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.
Easy Banana Bread Batter
In this recipe, the wet ingredients get mixed up first:
- granulated sugar
- oil or melted butter
- eggs
- mashed bananas
- sour cream
- vanilla
Then the flour, baking soda and salt are added. No need to mix them first in another bowl.
This is a one-bowl batter, and it’s brilliantly easy.
Don’t Over Mix
As with all good quick bread recipes, one important key to this recipe is to mix just until the dry ingredients are incorporated.
Over mixing the batter could mean death to a lovely, soft, moist loaf of perfect banana bread.
Easily Doubled
This recipe makes one loaf of banana bread. But it is easily doubled, and I highly encourage you to do so.
In fact, I often buy several bunches of bananas just to let them ripen in destruction on my kitchen counter to prepare for this amazing recipe.
What Causes the Speckles in Banana Bread?
Have you ever wondered why some banana bread has dark speckles and others don’t?
I’ve done a lot of reading and testing (I’m telling you, NERD, and proud of it) to figure out why some banana bread loaves have a light-colored crumb and other recipes produce the dark speckles like you see in these pictures.
The reason? Baking soda.
Banana bread recipes that have a larger amount of 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…and it clearly results in darker speckles.
This much lighter buttermilk banana bread only has 1/8 teaspoon baking soda (and a teaspoon of baking powder).
Classic Sour Cream Banana Bread
For a classic, traditional, perfect banana bread recipe, you can’t go wrong with this sour cream banana bread.
If you take a quick glance through the comments, you’ll easily see that many, many, many of you have fallen in love with this banana bread over the years. This recipe has over 500 5-star reviews!
No surprise! It is so easy – one bowl! So delicious – supremely moist and tender!
It really is one of the best banana bread recipes out there.
Sour Cream Banana Bread FAQs
Many readers over the years have done just that. They’ve reported back with good results. The recipe will yield about 17-20 muffins (bake them at the same temp in the recipe and check them around 17-18 minutes).
Buttermilk can be used in place of the sour cream (the batter will be thinner, but that’s ok). Subbing in dairy milk or non-dairy milk for the sour cream may affect the texture and overall end result of the bread because the recipe needs the acidity of the sour cream (or buttermilk) to turn out correctly.
Yes, that works great! Toss them in with the flour (just remember not to over mix!).
Sour Cream Banana Bread
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
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
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: adapted slightly from Leigh Anne at Your Homebased Mom
Recipe originally posted June 2009; updated with new pictures, recipe notes, and commentary.
Forgot to give it 5 stars!!
We love this banana bread!!! Have made it several times and it’s a keeper. Today I added a cup of blueberries baked in 9×13 pan and drizzled powdered sugar glaze over it after coming out of oven. Fabulous! Thank you
Delicious banana bread. I made a gluten free version of this recipe by substituting Cup4Cup GF flour. I also used Splenda reducing to 3/4 cup. One more addition was 1/2 cup of Lily’s dark chocolate chips. The bread was a huge hit. Making more today at the request of my family. This is definitely a keeper recipe. Thanks for sharing.
Made this and it was great! I used the new Low Fodmap flour to reduce the Gluten (sensitivity) and used Natvia instead of Sugar, again, sensitivity. It STILL worked really well! So I now have a fully GF version & this version, depending on who’s eating it! Next option is to replace the egg for -you guessed it, allergy! We eat a lot of banana bread, because we always seem to have a few that have been left too long to eat..suspect it’s on purpose now! 🙂 I think next time I’ll use the muffin pan to prevent the longer cooking time needed in my old old dodgy oven.. But-yummo!! Thanks very much, love using sour cream in my cakes!
Best banana bread recipe ever! I’ve made my share of banana bread over the years… HANDS DOWN BeSat EVER! I added an extra banana bc I had it, so good and moist!!
I LOVE this simple recipe. I’ve made and shared with a few people. So easy and hassle free. Thanks Mel.
