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With sour cream and nuts, this Classic Banana Walnut Bread is the best you’ll ever taste! It’s perfectly moist texture and flavor, you’ll make this recipe again and again!

Whether you eat this delicious Banana Nut Bread for breakfast, brunch, snack time, or dessert, you’ll wish you made a double batch!

Classic Banana Walnut Bread on a white ceramic tray garnished with walnuts.
Table of Contents hide
1 Why You Must Make
2 Ingredient Notes:
3 Expert Tips
4 Frequently Asked Questions
5 You May Also Like:
6 Classic Banana Walnut Bread Recipe

Why You Must Make

  • This Banana Bread Recipe with Sour Cream makes two loaves, so you can make one with nuts and one without!
  • I give you an easy way to “ripen” bananas that haven’t gotten to that soft, spotted stage that make them perfect for baking.
  • The addition of sour cream practically guarantees your loaves will be moist!
  • This takes 4 bananas so start collecting your overripe bananas in your freezer and you’ll be ready to bake once you have enough. 
Banana Bread Ingredients on a metal sheet pan with labels.

Ingredient Notes:

  • Bananas – Should be very ripe, and fragrant with spotted peels. Roast them if they’re yellow without spots for the best flavor. 4 bananas yield about 2 cups of mashed bananas. See the tips below for how to roast bananas.
  • Butter – Salted butter is fine, melted
  • Sugar – White, granulated sugar
  • Eggs – Large eggs
  • Vanilla Extract – Must be real vanilla, not artificially flavored. Read the label carefully.
  • All-Purpose Flour
  • Baking soda
  • Salt -Table Salt is best as it easily disperses throughout the batter.
  • Sour cream – Use full fat.
  • Walnuts – Toast to bring out their essential oils, cool, then chop.

I’m always in search of inspiration. So when my daughter spotted a recipe card for a classic banana walnut bread that fell out of one of myriad catalogs piled up on my kitchen counter, and actually requested a loaf, I had to oblige.

Classic Banana Walnut Bread on a square white plate.

Expert Tips

The girl (or Queen of the House as she’s been dubbed) is just as picky as her dad, so one nut-free loaf was a given. But I also wanted to make a banana bread that reminded me of my mom, and hers were always chock full of crunchy walnuts.

  • PRO: Tip: If your bananas aren’t quite ripe enough, you can roast them in the oven to soften and concentrate their flavor. Place your bananas on a baking sheet lined with foil. Bake at 300° for 15-30 minutes until blackened. Cool before peeling and scooping out the banana pulp. I don’t usually poke holes in the banana peels before roasting, but if you’re worried about them bursting, it’s worth doing.
  • PRO: Tip: While your oven is on, toast your walnuts to bring out the best flavor. I’d recommend placing them on a sheet pan before chopping and baking at 350° for about 5 minutes or just until you start smelling their nutty aroma. Watch carefully so they don’t burn.
  • This takes 4 bananas so start collecting your overripe bananas in your freezer and you’ll be ready to bake once you have enough. I store them in a gallon Ziploc bag.
  • PRO-Tip: With all quick bread, it’s important to mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients just until they are combined. Do not use a mixer or overmix. Otherwise, the bread will be full of tunnels.
  • I hate to admit how many breads I’ve pulled out of the oven too soon to then find a raw center when slicing. Use a toothpick and insert it into a few spots along the top center of the loaf. It should come out dry or with moist crumbs, not batter when the loaf is done.
  • Cool the bread for about 15 minutes before releasing it from the pan to finish cooling.
  • I like lining the bottoms of my loaf pans with parchment paper so the bottom does not stick. I grease the pan, add the parchment, then grease the parchment.
  • This moist banana bread with sour cream is fine at room temperature for a day or two or in the refrigerator for about a week.

Fragrant, dense but not too heavy, and moist, this was one superb banana bread. So whether you have black bananas in your freezer or yellow bananas ripening on your counter, I suggest you make a loaf or two of this banana walnut bread ASAP.

P.S. If you want an even more decadent version, check out this over-the-top Chocolate Chip Toffee Banana Bread.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Do You Prevent Quick Bread from Sticking to the Pan?

