Classic Banana Bread

Classic Banana Bread

Prep time: 20 min

Total time: 80 min

Serves: 8

Ingredients

• ½ cup melted butter or vegetable oil, plus a little more for greasing pan
• 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup pecan halves, chopped
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• ¼ cup sour cream
• ½ cup brown sugar, lightly packed
• 1 ½ tsp pure vanilla extract
• 4 soft, very ripe, darkly speckled bananas, mashed (about 1 1/2 cups)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Lightly butter one 9-by-5-inch loaf pan. (Optional: Line ban with a piece of wax paper after buttering pan to easily remove the loaf after it has been baked and cooled)
2. Whisk together the flour, pecans, granulated sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon salt and nutmeg in a large bowl. Whisk together the eggs, melted butter, sour cream, brown sugar and vanilla in a medium bowl; stir in the mashed bananas. Fold the banana mixture into the flour mixture until just combined (it’s OK if there are some lumps).
3. Pour the batter into the buttered pan and lightly tap the pan on the counter to evenly distribute the batter. Bake until browned and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out completely clean, about 1 hour. Let the bread cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then turn out onto a rack to cool completely.

Tips

Fold in 1/3 cup of Chocolate Chips into the batter for Chocolate Chip Banana Bread!