Very moist with a slightly crispy top, excellent flavor. Thanks for sharing this great recipe, it’s a keeper.
LOVE*LOVE*LOVE this recipe. It’s so easy. Your website is my go-to site. Always come here first and everything I’ve made from here is so yummy. I love that you have the weight measurements in your recipes, thank you!
That means so much to me; thank you, Geri!
My 10yr old made this last night and added chocolate chips holy crap it was soooooooo good. I added this recipe to our yum Arsenal
Do you have a good recipe for rhubarb cake or loaf and if yes can they be doubled.
Also will they work with Splenda because my hubby is a diabetic and I like to bake without sugar for him!
I’m afraid I don’t – sorry!
I made this with Splenda Rita! And Natvia/Stevia. Worked fine! It’s more difficult to substitute it for the brown sugar as that normally does a caramelisation thing, but I’ve had success with that too. I just had to be aware there would be less browning or caramelisation. Hope that helped? Sorry Mel, I use Splenda etc all the time, thought it might help! Not trying to over ride! 🙂
Made this using greek yoghurt. Changed the flour to gluten free self raising , used a square cake tin. Turned out light fluffy and moist.
We make this bans bread often and use spelt four, not the whitened type but full spelt, it adds a nutty taste and for some with wheat sensitivity (like my daughter) spelt can be tolerated. Please note spelt is not gluten free.
We love this warm with apple or prune butter!,,
********BEST MOST AMAZING BANANA BREAD*********!!!!!!!!!! Thank you!! This is my go to recipe forever. Yummy!
Although, I love my banana bread recipe, I have used for years, I had extra sour cream and over-ripe bananas. This is has an excellent flavor. Extremely moist, yet a slight crispy edge.
There are SO many banana bread recipes out there and through the years I have tried MANY and I have got to say this is my favorite. I can stop searching now. Thanks!!!
I made this into muffins because I didn’t want to wait an hour for breakfast. Made 16 muffins and baked for about 18 minutes. Each muffin had the chewy edge goodness and didn’t have to wait the full hour. Then froze what we didn’t eat. Yum!
Absolutely delicious! Followed the recipe exactly, but added nuts!
This will now be my go to recipe for banana bread.
Wow… I’ve been in a relationship with my boyfriend for over 6 years and oftentimes he has me make banana bread because it’s his number one faaaavorite (thanks to the local coffee shop). Anyways, out of like 100 recipes I’ve tried, he finally… found… one. This is our holy grail. This is literally a milestone in our relationship! I’ve finally found banana bread I can make that he LOVES! We’re going out to celebrate.
I have done a lot of trial-and-error recipes for banana bread, and I think this is the best one I’ve ever done. It is so moist and flavorful! I sifted my dry ingredients before mixing them in. I was wondering if that extra step really makes a difference, but I’ve found it helps me mix things more consistently and gives certain recipes a more airy texture. Othee variations I like are mixing in different nuts, chocolate chips, or mixing half of the batter with melted nutella and then marbling it into the bread.
I love using this recipe. As is it’s already great. I made a loaf today as is for my roommate with 1/2 cup sugar as recommended if you prefer it less sweet.
I also changed things up as I’m working on cutting certain things out of my diet. Such as decreasing sugar intake. Today I added a scoop of protein powder (vanilla flavored and only very mildly sweet), and I masterani decreased the added sugar to 1/8 cup. Honestly probably could cut out the added sugar entirely. I also added chopped pecans and chocolate chips. I put the batter in a mini muffin tin. As a between meal snack it’s fairly nurtrious but also feels indulgent with the added chocolate.
I loved be this recipe! I’ve tweaked it a bit by using yogurt instead of sour cream and added oatmeal soaked in whey liquid. I love the body the oatmeal adds to the bread.
