The dairy product is the ‘secret’ to helping the dessert rise while cooking
Banana bread is meant to be simple and delicious, so ending up with a dry or dense loaf can be quite the disappointment. Sandy Coughlin, the culinary whizz and Reluctant Entertainer founder, has shared that sour cream is a game-changer in making your banana bread to rise to the occasion.
Banana bread needs something to counteract its heavy dough, and combining bicarbonate of soda with sour cream does just the ticket for a taller, more airy loaf. Without sour cream or another acidic ingredient, your baking soda won’t work properly, leading to a banana bread that’s more brick than airy delight when baked.
She explained: “Now you want to know the secret? Add baking soda to the sour cream and stir. This combination mixed into the banana bread mixture is the secret to a moist, fluffy, amazing bread!”
It turns out sour cream isn’t just about height – it brings richness, moisture, and a divine delicate texture to your banana loaf as well.
Not to mention, sour cream helps your banana bread cook evenly, giving you that lush golden brown crust that’ll make you look like a pro, reports the Express. As it happens, sour cream isn’t just a trick for rising success – it enhances the banana flavour.
Fluffy and moist banana bread recipe
Ingredients
- 115g of unsalted butter (softened)
- 200g of caster sugar
- Two eggs (beaten)
- 190g of plain flour
- One teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
- 120g sour cream
- Half a teaspoon of salt
- 340g of mashed bananas (about three medium bananas)
- One teaspoon of vanilla extract
- Half a teaspoon of almond extract
- 100g walnuts (chopped)
Method
To start, warm up the oven to 180C (160C fan oven or Gas Mark 4). Butter a 23cm loaf tin and dust it with a bit of flour to stop the banana bread from sticking.
In a large bowl, combine butter and sugar until it’s light and fluffy. Mix in the eggs as well.
Gradually add the flour and salt to the butter-sugar mixture until it’s fully mixed.
In another bowl, mix one teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda with the 120g of sour cream. Stir thoroughly before adding the mashed bananas, chopped walnuts, vanilla and almond extract.
Pour the sour cream mixture into the flour mixture in the large bowl. Blend everything together, then pour it into the prepared loaf tin.
Pop it in the oven and bake for 50 minutes. Once done, let it cool for 10 minutes, and your delicious banana bread is ready to be enjoyed.