Best Banana Bread Recipe Ever
This banana bread recipe is very straightforward and easy. The only thing that might might be a little strange is the buttermilk; most people don’t tend to have that on hand and don’t really want to but a whole container for just a 1/2 cup in a recipe. The alternative is to make the banana bread with sour milk. Not hard, you just add a tablespoon of vinegar to your measuring cup, then fill the rest of the way with milk and let it curdle for a few minutes. But more on the sour milk in a minute!
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I do read your comments, dear readers! The wonderful part about this recipe is that it’s flexible. Add some cinnamon, a handful of cranberries (my mother loves to do this), chocolate chips, or whatever else excites you. You can actually split this into two smaller loaves if you like; I just think it’s best baked in one giant loaf. We’ve made it in cake pans and as muffins and mini muffins, too. Go crazy! But be sure to adjust the baking time if you change the pan size.
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Amazingly moist and full of flavor banana bread! There is a way around buying a whole quart of buttermilk for one use in this recipe. Pour a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar into a measuring cup then fill up to the half-cup mark before starting the recipe. The vinegar sours the milk, and is a great substitution for buttermilk.Best Banana Bread with Sour Milk Recipe
Ingredients
Instructions
If you love this banana bread, my ZUCCHINI BREAD (click here) is another must-try!
Packaging Banana Bread for Gift Giving
Materials:
- 4 inch Paper loaf pans
- 5 inch wide cellophane bags
- Cardstock
- Baker’s twine
- Heart Punch
- Edge Punch
- Expressionery.com personalized stamp
There are so many different loaf pan varieties out there; and lots with pretty print on the sides for whatever holiday you’re gift giving at! You’ll just want to bake your bread in a container the recipient doesn’t feel like they have to return. I made that mistake once–sending little mini loaves out into the world in pretty little porcelain loaf pans. Every one of them came back!
I like to slip the loaf pans into a cellophane bag and add a little tag to them. With a pretty loaf pan, the decorating the gift part is easy!
For my tag, I really just had a lot of fun going through my box of scrapbook punches. You don’t have to take all these steps; leaving out one or two details won’t deter from your pretty package!
Bread Tag Instructions
Cut two 1×4 pieces of cardstock. Punch one edge with an edge puncher; punch the other with a hole puncher. Punch or cut a heart out of your choice of colors of cardstock, and punch a hole near the middle of the heart.
Layer the two 1×4 pieces of stock on top of each other and add the heart, lining up all the holes. String through with baker’s twine.
Use your Expressionery.com stamp to put your name on the 1×4 paper, then tie around the neck of your cello bag. It’s the perfect little decoration for a loving little gift!
Don’t forget to pin the banana bread recipe for later!
Thank you toExpressionery.com for sponsoring this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own, and I adore the high quality of their products!
Denise Lewis
Tuesday 22nd of August 2023
My husband loves banana bread. I saved this recipe many years ago. I’ve made this recipe and I’ve tried some others over the years but I always come back to this one. It’s just like we like it. I really think this is the The Best Banana Bread!
Paula Biggs
Sunday 1st of October 2023
Thank you so much for the kind words!! I love that it's your go-to as well. My husband and I just celebrated 24 years (!) and can't believe we've been making this same recipe that long! It's so nice to hear so many others get the same joy out of this banana bread recipe. :)
Judy
Tuesday 20th of June 2023
Banana Bread looks so good.
Emma
Sunday 31st of July 2022
I only have oat milk on hand. Would that work for this recipe? I imagine oat milk doesn’t “sour” the same as dairy milk.
Linda Harbison
Sunday 24th of April 2022
Thank you for sharing your recipes. This one looks delicious. Can you substitute sour cream for the buttermilk?
AJ Gurr
Sunday 9th of July 2023
@Paula Biggs, @Linda Harbison I have been subbing sour cream nearly every time I've made this recipe and it seems to work great. The recipe my mom had growing up said "buttermilk or sour cream" and I've never seemed to have an issue.
Paula Biggs
Monday 25th of April 2022
I've never tried with sour cream in this particular recipe! I don't know what the reduction in liquid would do to the moisture of the bread, but sounds like a fun experiment :)
Mary
Friday 8th of April 2022
I make banana bread all the time. This one was a hit! So moist and delicious! I use lemon juice to sour my milk, but that is the only thing I changed. Delicious!
Paula Biggs
Monday 25th of April 2022
So glad it was a hit for you! I like that there are many different ways to sour the milk--I'm always about using what I have on hand to cook and bake!