Banana Bread

This is a fairly rich bread, so don’t be fooled into thinking that you can eat four slices for breakfast and keep your trim figure. But it’s probably healthier than cake, and every kid who has come through my kitchen has seemed to like it. It is also a way to use those bananas that no one will eat because they are completely brown.

Banana Bread

4-5 over-ripe bananas
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

6 ounces (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda (mix into flour)
½ teaspoon salt (mix into flour)

Preheat oven to 350°

Butter a 9 by 5-inch loaf pan.

With an electric mixer, or even better, a stand mixer fitted with a whisk, whip the bananas and sugar together for a few minutes on the highest speed that won’t splatter banana on your ceiling; the goal is to blend the sugar thoroughly into the bananas and get some loft into the mixture.

Slow the speed to medium-low and add the eggs and vanilla; mix for 30 seconds or so and then slowly (especially if you didn’t have time to allow it to cool) add the butter. Mix in the dry ingredients at low speed for a few seconds, just until you can’t see any dry flour. Using a spatula, scrape the sides and bottom down and finish mixing by hand. Pour the batter into the buttered loaf pan. Whack the pan on the counter and then give it a bit of a shake until the batter is level.

Place the pan on a baking sheet to catch any overflow and bake for about 1 hour and 10 minutes. About is the important word here. After about an hour take a quick peek at the loaf. If it looks wet at the top then bake it for a few more minutes. Just make sure not to overcook it. I actually don’t like banana bread very much, but it is positively awful when it’s overcooked and dry. I make this for the little brats, who seem to devour it, especially when it is slightly underdone. They like banana bread more than they like raw bananas, so every time I buy bananas they carefully do not eat the last four, hoping that I will make this crap. It works. I hate being manipulated by children.

Oh, one more thing. This works fantastically as a muffin batter (Bake for about 32-34 minutes).

2 Replies to “Banana Bread”

  1. I have a lady friend who followed this recipe and it works. I happen to like banana bread but dryness must be avoided at all costs. While I can’t say there was much “loft” in the bread (it assumed the density of black hole) it was very moist and quite tasty. As you noted, it isn’t exactly a part of the Jenny Craig program but to make it ever more decadent one can always add chocolate chips.

  2. Ask your lady friend if she forgot the baking soda. Why would anyone waste chocolate chips on banana bread when there is a perfectly good chocolate chip cookie recipe on the bag?

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