This is the best banana bread with sour cream and brown sugar, ever. Melt in your mouth moist, a brown sugar, nut and butter layer on the top and bottom – pure indulgence. This scaled down banana bread recipe fits in a mini loaf pan, perfect when baking for two.
Just when I think I have settled on my favorite banana bread recipe, I learn about another twist that I “just gotta try”. This banana bread recipe that is full of indulgence was given to me by my friend, Sue.
Standing in the sanctuary of our church on a Sunday morning, we got to talking about banana bread. We were sharing our favorite brunch spots in Minneapolis, which somehow took us down a path of talking about banana bread.
Imagine a banana bread that is so moist it melts in your mouth with a layer of brown sugar, nuts and butter not only on the top but also on the bottom – it’s over the top indulgence. Honestly, it makes no apologies and does not need one.
This recipe is in an old southern church cookbook written by Susan Murray Daniel
After making this a couple of times, I opt not to cream the butter and sugar as this results in an overmixed batter and a dense loaf. Instead, we gently fold everything together using the quick -bread method and melted and cooled butter to ensure that our loaf stayed tender with a delicate texture.
The only other variation you might consider is skipping the nuts and adding chocolate chips to the batter. Either way, this is one of the best banana breads you will ever make.
Baking for Two? You can scale this down to make one mini loaf or use the original measurements for 1 loaf and bake in two small loaf pans - one to eat right away and one to freeze. The perfect solution when baking for two. For more bread recipes for two try this simple and crazy delicious blueberry lemon yogurt cake recipe or lemon cake recipe with rhubarb.
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What you'll need
The key to this recipe is using a very ripe, soft, darkly speckled banana and making sure your eggs are room temperature. Here are the other ingredients you will need.
- Flour – I use all-purpose flour
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Butter
- Walnuts – Toasted nuts add a nice crunch. I often opt for adding chocolate chips directly to the batter.
- Brown sugar
- Vanilla – enhances the overall flavor
- Sugar
- Eggs- make sure the eggs are room temperature.
- Overripe bananas – The abundance of natural sugars in overripe bananas is the secret to big flavor and serious moisture in this banana bread.
- Sour cream
See recipe card for quantities.
Making banana bread for two
We set out to scale down banana bread to fit in a mini loaf pan. You will need a 5 ½ by 3-inch loaf pan (update this link) or a pan of similar size for this recipe.
Toast your walnuts. place the nuts in a small, dry skillet. Toast over low heat, shaking the pan often, until fragrant and toasted, about 6 to 8 minutes for walnuts. Keep an eye on the skillet, once the nuts start to toast they will toast fast and burn quickly.
Now, sift together your dry ingredients of flour, baking powder, soda, salt and sugar together in a mixing bowl and set aside.
In a separate bowl, mix 1 Tablespoon butter, brown sugar, walnuts or chocolate chips and one teaspoon of vanilla.
Creaming the butter and sugar resulted in overmixed batter and a dense loaf. Instead, we will melt and cool the remaining butter, whisk together the mashed banana, egg, melted butter, sour cream and remaining vanilla until smooth to ensure our loaf stayed tender with a delicate texture.
Gently fold banana mixture into the flour mixture with rubber spatula until just combined. The batter will be lumpy with a few spots of dry flour – don’t over mix.
Reserve 2 Tablespoons of the brown sugar nut mixture to sprinkle on the top. Pack the rest of the nut mixture into the bottom of a greased 5 ½ by 3-inch loaf pan.
Pour the batter over the nut mixture, smooth the top and sprinkle the top with the remaining nut mixture. Bake at 350 F degrees for 40 – 50 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking.
Let the loaf cool in pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Remove loaf from pan and let cool for at least 1 hour before slicing. Enjoy!
Storing banana
Most of us store bananas on the countertop but storing ripe bananas in the refrigerator will keep the fruit firm, despite the darkened skin. America’s Test Kitchen explains how cool temperatures slow down the ripening process to make bananas last up to two weeks after purchase.
