Old bananas? Best Banana bread Recipe!
Sitting on my counter were 5 very ripe bananas. They had been very ripe for over a week. There is a strong possibility that my subconscious self occasionally lets bananas get past the point of good for eating because then, of course, I have a perfect excuse to make banana bread.
Banana bread may as well be called banana cake. Sometimes, actually, it is called banana cake. Maybe the pan, or the sugar content, or whether or not we add frosting determines whether or not this stuff is banana bread or banana cake. But, whatever you call it, this version is awesome. Decadent. Sweet, but not too sweet. Moist but not to the point where you feel like you’re eating the dough.
The recipe is fast and easy. We don’t use yeast, so this is called a “quick bread”. Ingredients can be changed, swapped out, or switched around without too much of a concern. Use all whole-wheat flour if you like. Or, add a handful of sesame seeds. Not a fan of nuts? No problem: skip ‘em, or even better, use chocolate chips in their place.
Just take care not to mix the ingredients too much. Get everything combined, and then let it be. We welcome lumps!
I’ve adjusted the baking powder amounts to work at a low altitude, but I haven’t tested the recipe below 7,500 feet. I also recently realized that, because I don’t eat much sugar, what tastes very sweet to me might lack sugar for others. Stick to the amount of honey in the recipe, and if it isn’t sweet enough for you just add a dollop of jam or sprinkle of cinnamon sugar to each slice before eating.
Banana Bread of Decadentness
This makes two loaves in 4×8 inch loaf pans.
Ingredients:
- 5 very ripe bananas, mashed with a fork
- 1/2 cups honey
- 6 T butter, at room temperature, plus a tiny bit more to grease your pans.
- 3 eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 T cinnamon
- 1.5 cups whole wheat flour
- 1 cup white flour
- 2 t baking powder
- 1 t salt
- 1/2 cups chopped pecans (or walnuts, or any nut you like)
Directions:
- Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Combine bananas, honey, butter, and eggs. Mix, using your brute strength or a mixer.
- Combine your dry ingredients: cinnamon, flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Fold until mostly combined.
- Add the nuts and fold until combined.
- Distribute the banana bread dough into two pre-greased bread pans. Bake for 45-60 minutes. When done, you should be able to insert a knife into the middle of the bread and have it come out nearly, but not totally, clean (remember, this bread is moist!). Do not overcook.
- Let cool for 5 minutes in the pans, and then remove the bread and leave to cool completely on a drying rack. Eat or store!
