“Oh, I need to get some more sour cream. I used the last of it in the banana bread.” That’s me, planning my grocery run last week.

“You put SOUR CREAM in BANANA BREAD?” That’s my husband, his horror at the thought of such a mixture nearly radiating off his body.

Yes, friends, I put sour cream in banana bread. And I put a couple of slices of processed American singles in my macaroni and cheese. (Stop judging me.) And butter and salt in my oatmeal. And potato flakes in my bread. And always, always Ranch dressing on my baked potatoes.

Cooking is weird like that. It seems like first, you learn which foods taste good together: blueberries and lemon. Peanut butter and chocolate. Pork and apples. Vanilla and anything.

And then you learn which weird food combinations actually work well together. I’ve discovered that most really good banana bread recipes call for some sort of fermented dairy: yogurt, sour cream, buttermilk.

I think it has to do with the interaction of the dairy, which is acidic, with the baking soda, which is basic. Together, they react and make bubbles, yielding a nice, light end product.

That’s why it’s important not to overmix baked goods that call for those ingredients, like this banana bread… but also most pancakes, biscuits, and other sweetbreads.

I sincerely hope you were not expecting any more cooking science from this column because that pretty much exhausts my understanding of kitchen chemistry.

What I can tell you is that this recipe, made as written, makes a whole boatload of banana bread.

It also calls for six overripe bananas, which is an awful lot of overripe bananas. If you have that many, freeze or share the extra bread.
However, if you’re normal and didn’t let six whole bananas get too ripe on your counter, just make half of the recipe. Three overripe bananas will yield two loaves. (Just use one whole egg and one egg yolk to approximate 1 1/2 eggs.)

I’ve done that many times, and it’s always turned out well for me.

SOUR CREAM BANANA BREAD

(adapted from allrecipes.com)

Ingredients
3 1/4 cups white sugar, divided
3 teaspoons cinnamon, divided
3/4 cup (12 Tablespoons) butter
6 overripe bananas
1 (16 ounce) container sour cream
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions
■ Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Mix 1/4 cup sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon together in a small bowl. Grease 4 loaf pans and dust with the cinnamon sugar mixture. In a large mixing bowl, beat 3 cups sugar and butter until light.
■ Add bananas, sour cream, eggs, vanilla, and 2 teaspoons cinnamon. Beat until smooth. Add dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, and salt) and mix into banana mixture just until combined. (I prefer to mix with a stand mixer on the lowest speed. I turn off the mixer while flour streaks still remain. Then I finish mixing by hand.) Divide batter evenly into the prepared pans. Bake for about 1 hour. Loaves, wrapped well, freeze beautifully.

Amelia Plair is a mom and high school teacher in Starkville. Email reaches her at [email protected].

Amelia Plair is a Starkville resident who writes occasional food columns.