There are a few things you can do to prevent sticking. First, you must prep the pan properly. Greasing the pan with shortening or butter, then dusting with flour works well. You can also use a flour and oil spray like Baker’s Joy.

You may also put a rectangle of parchment paper on the bottom of each pan, then grease the top of it. Then, let the baked bread cool in the pan for about 10-15 minutes before removing it. This allows the crust to firm up so the bread does not crack or break when you invert it onto the cooling rack.

Why Is My Banana Bread Dry?

It could be the recipe. The ratio of flour to bananas, eggs, etc. is key. Too much flour and the bread will be dry. Make sure to measure your flour properly. Scoop your measuring cup into the flour, then take a knife or another flat implement to cleanly swipe the excess from the top of the cup.

If you overmix the batter, it will have tunnels and the texture will be negatively affected. Just stir in the flour until incorporated, no longer than that. Overbaking will also create a drier loaf.
Look at the ingredient list. This recipe has sour cream which adds fat, and thus moisture, and contains lactic acid. The acid loosens the gluten bonds in the flour making a more tender bread.

Can You Freeze Banana Bread?

Yes, it freezes well if wrapped properly so that it’s airtight. First, cool your loaf to room temperature. If it’s even a tiny bit warm, it will sweat when wrapped which could make the bread gummy when it thaws.

Wrap it well in plastic wrap, then foil. Freeze for up to 3 months. Defrost overnight in the refrigerator.

Is Banana Bread Bad for You?

Most quick bread recipes have ingredients that are much like cake ingredients. The bananas and eggs will add some extra nutrients, but banana bread is not considered healthy.

How Can You Ripen Bananas Quickly?

Place them in a paper bag with an apple. The apple will give off ethylene gas that will hasten the ripening process. You can also use the oven method. Place your bananas on a sheet pan and cook in a 300º oven for about 30 minutes or until they’re blackened and soft to the touch.

Classic Banana Walnut Bread slices on a white ceramic tray.

You May Also Like:

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Classic Banana Walnut Bread on a square white plate
The Recipe:

Classic Banana Walnut Bread Recipe

Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Yield 32 servings

A moist delicious loaf with sour cream and walnuts.

Ingredients

  • 4 bananas*, very ripe
  • 1 cup (2 sticks or 8 ounces) butter, melted
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 4 eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 3 cups flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts, toasted

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350º. Grease two 9 x 5 loaf pans, and line the bottoms with a rectangle of parchment paper. Set aside.
  2. In a large bowl, mix the melted butter with the sugar. Add eggs and vanilla and mix to combine.
  3. In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
  4. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet without overworking the batter.
  5. Stir in the sour cream, walnuts, and bananas.
  6. Divide the batter between the two pans.
  7. Bake for 50-60 minutes or till a toothpick inserted into the middle of the loaf comes out clean.
  8. Cool for 10 minutes, then remove the bread from the pans to a cooling rack.

Notes

If your bananas are just yellow with a few brown spots, cook on a parchment-lined sheet pan at 300º for 30 minutes until the skins are very dark), peeled and mashed

This recipe is easily cut in half to make just one loaf.

To toast your walnuts, spread them out on a sheet pan and cook for 3-5 minutes in a 350-degree oven or until fragrant. Watch carefully so they do not burn.

Adapted from AllRecipes.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

24

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 204Total Fat: 6gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 37mgSodium: 209mgCarbohydrates: 34gFiber: 1gSugar: 20gProtein: 4g

Thatskinnychickcanbake.com occasionally offers nutritional information for recipes contained on this site. This information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. This information comes from online calculators. Although thatskinnychickcanbake.com attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased can change the nutritional information in any given recipe. Also, many recipes on thatskinnychickcanbake.com recommend toppings, which may or may not be listed as optional and nutritional information for these added toppings is not listed. Other factors may change the nutritional information such as when the salt amount is listed “to taste,” it is not calculated into the recipe as the amount will vary. Also, different online calculators can provide different results. To obtain the most accurate representation of the nutritional information in any given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe. You are solely responsible for ensuring that any nutritional information obtained is accurate.

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© Liz Berg
Cuisine: American / Category: Bread