Jake and Maggie Gyllenhaal’s Banana Bread
Updated March 13, 2026
Rachel Vanni for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Spencer Richards.
- Ready In
- 2½ hr
- Rating
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Ingredients
½ cup/113 grams unsalted butter, softened, plus more for greasing the pan
1½ cups/192 grams all-purpose flour
2½ teaspoons baking soda
½ teaspoon fine salt
⅔ cup/134 grams sugar, plus more for sprinkling
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1¼ cups/280 grams mashed ripe banana (from 2 ½ large)
½ cup/110 grams sour cream
1 cup/100 grams chopped toasted walnuts and pecans
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 to 12 servings)
38 grams carbs; 68 milligrams cholesterol; 399 calories; 9 grams monounsaturated fat; 8 grams polyunsaturated fat; 8 grams saturated fat; 26 grams fat; 3 grams fiber; 335 milligrams sodium; 6 grams protein; 18 grams sugar
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-by-5-by-3-inch loaf pan.
- Step 2
In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt.
- Step 3
In a large bowl, using a hand-held electric mixer on medium-high speed (or by hand with a spatula or wooden spoon), beat the butter and sugar until smooth and creamy, about 1½ minutes, stopping and scraping the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then the vanilla. Beat in the banana and sour cream until well blended.
- Step 4
Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients. Beat on low just until blended, scraping the side of the bowl as necessary, then stir in the nuts.
- Step 5
Transfer the batter to the prepared pan; sprinkle the top lightly with sugar. Bake 55 to 65 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Step 6
Let the bread cool slightly in the pan, then loosen and remove from the pan and transfer to a wire rack to cool. Let cool thoroughly before serving. Wrap leftover banana bread in foil and store at room temperature for up to 4 days.
Private Notes
Comments
I make a similar banana bread and use 1/2 AP and 1/2 WW flour. I top with a fabulous toffee, praline and cinnamon crunch topping. My tip with using WW flour (or any flour) is to let the batter rest 15 minutes before baking. The flour needs a bit of time to absorb the moisture. This rest helps the bread to rise better too.
Made it. With greek yogurt instead of sour cream. Subbed whole wheat for half the flour and used half fresh and half frozen bananas. OMG SO GOOD. Love it. Can’t stop eating it.
add a little shredded dark chocolate. Not chocolate chips, but a solid bar that you grate into the batter before adding nuts
I used 1/4 of the flour amount with "white" whole wheat. I usually do that with banana bread recipes. I forgot to let the batter 'sit' for awhile before baking, and it turned out well. I think this recipe was tasty, however, every recipe for banana bread that I have used is tasty! Sometimes I add chocolate chips, or blueberries to these recipes. I did not do that here, but I may in the future.
It was delicious, but my daughter thought it tasted underbaked. It could be she was tasting the baking soda. I just made another loaf, but next time I'll use less baking soda and let it rest 5-10 minutes before putting it in the oven. I'm also going to put foil on top at the end, but I'd hate to lose the crunchy, sugary top by steaming it for a bit. We'll see...
Followed per recipe but used chopped pecans instead of walnuts. Tasty but a little bland. Next time will add in cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and a pinch of mace for more flavor. Very nice texture and smelled heavenly baking!