Banana Bread

Banana Bread…

I have a love-hate relationship with banana bread.  I want to love it but I haven’t found one that was worth the calories to waste.  Until now.

I had a bunch of bananas that were on the ripe side and decided I was going to make a simple banana bread.  Nothing extravagant, no fancy gimmicks, just banana bread made with bananas, butter, sugar, eggs, and flour.  This banana bread recipe doesn’t even have cinnamon in it but please feel free to add it if you find the need.

To make it even better, I prepare the pan with butter, then sprinkle sugar to coat the pan.  This gives it a delicious crunchy crust when you remove the banana bread from the pan and then let cool.

I have to say I winged it.  I had nothing to lose because my kids would have eaten it regardless of how it came out – although with critiques of how I could improve.  They are brutally honest taste testers.  It was delicious and in no time at all it was gone.  But, I needed to make this again to see if the recipe was consistent. Consistency is everything. I needed to buy more bananas and wait for that speckled brown skin to appear.

I have this beautifully designed Bundt pan and the bananas were ready. It just happened to be my birthday so basically this was my birthday cake.  This time I doubled the recipe and prepared the pan the same way as before – buttering it and then coating it with sugar.  The amount of batter filled the pan perfectly.  I was taking a risk since I didn’t know if this could spill over and create a disaster.  What’s the worst that could happen?

I took it out of the oven and saw how beautiful it had risen. The aroma filled the whole kitchen and I knew I had a winner.

When it came time to serve the cake, I walked in and put it down on the table and my family oohed and ahhed. It really was beautiful due to the design of the Bundt pan.  I sliced into it and because of the sugar-coating you could hear the crunch of the crust.  I sliced a piece and gave it to my Dad, who is the biggest critic of all.  If he doesn’t like something he’s not going to eat it and he’s not ashamed to tell you.  Not only did he eat it, he ate almost half of it.  He said it was absolutely delicious and that was the best present I could have had that day.  I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

Be happy, eat well…

What to do with ripe bananas…

Here’s a great tip. Since you are using softened butter, there is always a trace left on the paper. This is enough to coat your pan. No waste!

A tablespoon of sugar coats the loaf pan beautifully…

Use a potato masher to mash up the bananas…

Mix up the banana bread batter…

Pour the batter in the pan then sprinkle the top evenly with 1 teaspoon of sugar…

Let the banana bread cool for ten minutes…

Print

Banana Bread

Servings: 1 Loaf

Author: Natalie, the genetic chef

Ingredients

• 1 ½ cups flour
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon table salt
• 1 ½ cups mashed bananas - about 3 medium bananas
• 1 stick unsalted butter softened
• 1 tablespoon sugar for coating pan
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• ½ cup walnuts chopped - optional

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Butter a 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan. Coat the inside with 1 tablespoon sugar.
3. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl and set aside.
4. In a bowl of an electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream the butter and the sugar for 3 minutes.
5. Add the eggs and mix until combined.
6. Then add in the vanilla and the mashed bananas and mix until combined.
7. Add in flour mixture and stir until just combined.
8. If using, stir in nuts.
9. Pour batter into prepared pan. Sprinkle the top of the batter evenly with 1 teaspoon of sugar.
10. Bake for 1 hour 15 minutes.
11. Let rest in pan for ten minutes then remove from pan onto rack to cool. The outside will become crunchy.
12. Slice and serve.

Recipe Notes

You can double the recipe to make a cake. Enjoy!