I have 5 very very ripe (think brown) bananas, and a tub of sour cream in the fridge. I can’t wait to make a double batch of this banana bread tomorrow!! Nuts are a huge no, unless they’re ground to dust. Better yet, they’re peanuts, cashews or beer nuts! Then I’m all in! I was the kid that picked the nuts out of cookies or breads, or flat out wouldn’t eat them. Nuts, except those mentioned above, are just icky. 😉
Does this recipe only make one loaf?
Yes
Moist, fluffy, not too sweet, and delicious! Made it twice already, the family kept on asking for more!
Thank you for sharing this great recipe!
This was absolutely delicious, thank you Mel from another Mel! Only adjustment I made was to undercook it slightly as I like the gooey’ness you’re left with at the bottom of the cake.
OMGosh, best banana bread I have ever made! It makes a BIG loaf in the 9×5 pan.
No baking powder?
Was very delicious! So easy to make! Only one change, I used brown sugar instead of white because I was out of it. Still perfect. Thank you.
Wow! This Banana bread is phenomenal!
So moist, & full of flavour… one loaf is simply not enough. Instead of using a 1/2 cup of oil I used a 1/4 cup of room temperature butter, & 1/4 cup of veg oil. The search is over -this is The ONLY banana bread recipe I need in my life!
Thank you for sharing.
I made this recipe and followed it to the letter. While it tasted good, it was not baked inside. Don’t know why. I baked it 10 minutes longer than the recipe calls for. I will give it another try another time.
Tried your awesome recipe today. It is indeed the best. I had baked 3 different recipes and I like this!
I used coconut oil…the cake turned out aromatic and light! This cake goes well with a cup of hot cocoa!
Thank you for sharing!
Greetings from Singapore!
What temperature & how long in convection oven?
Probably 325 degrees convection and I’d start checking after 45-50 minutes. Each oven is different so that’s just a guideline.
Hello my toddler will no longer eat any other banana bread besides this recipe! It’s like he knows this is the golden standard of all banana breads on the interent. Thank you kindly for making my banana bread connoisseur happy
This recipe sounds amazing and I can’t wait to try it out! Just wondering, which type of oil is best to use? Sorry, the answer is probably obvious to most, but I’m not much of a baker. Thank you!
Any flavorless oil would do; canola, vegetable, even coconut.
Hi Robin – I usually use a neutral oil like canola, vegetable or avocado. Hope that helps!
Love this I added mini chocolate chips to mine came out great it’s a keeper!!!
I love to use my mini loaf pan, instead of full size loaf. Any ideas on cook time for that? I’m going to start at 25 minutes…
Yeah, I’d probably start checking around 25 minutes.
How many mini loads did it make for you?
I doubled the recipe and filled seven standard size mini loaf pans. I was afraid of overfilling so I did seven, but I think I could have done 6 without them spilling over in the oven. I baked for 30-ish minutes. But I would watch them!
Great recipe! My favorite is Mel’s buttermilk banana bread, but this is a close second!
Amazing bread. I was intrigued by your note about using butter and applesauce. I was out of applesauce, so I peeled and chopped a few apples and simmered them with a few tablespoons of water until they fell apart (quick applesauce!). I used 1/2 butter and 1/2 homemade applesauce instead of oil as you suggested. I also subbed 1/3 of the flour with white whole wheat flour. I also followed your suggestion of 3/4 cup sugar per loaf (I used 1/2 cup white and 1/4 brown per loaf). Finally… I doubled the recipe per your suggestion. I didn’t initially plan to make 2 loaves, but it was so easy to double it that I did. So thanks for suggesting it. This is the best banana bread we’ve ever had. Thank you!!!
Love this recipe! I’ve adapted it to be gluten-free on my blog, and it doubles so well!
http://www.thebaconharvest.com/cafe-style-banana-bread-gluten-free-family-update/
This was the best banana bread I have ever made! It was a big hit and now my absolute favorite!
Just made two loafs one with walnuts and one with mini chocolate chips. Omg soooooo good came out perfect. Used darker pans and baked at 325 for a little longer. Used 1/2 applesauce and 1/2 oil and 3/4 cup sugar. My new to go to banana bread. Thanks for the great recipe.
