Banana Bread

Instructions

1. 1

   Prep your pan and oven

   Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C) and move the rack to the lower third position. This prevents the top of the bread from browning too fast before the inside cooks through. Grease a 9x5-inch metal loaf pan with nonstick spray or butter. Use a metal pan, not glass. Metal conducts heat more evenly and gives you those gorgeous crispy edges that glass pans can't match.

2. 2

   Mash the bananas

   Peel your 3 overripe bananas into a large bowl. Mash them with a fork until they're mostly smooth with a few small chunks remaining. You don't want baby food smooth. Those little chunks create pockets of concentrated banana flavor in the finished bread. You should have about 1 1/2 cups of mashed banana. The riper the bananas, the sweeter and more flavorful your bread will be. If your bananas aren't ripe enough, here's the cheat: put unpeeled bananas on a baking sheet and bake at 300°F for 15-20 minutes until the skins are completely black. Let them cool, then peel and mash. It's not quite as good as naturally ripened bananas, but it works in a pinch.

3. 3

   Mix the wet ingredients

   Pour the 1/2 cup melted butter into the mashed bananas and stir to combine. Add the 3/4 cup dark brown sugar and stir until the sugar dissolves into the banana mixture. It'll look like caramel banana soup. Add 1 egg and beat it in with a fork until fully incorporated. Add 1 tsp vanilla extract and 1/3 cup sour cream and stir until smooth. The sour cream is the ingredient most banana bread recipes are missing. It adds moisture and a subtle tanginess that keeps the bread from being one-note sweet. Greek yogurt works as a swap if you don't have sour cream.

4. 4

   Add the dry ingredients

   In the same bowl (yes, this is a one-bowl recipe, you're welcome), sprinkle the 1 3/4 cups flour, 1 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, and 1/2 tsp salt directly on top of the wet mixture. Use a rubber spatula to fold the dry ingredients in using big, gentle strokes. Fold until the flour is JUST incorporated. You should still see a couple tiny streaks of flour. Overmixing develops gluten, which makes the bread tough and dense instead of tender and moist. If you're adding walnuts or chocolate chips, fold them in now with 2-3 more strokes.

5. 5

   Bake low and slow

   Pour the batter into your prepared loaf pan and smooth the top with your spatula. Optional but recommended: slice one more banana in half lengthwise and lay the two halves cut-side up on top of the batter. This looks beautiful and gives you a caramelized banana top. Bake for 50-60 minutes. Start checking at 50 minutes by inserting a toothpick into the center. If it comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs (no wet batter), it's done. If the top is browning too fast before the inside is cooked, tent a piece of foil loosely over the top and keep baking. Every oven is different, so use the toothpick test, not just the timer.

6. 6

   Cool and try to wait (you won't)

   Let the bread cool in the pan for 15 minutes. This is when the bread finishes cooking from residual heat and firms up enough to hold its shape. After 15 minutes, run a butter knife around the edges and flip the loaf onto a wire rack. Let it cool for at least another 15 minutes before slicing. Hot banana bread is incredible but it's also fragile and will crumble if you cut it too soon. I know. It smells insane. Be strong. Or don't. Honestly, a warm slice with a pat of butter melting into it is one of life's greatest simple pleasures and I refuse to judge anyone who can't wait.

Nutrition

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