Ripening bananas
There is an abundance of natural sugars in overripe bananas which is the secret to achieving lots of banana flavor and keeping the bread moist.
The best way to ripen bananas is to enclose them in a paper bag, this will speed up the ripening process by a day or two. This America’s Test Kitchen article explains the science behind this fruit ripening strategy.
Top tip
Want to know the secret to making the best banana bread for two? Here are some of my best tips that I’ve learned making this recipe again and again.
- Use ultra-ripe bananas. The key to this recipe is using a very ripe, soft, darkly speckled banana.
- The addition of toasted walnuts and gives crunch and a little vanilla enhances the overall flavor.
- Do not cream the butter and sugar. Instead, gently fold everything together using the quick-bread method (using melted and cooled butter) to ensure the bead stays tender with a delicate texture.
- Have a timer and instant read thermometer. To avoid under cooking the loaf, use an instant read thermometer. When the center of your bread is baked through, a thermometer will register between 200°F and 205°F. No part of your loaf should be below 200°F — except perhaps the very top, which may produce an unreliable reading due to the thermometer's tip being partially exposed to room-temperature air.
Common questions about this recipe
You've got questions... I've got answers! If you have a question about this recipe that isn't answered below, feel free to leave it in the comments, and I'll jump in there to help you out.
Temperature plays an important role in the behavior of ingredients in baking. Use room-temperature eggs when making this recipe as they more easily incorporate than cold. The additional mixing required to incorporate cold ingredients may adversely affect the texture of the banana bread.
Eggs take about an hour to come to room temperature. To warm more quickly place uncracked eggs in bowl of warm water (110 degrees) for about 10 minutes.
Yes, once your loaf is fully cooled, you'll want to make sure it's wrapped to keep it moist and delicious when storing.
Eggs are a vital part of baking. In baked goods like cakes and quick breads, they give structure and stability to the batter. Adding too many eggs while baking, however, will throw off the composition. The result could be a banana bread that is dense, spongy, and rubbery.
Using too many bananas can make your bread heavy and damp in the center, causing it to appear undercooked and unappealing. If you have extra bananas leftover, feel free to freeze them and use them another time, but please, do not put them in the batter just because they are there.
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Related
Looking for other bread and muffin recipes for two? Try these:
Best Banana Bread with sour cream and brown sugar
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Ingredients
- 1 cup flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter melted and cooled plus 1 Tablespoon cold butter
- ¼ cup walnuts toasted and chopped
- 2 Tablespoons brown sugar firmly packed
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
- ½ cup white sugar
- 1 large egg ,room temperature
- ½ cup overripe banana ,peeled and mashed well (about 1 banana)
- ½ cup sour cream
Instructions
- Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 5 ½ by 3-inch loaf pan. Toast your walnuts. place the nuts in a small, dry skillet. Toast over low heat, shaking the pan often, until fragrant and toasted, about 6 to 8 minutes.
- Whisk flour, baking powder, soda, salt and sugar together in a mixing bowl and set aside. Now, mix 1 tablespoon cold butter, brown sugar, walnuts and one teaspoon of vanilla, in a small bowl.
- In a separate bowl, whisk mashed banana, egg, melted butter, sour cream and ½ teaspoon vanilla until smooth. Gently fold banana mixture into the flour mixture with rubber spatula until just combined. The batter will be lumpy with a few spots of dry flour – don’t over mix.
- Reserve 2 Tablespoons of the nut mixture to sprinkle on the top. Pack the rest of the nut mixture into the bottom of prepared pan.
- Pour the batter over the nut mixture, smooth the top and sprinkle the top with the remaining nut mixture. Bake until loaf is golden brown and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean and all parts of the loaf register between 200 degrees F and 205 degrees F, about 40 – 50 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking.
- Let the loaf cool in pan on wire rack for 5 minutes. Remove loaf from pan and let cool for at least 1 hour before slicing.
Your Notes, Tips and Tricks
Nutrition
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
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