The best banana bread I’ve ever had and I’ve had ALOT of the years!! Amazing Mel, so happy I found you!!! I’ve found my love of baking again!!!
This recipe,sounds amazing and was recommended by a friend. I have tried your recipe 3x and the cook time exceeds 60 min. Usually I have to add 10-20 min. I do add some walnuts and chocolate chips and should try it without. But would those,ingredients impact cook time so much? Thank you!
The ingredients probably wouldn’t affect cook time, but elevation, exact oven temperature, and type of pan could affect it.
I made a loaf today and added about a teaspoon of orange zest, it is delicious. Definitely a keeper.
Orange zest sounds good From the reviews, I want to try this recipe. Think I’ll add the zest to it
The only banana bread recipe I use, n now my daughter also uses it! N we love it!! I sprinkle my pans with a cinnamon sugar mixture n top of bread also, then bake, it makes an awesome outer crust.
It is so good. I will make it again. I did half oil and half unsweetened applesauce. My husband said it could use some cinnamon.
I was looking for a way to use up some sour cream (and the 1000 bananas in my freezer) and came upon this recipe. Made it last night and it was wonderful! The best part is with no butter to melt, bring to room temp, or cream – coupled with the one-bowl technique – this was a super-easy recipe to throw together on a weeknight. I plan to make another loaf tonight! Thanks so much for sharing.
In 11 years of marriage my husband has never liked, let alone requested, banana bread until this recipe. And here I am this morning, making the 3rd batch this month at his request. Thank you! You have never let me down, and even my husband is on a first name basis with you You really are the best!
That is awesome, Sydney! Thank you!
Yes, it does. Thank you, Mel. Have a wonderful weekend 🙂
Hi Mel,
I’m just re-reading the recipe and I’m wondering about the note about the 1/2 applesauce and butter. Does that mean that you use 1/4 cup of applesauce with 1/4 cup of butter or 1/2 cup butter alone? The last time I made this I used 1/2 cup butter and it was really good but not I’m not sure if that was the best thing to do. The bread was super moist but not necessarily in a bad way. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you. Love you, love your site and appreciate all you do for us.
Hi Cindy – sorry for the confusion. Sometimes I use 1/2 cup melted butter…and then other time I use 1/4 cup applesauce + 1/4 cup melted butter. I’ve also used 1/4 cup applesauce + 1/4 cup oil. Does that help?
First, I’m a huge fan. Your site is my go to place when planning my menu for the week. Thank you for all the work it takes to put this together!!
SOOOO, I have never had good luck with sweet breads. they never seem to be done in the center. BUT they’re very well done on the outside. I’m thinking I may be filling my loaf pans too full. How full do you usually fill your pans? And any other tips for me? I LOVE banana bread, pumpkin bread, etc., and they make great gifts for friends but I’m always afraid to give them away. HELP!!
What type of pans are you using, Tiffany? Are they light colored aluminum or dark colored/nonstick pans? If they are dark colored pans, try reducing the oven temperature by 25 degrees. I usually fill the pans about 2/3 full.
I wanted to love his recipe but it turned out horrible. I made muffins instead of loaves and after 30 minutes they were brown but still uncooked inside, but back in and they got so brown never rose and will still uncooked when I cut them open and very mushy;(
Totally bummed and wasted all my ingredients and time … not sure what went wrong. Should have stuck to my old recipe.
There’s nothing wrong with the recipe; I made it last night and it was wonderful, and the 5 star ratings here attest to that. Sounds like there was some kind of error made on your part.
Operator error.
Same thing happened to me just now, but instead of muffin pans I baked it in a regular cake pan. I don’t know what went wrong
Check your oven temp- have a oven thermometer inside for accuracy. Also what kind of pan you used? Dark or shiny. That alters the baking temp by 25 degrees. I hope l.have helped.