Sarra Ina Garten’s banana bread is a tender, rich loaf loaded with very ripe bananas, sour cream, walnuts, and her signature orange zest. The oil and sour cream keep it moist for days without drying out. It makes one 9×5-inch loaf in about 1 hour 15 minutes total.
Ina doesn’t have an exact banana bread recipe, but her Old-Fashioned Banana Cake from How Easy Is That? is nearly the same batter. She says she created it because Barefoot Contessa “always seemed to have too many overripe bananas” and needed a way to use them up. This loaf adapts that cake for a loaf pan, keeping her sour cream, double sugar, and orange zest but skipping the frosting.
The orange zest is the move that separates this from every other banana bread. It brightens the flavor so the loaf doesn’t taste flat or one-note. Skip it and you lose the thing that makes this Ina’s version.
Ina Garten Banana Bread Recipe
Course: Breakfast, SnacksCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy8
servings15
minutes1
hour5
minutes340
kcalthis loaf swaps the round cake pan for a loaf pan and drops the frosting. The sour cream, walnuts, and fresh orange zest are all Ina.
Ingredients
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3 very ripe bananas, mashed
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3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar
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1/2 cup (100g) light brown sugar, lightly packed
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1/2 cup (120ml) vegetable oil
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2 large eggs, at room temperature
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1/2 cup (120ml) sour cream
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1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
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Grated zest of 1 orange
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2 cups (260g) all-purpose flour
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1 teaspoon baking soda
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1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
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1/2 cup (60g) coarsely chopped walnuts
Directions
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Prep the pan: Preheat the oven to 350F (180C). Grease a 9×5-inch loaf pan and line the bottom with parchment paper.
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Mix the wet ingredients: In a large bowl, mix the mashed bananas with both sugars until combined. Add the oil, eggs, sour cream, vanilla, and orange zest. Stir until smooth.
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Combine the dry ingredients: In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
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Bring the batter together: Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix just until combined. Do not overmix or the bread gets tough. Fold in the walnuts.
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Bake: Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake for 55 to 65 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The top should be golden brown and slightly cracked.
- Cool: Let the bread cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then turn it out onto a wire rack to cool completely before slicing.
FAQs
Why does Ina use orange zest in banana bread?
Orange zest is Ina’s signature touch in her banana cake recipe. It lifts the heavy sweetness of the bananas and adds a citrus brightness you won’t get from vanilla alone.
Without it, banana bread tends to taste flat and one-dimensional. A single orange worth of zest is all it takes.
Why use vegetable oil instead of butter?
Ina uses oil in her banana cake because it stays liquid when cool. Butter solidifies in the fridge, which makes baked goods dry and crumbly the next day.
Oil keeps the crumb soft and tender even days after baking. This is why the bread slices just as well on day three as it does on day one.
How ripe should the bananas be?
Very ripe. The peels should be covered in brown spots, almost black.
Ina says she developed her banana cake specifically to use up overripe bananas at the Barefoot Contessa store. The riper the banana, the more sugar it has, which means more flavor and moisture in the bread.
Green or yellow bananas won’t mash smoothly and the bread will taste starchy instead of sweet.
Can you make this banana bread ahead of time?
Yes. Wrap the cooled loaf tightly in plastic wrap and it keeps at room temperature for 3 to 4 days.
It also freezes well for up to 2 months. Wrap it in plastic, then foil, then into a freezer bag. Thaw overnight on the counter still wrapped so the moisture stays in the bread.
The sour cream and oil are what give this loaf its staying power.
What can you use instead of walnuts?
Pecans are the easiest swap and taste great here. You can also skip the nuts entirely if you have an allergy.
For a richer loaf, fold in 1/2 cup (85g) of chocolate chips instead. Ina does this in her Ina Garten’s Chocolate Banana Crumb Cake from Make It Ahead, so the combination is already in her playbook.
