photo borrowed from here (I actually forgot to take an after photo of my own because I was so busy eating it)
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With a title like that I better have a post that delivers, eh?
People love my banana bread.
I’ll admit it, that statement sounds like I’m bragging, but I’m not.
It’s a fact.
Ask any of my friends or past co-workers and they will tell you.
Now, it may be because banana bread is an untapped market and I am the only one that makes it…therefore the best. Or, it may be because I actually am amazing at baking banana bread. If you ever have the chance to eat mine you will have to decide for yourself.
So, without further ado, my banana bread recipe (1 loaf):
1.5 cups flour (I chose to use whole wheat unbleached flour for the first time when I made this and am very happy with the results)
2-3 bananas (the uglier the better)
3/4 cup sugar (you can even go down to 2/3 if you want)
1/3 cup of butter (melted)
1 egg (beaten)
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
tiny bit of salt
chocolate chips (as many as you want!) – I prefer mini chips but my grocery store was out of them!
** for added flavor you can also put in orange or lemon peel/zest. Generally I opt for chocolate chips though. I’ve never tried both!
I don’t follow too many baking steps/rules, but I do like keeping wet & dry ingredients separate until the end.
In a large bowl mix your flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt.
In a side bowl beat your egg(s) & let sit.
In another (glass!) side bowl slice up your butter then put in the oven while it preheats (350 degrees) to melt – I find this is way better than using the microwave to melt it.
With your 3 bowls waiting aside, peel and mash your bananas. They should look pretty gross.
Now you should have one large bowl with dry ingredients & 3 other bowls with separate liquid ingredients.
Pour the egg(s), vanilla and melted butter into your large bowl with the dry ingredients.
I generally mix this bowl a little bit before putting the bananas in. Then, slowly add in the bananas.
Last summer my grandma gave me her KitchenAid standing mixer (because it was too heavy for her to move around) and I fell in love. It makes baking SO much easier, especially in large amounts.
While everything is mixing lay out your baking pans & spray them. Be liberal with the spray; you want the bread to pop out of the pan easily.
I have many different sized bread pans, and usually double the recipe to make the three different sized loaves you see below.
Once the ingredients are mixed and the pans are sprayed, begin to pour the batter in. Generally I fill them halfway, mix in some chocolate chips, pour the rest of the batter in, and then add a few more chocolate chips for good measure.
Once you have enough chips & all the batter has been divided – throw those babies in the oven (350 degrees). Since all my pans are different sizes, they all require different baking times.
You need to do a bit of trial and error, especially since everyone’s oven is different. For these three loaves in the new oven the times were:
Small = 38 minutes
Medium = 43-44 minutes
Large = 55 minutes
I much prefer a little underbaked bread to over baked bread, so keep your preferences in mind when checking the bread in the oven.
Once done baking, remove bread from the oven (I love these Kate Spade Flamingo Oven Mitts), let cool (maybe) & devour!
Hope you enjoy 🙂
-M
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