I’ve tried many banana bread recipes over the years and I keep coming back to this one from Ina Garten – except she called it “Old-Fashioned Banana Cake” and completes it with a cream cheese frosting – because her recipe actually makes it a cake.
I made some adjustments to her recipe to better suit my taste (more bananas for more banana flavor, more sugar to make up for no cream cheese frosting, more walnuts and orange marmalade) and to adjust for making banana bread in a toaster oven. My wall oven broke down after 25 years and I haven’t had time to shop for a replacement (too many choices) so until then, I have to learn to bake with my counter toaster oven – which I’m loving.
The key to this banana bread recipe is using orange. Ina’s recipe calls for the zest of one orange – I replaced it with 3 tablespoons of orange marmalade because I was lazy. And let me tell you – it still tasted fantastic. That’s the thing about banana bread – it’s very forgiving and an excellent first foray into baking for the novice baker.
This is the Best and Only Banana Bread Recipe You’ll Need Because:
- It’s simple
- Doesn’t require heavy or special equipment (No stand or hand mixer needed)
- Doesn’t require too much planning
- It’s very forgiving – don’t have sour cream? Replace it with yogurt – it will still turn out wonderful
- It can be served warm or at room temperature – just be sure to cut the cake when cool (I couldn’t wait and cut pieces turned out ugly but it was delicious). The banana bread can be warmed up in the microwave the next day for fresh out-of-the-oven taste. Just cut a slice and warm it for 10-15 seconds.
What adjustments have you made to the recipe that worked for you? Let me know in the comments!
Ingredients
- 5 very ripe medium bananas mashed
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ⅔ cup brown sugar lightly packed, dark or light
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- ½ cup sour cream room temperature
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 3 Tbsp orange marmalade or grated zest of 1 orange
- 2 cups all purpose flour or 1.5 cups whole wheat flour
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- ½ tsp Salt
- 1 cup chopped walnuts
Instructions
Prepare
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (or toaster oven to 325 degrees F).
- Grease and flour a 9x2-inch round cake pan.
Mix the Wet Ingredients in a Large Bowl
- In a large bowl, mix the bananas, granulated sugar and brown sugar until combined.
- Then, add the oil, eggs, sour cream, vanilla and orange marmalade and mix until smooth.
Mix the Dry Ingredients in a Medium Bowl
- In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda and salt.
Combine and Bake
- Add the dry ingredients to the large bowl of wet ingredients. Mix until just combined. Stir in the chopped walnuts.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 45-50 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Cool in the pan and serve at room temperature. If serving warm, cut the bread first after cooling and warm for 10-15 seconds in the microwave.
Bon Appétit Magazine’s “Bin It To Win It” Pancakes Recipe
Is the nutritional info for this 798 calories per serving or for the entire loaf?
Thank you
PS it is delicious
Hi Mary,
Thank you so much for your feedback! After being surprised by the 798 calories per serving number, I realized there was an error in the calculation. It may help make you feel a little better (but not by much), but the re-calculated calories per serving is 601 calories.