{The Best} Banana Bread

Banana bread.  I love it, the kids love it, who DOESN'T love it.

Unfortunately - I am cursed when it comes to making it.  I can't tell you how many recipes I've tried and it never comes out right. 

Sometimes I don't bake it long enough (gooey in the middle).

Other times I baked it WAY too long (dry, burnt taste).

In the rare case that I might have baked it just right, it lacked a good flavor.

Until now!

I can't officially say I have FOUND the banana bread recipe that I will use from here on out.

2 secret ingredients - sour cream and cinnamon! :)

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The Best Banana Bread
Adapted From What's For Dinner

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup sour cream
3 over-ripe medium bananas, mashed

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease 9x5 inch loaf pan

Melt butter in a large bowl in microwave and add sugar.  Add eggs and vanilla - mix well.  Combine the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon; stir into the butter mixture until smooth.  Next, fold in sour cream and mashed bananas.  Spread evenly into the prepared pan.

Bake for 60-65 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.  Cool loaf in the pan for 10 minutes before removing to cool on a wire rack.
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Perfection!  Not only did I bake it just right, but the sour cream kept it moist enough and the cinnamon really kicked up the flavor!

I'm embarassed to tell you how quickly my family and I inhaled this bread - but hey, there could be worse things to eat, right? :)


I also wanted to share some {banana bread} tips I've learned from my MANY attempts:

• Use the ripest bananas possible - the browner the banana the sweeter it is
• If I only have one or two ripened bananas at a time, I stick them in the freezer until I have enough to make banana bread.  A quick thaw in the microwave and they are ready to use!
• Mash the bananas in a large plastic baggie, cut a tip in the bag and squeeze out into the bowl.  Sometimes I would try to mash the bananas up in the mixture itself and would end up with bigger banana chunks in the bread which just throws off the texture

You can also check out the link to the original recipe for some healthier substitutes (for example, applesauce in place of butter or whole wheat flour mixed with all purpose flour).