Banana Bread Recipe

Ingredients:

• 4 ounces unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for greasing pan
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups bananas, very ripe, mashed
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• OPTIONAL:
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan and line it with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, beat together butter and sugar until combined and lightened in color.
3. Add eggs, one at a time, until each is fully incorporated.
4. Add bananas, sour cream, and vanilla extract. Mix well. Scrape bottom of bowl with a spatula and mix again.
5. Sift in flour, baking soda, salt, and baking powder. Mix until just combined. Scrape bottom of bowl once to make sure everything is incorporated.
6. Fold in walnuts and/or chocolate, if using. Transfer mixture to prepared loaf pan.
7. Bake 60 to 70 minutes, rotating pan once halfway through. Bread is done when a toothpick entered into the center comes out with moist crumbs attached (200°F on a probe thermometer).
8. Cook's Tips:
9. If starting with cold butter, soften it quickly in the microwave using 5 to10 second bursts, flipping butter over and repeating until soft. You can also grate cold butter into smaller bits using a box grater. This will bring it to room temperature more quickly.
10. The riper the bananas used, the more flavor your bread will have. Store ripe bananas whole in your freezer. When you’ve accumulated enough, simply remove from freezer and rest 10 minutes on your counter top. The skins can then be peeled off and the pulp used for banana bread.