Sour Cream Banana Bread

Banana breads and cookies are what come out of my kitchen most frequently. Not necessarily because they are my favorite to bake, but because they are so quick and the variations to each are endless.

If you search “cookie” below in the search engine, pages and pages will pop up of all the cookie recipes. The same goes for the word, “banana.”

I recently realized that while I have banana breads that have chocolate incorporated into them like the Marbled Banana Bread, or vegan options: Banana Brownies (Vegan) and Vegan Cinnamon Sugar Banana Muffins, or paleo friendly and gluten free options like the Paleo Banana Bread (GF) and Honey Walnut Banana Bread (Gluten Free), I do not have a basic banana bread. The most classic banana bread recipe that I have on the ABeeBakes is Banana Nut Muffins.

So, when my Dad texted me a photo of the banana bread that his girlfriend, Luanne — who bakes quite a bit too — had recently made, I couldn’t help but admire the golden hue, the nice center crack running through it, and the classic simplicity of it. I could practically smell fresh baked banana bread through the phone. I asked my Dad for the recipe and he obliged, however it took a few hours since it wasn’t right at his finger tips.

I had to improvise. Little did he know that a simple text resulted in desperate mission to bake banana bread immediately. It must have been raining that day or something because I was relentless. Or maybe the bananas were really on their last leg? Regardless, I was on a banana mission.

I found what I was looking for. The recipe required the use of sour cream, which thanks to my private cooking demonstration with Chef Maeve, I learned was the secret to great baking. Her professional tip was to ALWAYS add sour cream to cupcakes. She hinted that it wouldn’t hurt to add it to basically any other baked good too for extra moisture and flavor from the fat. If you’re interested in reading about my fun day with her, you can find part 1 and 2 here: Part I (of 2): Chef Maeve and Part 2: Chef Maeve.

And so, while I was pulling this insanely easy and delicious banana bread from the oven, I received the recipe from my Dad. Good news, we have a classic banana bread recipe coming to ABeeBakes soon! Until then, enjoy this easy, moist, butter-free sour cream banana bread recipe. It does not disappoint.