Moist Banana Bread with Sour Cream and a Crackly Top
By Liam Carter
Cook
60 min
Total
60 min
Servings
4
Level
Easy
One cup of mashed banana provides moisture for this quick bread without adding heaviness․ Sour cream adds moisture and tenderness instead of heaviness to the quick bread․ The sour-cream banana bread has a strong banana flavor and texture and a browned‚ crisp‚ crackly top crust․
The batter is made by creaming butter and sugar and adding eggs‚ vanilla‚ and mashed banana․ The recipe calls for equal parts white and brown sugar․ Sour cream is folded in after the dry ingredients․ Rolled oats are ground to a fine texture and added to the batter for flavor․ Rolled oats can be replaced with regular flour․ Optional additions include spices and nuts․
The baking time for the loaf is one hour․ Desired crust characteristics include dryness and crispness․ Undesirable characteristics include a mushy crust‚ which can result when a large amount of bananas is added to the batter․ Undesirable crumb characteristics include too many bananas․ In the article‚ 2 cups of mashed bananas produced a loaf that was moist‚ heavy‚ overly sweet‚ and hard to slice․ One cup of mashed bananas adds moisture without making the crumb heavy․
Serve plain slices as suggested in the article or slices with toppings like chopped nuts and raisins‚ chocolate chips‚ and coconut‚ as suggested in the article․ Let the bread cool before slicing or serving wrapped to help the soft inside of the bread harden for easier slicing․
Why you'll love this recipe
- Adding about 1 cup of mashed bananas will add moisture to the bread without making it gummy‚ unlike adding more mashed bananas․
- Creaming butter and sugar helps create a lighter batter that adds volume to the quick bread and prevents it from tasting like mashed banana․
- Sour cream is added to the batter to increase moisture in the bread․ The number of bananas called for in the recipe prevents a thick layer of bananas from forming at the bottom of the bread․
- Powdered rolled oats blended in a blender produce oat flour with a nutty flavor․ Regular flour can stand in when needed․
- Optional spices like cinnamon‚ cloves‚ and nutmeg are added in small amounts to enhance the flavor of the banana‚ not to give the bread a cake-like taste․
- A one-hour baking time produces the crisp‚ crackly top mentioned in the article․ The longer bake time also helps firm up the interior of the pastry for neater slicing․
Ingredients
- •½ cup butter
- •white sugar (used as part of a half-white, half-brown sugar blend)
- •brown sugar (used as part of a half-white, half-brown sugar blend)
- •2 eggs
- •vanilla
- •1 cup mashed banana
- •flour
- •½ cup rolled oats (pulse in a blender until powdery; may be replaced with 1/2 cup flour)
- •1 tsp baking soda
- •salt
- •½ cup sour cream
- •cinnamon (optional)
- •clove (optional)
- •nutmeg (optional)
- •nuts (optional)
Instructions
- 1
Measure the rolled oats into a blender and pulse until powdery to make oat flour.
- 2
Beat the butter and sugars until creamy.
- 3
Add the eggs, vanilla, and mashed banana.
- 4
Add the dry ingredients.
- 5
Fold in the sour cream.
- 6
Fold in nuts, if using.
- 7
Bake for 1 hour.
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