Banana Bread
In my quest this past spring to find a breakfast bread that wasn’t overloaded with sugar but still tasty, I gave a number of different recipes a try. The third recipe I tried out (from AllRecipes.com) for Banana Bread was hands down my favorite. Because the banana content is so high, you don’t have to worry about moisture and you don’t need as much added sugar as other breads do.
INGREDIENTS:
- 2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 2 1/3 cup mashed overripe bananas (about 3 bananas)*
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
*NOTE: If you don’t have over-ripened bananas, you can ripen them to your liking in the oven. Put them in the oven at 250 degrees for 15-25 minutes (depending on how unripe they were to begin with). The low heat accelerates the ripening, turning them sweet and almost pudding-like. However, beware the peel will turn an unappetizing black color, and the bananas may leak a little!
DIRECTIONS:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9×5 inch loaf pan.
- In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar. Stir in eggs and mashed bananas until well blended. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture; stir just to moisten. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.
- Bake in preheated oven for 60 to 65 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean. Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack.
Since the bread is SO moist, it won’t stay fresh for very long. I would give it three days tops outside of the fridge, and maybe 4-5 days in. With that, I prefer to split these into 6″ x 3″ x 2″ mini loaf pans (this recipe will make enough for 3), wrap them tightly in plastic wrap, and freeze the loaves I’m not going to eat immediately. The loaf at that size will easily thaw over night. Just adjust the cook time to about 40 minutes, but start checking for doneness around 30 minutes. Enjoy!