Banana Bread

Banana bread is made with simple ingredients, super moist, full of banana flavor. This recipe makes 3 loaves.

Course Breakfast, Breakfast or Brunch

Cuisine American, Southern

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 55

Total Time 1 10

Servings loaves

Calories 2296kcal

Author Jessica Robinson

Ingredients

1 cup vegetable shortening OR (2 sticks) unsalted butter (softened)
2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
½ cup granulated sugar
3-4 ripe bananas mashed
4 large eggs (room temperature)
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 ½ cups full-fat sour cream or Greek yogurt (or 1 cup whole cultured buttermilk)
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
½-3/4 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Instructions

Banana Bread

Preheat the oven to 350-degrees F. Spray three 9 x 5-inch bread loaf pans with cooking spray or line with paper liners. (This makes cleanup very easy)
In a large mixing bowl, using either a stand mixer or an electric hand mixer, cream the vegetable shortening (or butter) with the brown sugar and sugar. Add the bananas and incorporate.
Add the eggs, one at a time, incorporating well. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula occasionally.
Add vanilla extract and sour cream to the mixture and combine. Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt, stirring to combine. Once mixed thoroughly, fold in the pecans.
Divide the batter evenly into the prepared baking pans. Place the baking pans on a half sheet pan, lined with parchment paper. (This helps catch any dropped batter and helps easily rotate pans.)
Rotate your breads once through the baking process, so they bake evenly. Carefully rotate the entire half sheet pan 180-degrees about three quarters through the baking process. (Be very careful not to bump the pans or your bread will fall!!)
Bake for 60-65 minutes, or until a toothpick when inserted comes out mostly clean with a few moist crumbs. Start checking loaves around the 60-minute mark. If needed, bake a few minutes more.
Remove banana from the oven. Let cool in the baking pans for 10-15 minutes. Turn out of baking pans, place banana breads on a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
Once cooled, package into plastic bread bags with a twist tie.
Banana bread can be stored on the kitchen counter at room temperature for several days. Refrigerate if super warm in the house. It can be frozen for 1-2 months.

Notes

Add more bananas - add up to 7 large bananas in this recipe. Toss in an extra egg to ensure loaves rise properly and do not sink in the centers.

I prefer vegetable shortening and sour cream in this recipe, as I find it keeps loaves more moist. You can substitute butter if desired.

To get loaves to rise beautifully – preheat the oven to 375-degrees F. Place loaves inside and lower the temperature to 350-degrees F after 5-10 minutes. (This helps with heat that is lost while the oven is open.)

Use either ripe bananas or ones that have been previously frozen.

Frozen bananas -

Thaw frozen ones on the kitchen counter partially or fully. Discard any excess liquid.

Baking tips

All ovens are different! Be sure and use an oven thermometer to monitor your oven temperature.

Rotate your breads once through the baking process, so they bake evenly. Be VERY careful not to bang the pans around or the cakes will fall. Let cool on baking racks.

Nutrition