Recipes

Banana Bread Recipe

April 2, 2017
Banana Bread Recipe

Banana Bread

I love a dessert that seems virtuous (it has fruit!).  And I especially love a dessert that makes use of something past its prime, something that might otherwise go in the bin.  The critical ingredient in banana bread is fruit that is hugely overripe, even black, because fresh, yellow bananas make a bland, boring cake. When the bunch in the fruit bowl start to look sad (and you just can’t stomach another banana smoothie), pop the browning and spotted bananas in a plastic bag and put them in the freezer.  If you are like me, you will forget all about them and they will drift to the bottom of the freezer.  Then one day (like this morning for instance in my case), you will wake up and want something yummy for breakfast.  You will root around in the freezer for the bananas you know are there somewhere.  Of course, by the time the bananas defrost and the bread is made it’s much too late for breakfast … but there’s always second breakfast!

Make sure you defrost the bananas in a bowl because there is going to be a lot of liquid.  When the bananas have thoroughly defrosted, snip off the ends and slide the bananas, one by one, into another bowl, discarding the nasty liquid and the skins of course.  The fruit should be very soft.  It will likely be a very unpleasant colour, and may even smell a bit fermented.  Perfect!  These bananas will make a fabulously rich and banana-y bread.  If the loaf is not immediately consumed, a thick slice of banana bread popped in the toaster and slathered with butter makes a wonderful third breakfast.  I’ve also been known to make an extra loaf and slice it up for banana bread french toast.  One of these days I’ll also post my recipe for chocolate banana bread pudding…

Banana Bread Recipe
 
Ingredients
  • 2 cups overripe bananas
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 6 oz unsalted butter, melted and cooled
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 tsp baking soda
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 3 tbsp
  • 3 tbsp plain yogurt (or buttermilk)
  • 1 cup toasted chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350F
  2. Combine bananas, sugar and eggs until well blended (I use an immersion blender but a hand mixer works well too)
  3. Add the butter to the banana mixture and mix well
  4. Sift flour, baking soda and salt together, then stir the flour mixture into the banana mixture and mix well
  5. Stir in the yogurt
  6. Fold in the nuts, if using
  7. Pour the batter into a greased loaf pan
  8. Bake at 350F for 30 minutes
  9. Reduce heat to 300F and bake until the bread is dark brown in colour and a knife inserted in the centre comes out clean (about another 45 minutes or more)
  10. Let cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then run a knife around the edge of the bread to loosen it, then slide the loaf onto the wire rack to cool completely (as if!)
  11. Alternatively, you can make muffins rather than a loaf by spooning the batter into 12 greased muffin cups, bake at 300F until dark brown and cooked through (about 1 hour), let sit 5 minutes, then remove the muffins from the pan and cool completely on a wire rack

Speaking of fermented, read my rant The Taxonomy of Drunks and listen to the Rag ‘n’ Bone Man

You Might Also Like

0 0 vote
Article Rating
Subscribe
Notify of
guest

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments