½cupwalnuts, pecans or mini chocolate chipsOptional
Raw or turbinado sugar
Instructions
Heat oven to 350ºF. Spray two mini loaf pans (5-by-3-by-2-inch pans) with cooking spray or brush with butter. I line the very bottom with a little rectangle of parchment. You can do this if you’d like.
Mash the banana using a fork in a medium mixing bowl. Add the eggs, sour cream, oil, butter and sugar and whisk to combine.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to banana mixture with mix-ins you are using. Mix gently until a batter is formed. DO NOT OVERMIX!!! There will be dry bits of flour and it will seem lumpy. This is fine. You do not want to stir until super smooth or the bread will be tough.
Portion half the batter (1 cup each) into each loaf pan. Sprinkle the tops with raw or course sugar, or chopped nuts if desired. About a tablespoon for each loaf.
Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean or with minimal crumbs, 26 to 30 minutes.
Let bread cool in pans 5 to 10 minutes then remove to a cooling rack and let cool completely before slicing and serving.
Video
Notes
Nutritional Analysis for 1 mini loaf. There are so many great tips in the blog post, including:
If your banana isn’t quite ⅔ cup or just a bit more when mashed, that’s just fine. Use whatever amount one standard banana yields.
Bringing all the ingredients to room temperature before mixing will create better results.
Each mini loaf pan gets about 1 cup of batter
Add ½ cup additions to the recipe, or ¼ cup to each loaf. Use mini or regular chocolate chips, any chopped nut, coconut, or chopped pineapple. Or you can leave it out altogether and make plain banana bread.
Storage: Cooled bread can be wrapped and stored at room temperature for up to 3 days or frozen for up to a month.