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Flour's Famous Banana Bread

Flour bakery banana bread is a bakery-caliber loaf with an open, moist crumb and a deep golden crust. This famous banana bread recipe uses a lower 325°F bake for that professional-style texture and a walnut-studded top.
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 5 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Servings: 10 servings
Course: Breakfast, Snack
Cuisine: American
Calories: 420
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Dry ingredients
  • 2.5 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 0.25 tsp salt
Wet ingredients
  • 0.5 cup unsalted butter, room temperature Use room-temperature butter so it creams smoothly.
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 0.33 cup sour cream
  • 3 very ripe bananas, mashed (about 1.5 cups) Mash until mostly smooth; a few small lumps are fine.
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
Topping
  • 1 cup walnuts, lightly toasted and chopped

Equipment

  • 1 sheet pan
  • 1 9x5 loaf pan

Method
 

Prep the oven and pan
  1. Preheat oven to 325°F and grease and flour a 9x5 loaf pan so the loaf releases cleanly after baking.
Mix dry ingredients
  1. Sift together all-purpose flour, baking soda, and salt and set aside to help prevent lumps and keep the crumb tender.
Cream butter and sugar
  1. Beat unsalted butter (room temperature) and sugar on high speed for about 5 minutes until very light and fluffy, with a paler color and airy texture.
Add eggs and flavor
  1. Add large eggs one at a time, beating well after each, until the batter looks smooth and slightly thick.
  2. Mix in sour cream, mashed bananas, and vanilla extract until evenly combined and no streaks remain.
Combine and fold in walnuts
  1. Fold in the flour mixture gently until just combined, stopping as soon as you no longer see dry flour for a moist crumb.
  2. Fold in walnuts, distributing them throughout so every slice gets some crunch.
Bake
  1. Pour batter into the loaf pan and bake for 60–70 minutes at 325°F until the top is deep brown and a toothpick comes out clean.
  2. Cool in the pan briefly, then lift out to finish cooling so the crumb sets and slices cleanly.

Notes

Pro tip: use very ripe bananas and don’t overmix after adding flour—fold just until you see no dry streaks for that bakery-style open crumb. Store tightly wrapped in the fridge up to 5 days (warm slices in the toaster oven). Freeze up to 3 months, well-wrapped. Dietary swap: for dairy-light, substitute plain Greek yogurt for sour cream (same quantity) to keep the moist texture.