The Add-Ins You Need To Take Banana Bread To The Next Level

Buying bananas is difficult when you're food shopping for one. You have to work around the ripeness of the bunch and you can't exactly decide the exact number of bananas you get. If you buy too many and the bunch is already ripe, you may gift your produce basket with brown bananas in just a day's time.

But an overripe banana is the gift that keeps on giving. No one wants to chow down on a mushy, brown, sticky fruit — instead, you can mash it, mix it into a batter, throw it into the oven, and enjoy a warm, sweet banana bread. While its simplicity is part of its charm, banana bread can sometimes fall flat — the flavor, after all, is quite one note. Erin Jeanne McDowell, cookbook author and host of Happy Baking on YouTube, gave us her tips on how to prevent a boring banana bread.

McDowell said incorporating a fatty, creamy addition to the liquid ingredients results in a more decadent texture and deeper flavor. "Sour cream is often used as one of the liquid ingredients and adds richness and a little tang to the banana bread," McDowell wrote in a statement to The Takeout. "A healthier swap would be yogurt, which contains less richness but similar tanginess and liquifying potential." If you don't have sour cream at home, you can whip up your own at home by mixing cream with an acid.

Chopped walnuts or other nuts are a common addition to banana bread, offering a diverse texture and a toasted, earthy flavor. If you are allergic to nuts or prefer a slightly sweeter flavor, McDowell suggests adding chocolate pieces or spreads. "I love adding inclusions like finely chopped chocolate or cocoa nibs — and my favorite is a swirl of Nutella or peanut butter to take the banana bread into more cake-like territory," McDowell said.

To ribbon banana bread with a spread, pour the batter into the loaf pan, lather a knife with a helping of the spread, and swirl it throughout the pan. It's also often suggested to pour in a bit of orange juice to impart a citrus zing into the banana bread; a splash of orange juice makes the loaf's texture more tender, preventing a dry or stodgy batch. Regardless of the add-in — or even if you choose to make a tried-and-true plain banana bread — make sure to assess your bananas for the perfect ripeness.