Favorite Go-To Banana Bread
Saturday, December 18, 2010 I’m back with the recipe from yesterday’s baking overload session. It might have looked like a lot of fun, but baking 5 loaves of bread at home, after already baking for 6 hours straight at the bakery that morning made it a bit of an overkill. Why did I do this to myself? Well…I promised my mom that I would bake homemade loaves of banana & pumpkin bread to give out as gifts to her fellow teachers for the holidays.
(Below: Pumpkin Loaves x 3)
Despite the large quantity requested, I was able to whip them out pretty quickly. For one, I tripled our family recipe for pumpkin bread (will share that recipe in the future!) and doubled the recipe for banana bread. I baked them all in loaf pans resting on a baking sheet, which helps even out the baking, and was able to put them all in the oven. To help, I rotated the pan 180 degrees halfway through the baking process to ensure that they all turned out more or less the same.
This is my go-to banana bread recipe. It is simple, straight-forward, and delicious. Many of the ingredients you’ll already have right in your pantry and you could easily increase the spice quantities or add a dose of chocolate chips (add a teaspoon of the dry ingredients to the chocolate chips to ensure they don’t sink in the batter) to bring it up a notch. However, it is perfect just the way it is, with bananas being the first thing you taste as you sink your teeth into this moist bread.
If you don’t have any ripe bananas on hand, buy as ripe as possible at the store and place them in a brown bag in your kitchen. They’ll become ripe incredibly quickly. This tip also works for avocadoes! Another option is to freeze extra-ripened bananas in the freezer and defrost them just before you make this bread.
Favorite Go-To Banana Bread
Makes 1 Loaf
Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter (melted) or canola oil
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
3 medium-size ripe bananas, peeled & mashed
2 eggs (room temperature, slightly beaten)
1 cup whole-wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/3 cup very hot water (I use my electric kettle)
1/2 cup walnuts (optional)
Directions:
- Melt butter or measure oil and blend with sugar in mixer until well-incorporated.
- Mix and beat in eggs one at a time. Add mashed bananas and mix until batter is smooth.
- Whisk together dry ingredients in a separate bowl.
- Measure hot water and at low speed, alternate adding dry ingredients (3 parts) to water (2 parts), starting with dry.
- Pour into buttered or sprayed 9 x 5 loaf pan.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 65-70 minutes or until inserted toothpick comes out clean. You can eat this the day of, but I prefer how it tastes the day after it is baked, since it lets the flavors settle and become more pronounced.
What’s your favorite loaf bread? Or helpful baking trick?
P.S. I’ve been thinking about creating a more regular blogging schedule on certain days of the week. Let me know in the comment section or by email if this sounds like something you would like! 
Reader Comments (8)
I love banana bread. Yum. I might have to try this out this weekend.
It's really good! Let me know if you try it out :)
Even when I hated bananas, I've always loved banana bread! It's second only to pumpkin :)
Just catching up on some blog reading- this looks delish! Also, I noticed you won the banana bread from Emily on DailyGarnish- lucky girl! Looks like you're set with banana bread for a while :)
Re: posting schedule...I just check Reader to see if there's a new post, so I don't know that I would really notice if you went on a schedule, but blogging-wise, I'm really trying to get myself on one. So if you decide to do it and want a schedule buddy, let me know!!
Agh, sorry for the late response! I just got back from vacation and have been disconnected for days. Good to know, thanks for chiming in! :) It would be great to have a blogging buddy to keep me in line.
I made this last week with walnuts and chocolate chips it was AMAZING! Thanks for sharing the recipe it is a keeper!
Yay! I'm so happy to hear that. I haven't made it with walnuts or chocolate chips, but I knew it should work out. Thanks so much for reading and giving me feedback :)