Martha Stewart's Magic Ingredient For Better Banana Bread

Martha Stewart, the lifestyle icon, seemingly has a secret for just about everything. From baking hacks to decor tips to Halloween costumes, she always has the magic touch. Stewart's secrets easily extend to cover banana bread, where her addition of sour cream turns ordinary banana bread into something special.

Banana bread is a baking classic that can be tweaked in plenty of ways. The addition of walnuts or chocolate chips adds sweetness and crunch. A splash of orange juice can add a pleasing citrus flavor while making fresh-baked banana bread even softer. Any way you enjoy it, it's flavorful, soft, chewy, and nostalgic.

So what's the deal with sour cream, Martha Stewart's secret ingredient? According to Stewart, sour cream offers several benefits when it's swapped for milk or buttermilk in a recipe. First, it adds a tangy flavor to the bread, which can help balance the sweetness of the banana. Second, it helps reinforce the structure of the bread, which gives you a moist loaf of bread that's easy to cut when it's done baking. Adding sour cream to your recipe is easy, too. After whisking your dry ingredients and adding butter, you can incorporate the bananas, vanilla, and sour cream shortly before pouring your bread mixture into a pan for baking.

Did we mention that Martha Stewart has a secret for everything? In addition to the perfect secret ingredient for banana bread, she has secrets to upgrade pizza, coffee, and more. Rather than loading up pizza with traditional toppings like pepperoni and mushrooms, you can eat pizza just like Martha Stewart with a pie loaded with petits pois peas and prosciutto. As if that's not enough, Stewart enjoys breakfast pizza with sunny-side-up egg and savory pizza topped with everything from figs to honey to multiple cheeses to arugula. 

Looking for the perfect morning boost? You can enjoy coffee like Martha Stewart by using a French press to extract the most out of the coffee's taste and caffeine levels. Whether you're looking to add a twist to classic recipes like banana bread or pizza, look to Martha Stewart for inspiration. You never know if you'll find an easy breakfast upgrade, a new tasty snack, or a kitchen tool you can get multiple uses out of.