Banana bread is a fairly simple recipe, but nothing is worse than taking the time to bake it only for it to come out of the oven dry, hard or even flattened. Sandy Coughlin, a cook and founder of Reluctant Entertainer has stressed the importance of using sour cream in banana bread as it helps the dessert rise while cooking.

She said: “Now you want to know the secret? Add baking soda to the sour cream and stir. This combination mixed into the banana bread mixture is the secret to a moist, fluffy, amazing bread!” It might seem surprising, but banana bread tends to be a heavy dough due to the amount of fruit in it, and using soda cream along with baking soda helps lighten it to create a fluffier loaf.

Without sour cream or another acidic ingredient, the baking soda will not react effectively, which can result in a dense banana bread that doesn't rise properly in the oven.

Not only does sour cream make banana bread taller, but it also helps add more richness and moisture to the loaf, so it has a tender and finer texture.

The acid in sour cream only helps it cook more evenly, so you will get the perfect golden brown crust and make the banana bread look even more appetising.

Sour cream is a simple yet very effective way to help baked goods rise properly in the oven, and can help enhance the natural flavour of bananas so you get a richer and sweeter taste.

How to make banana bread better 

Ingredients

• 115g of unsalted butter (softened)
• 200g of caster sugar
• Two eggs (beaten)
• 190g of plain flour
• One teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
• 120g sour cream
• Half a teaspoon of salt
• 340g of mashed bananas (about three medium bananas)
• One teaspoon of vanilla extract
• Half a teaspoon of almond extract
• 100g walnuts (chopped)

Instructions

To begin, preheat the oven to 180C (160C fan oven or Gas Mark 4). Grease a 23cm loaf tin with butter and sprinkle a little flour as well to prevent the banana bread from sticking to it.

Add butter and sugar to a large mixing bowl, mix until you have a light and fluffy mixture. Stir in the eggs as well. Slowly add the flour and salt to the buttery sugar mixture until fully combined.

In a separate bowl, add one teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda and the 120g of sour cream. Stir well and then add the mashed bananas, chopped walnuts, vanilla and almond extract.

Pour the sour cream mixture into the flour mixture in the large mixing bowl. Mix everything until incorporated, and then pour into the prepared loaf tin.

Place in the oven and bake for 50 minutes. Once ready, let it cool for 10 minutes, and your tasty banana bread is ready to eat.