-ins like chocolate chips or chopped nuts.

Banana Bread Ingredients

• Granulated sugar: depending on the ripeness of the bananas, the sugar amount can be reduced just a bit, if desired.
• Oil: use a neutral-flavored baking oil, like canola, vegetable, grapeseed, etc.
• Eggs: necessary leavening and assists in producing a fluffy crumb.
• Bananas: use bananas that are speckled and ultra-ripe for the best flavor.
• Sour cream: the acidity in the sour cream is necessary for the baking soda to do its job, and it also contributes to the banana bread’s moist texture.

A few other baking ingredients are also used for flavor and leavening: vanilla extract, baking soda and salt.

What Causes the Speckles in Banana Bread?

Have you ever wondered why some loaves of banana bread have dark speckles and others don’t?

The reason: Baking soda!

➡️➡️ Banana bread recipes that have more baking soda and less baking powder usually have a darker, more speckled crumb. This sour cream banana bread has a full teaspoon of baking soda and no baking powder, which clearly results in darker speckles.

This much lighter buttermilk banana bread only has 1/8 teaspoon baking soda (and a teaspoon of baking powder). You can see the difference!

A Few Additional Notes for This Recipe

For a classic, traditional, perfect banana bread recipe, you can’t go wrong with this sour cream banana bread.

• Remember! One important key to success for this recipe is to mix just until the dry ingredients are incorporated. Over mixing can make the banana bread dry and less moist and fluffy.
• If you take a quick glance through the comments, you’ll easily see that many, many of you have fallen in love with this banana bread over the years. This recipe has over 500 5-star reviews! Take a minute to read through the comments for variations and substitutions.

This is my go-to banana bread recipe and has been for over a decade. It truly is the best!

Sour Cream Banana Bread

Yield: 12 slices (1 loaf)

Prep Time: 15 minutes mins

Cook Time: 1 hour hr

Total Time: 1 hour hr 15 minutes mins

4.66 stars (1153 ratings)

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Ingredients

• 1 cup (212 g) granulated sugar (see note to reduce the sugar)
• ½ cup oil (see note)
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup (227 g) mashed ripe bananas, about 3 ripe bananas
• ½ cup (113 g) sour cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 ½ cup (213 g) all-purpose flour (see note)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt

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Instructions 

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Grease and flour a 9X5-inch loaf pan (or several mini loaf pans).
• In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar and oil. Add the eggs, bananas, sour cream and vanilla; blend well.
• Add the flour, baking soda and salt; stir just until dry ingredients are moistened. Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan.
• Bake for 50-60 minutes until toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean.
• Cool for five minutes in the pan. Gently turn out onto a cooling rack and cool completely. Store covered at room temperature (the bread also freezes great).

Notes

Variations: I often sub applesauce for part of the oil (up to half) and sometimes use melted butter in place of the oil), use 50% whole wheat flour, decrease the sugar to 3/4 cup (especially if using very ripe bananas), and very often, I double the recipe and make two loaves because it freezes great. 

Flour: don’t pack the flour in the measuring cup. Fluff up the flour really well, scoop, and level. 

Author: Mel

Course: Bread

Cuisine: American

Method: Bake

Serving: 1 slice, Calories: 245kcal, Carbohydrates: 32g, Protein: 3g, Fat: 12g, Saturated Fat: 2g, Cholesterol: 32mg, Sodium: 207mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 19g

Recommended Products

9X5-inch Loaf Pan

Wire Whisk

Two Sided Measuring Spoons

Silicone Spatula

Recipe Source: adapted slightly from Leigh Anne at Your Homebased Mom

Recipe originally posted June 2009; updated with new pictures, recipe notes, and commentary.

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