we are a family of green banana eaters, of spotted banana eaters, of a banana eating dog. {this is his "can I have a bite of your banana?" face}
Yet, we always have bananas about to go to waste. It stems at least partially of my mother & I's love of green green bananas. If they're yellow, we eat only begrudgingly. If there are sugar spots {the actual name for those disfiguring, horrible brown spots}, it just isn't happening.
My father loves the ones with the sugar spots. If the banana has even a hint of green or isn't beginning to spot just a little, he is not eating it. You would imagine that we'd then live in a happy little banana nirvana, mom & I eating until dad found the bananas palatable. Alas, you'd be wrong. If mom & I don't eat all the bananas first, there is a waiting period of a day or two between our target banana texture and flavor and dad's. In that day or two, bananas are often forgotten, laying, languishing on the shelf under the bread cabinet.
It is an ignoble end for a tasty fruit, and one that can be stopped at any moment. It is just as easy to mash a banana with the back of a fork and toss it into bread batter as it is to put that mashed banana into a container in the freezer or throw it away. Frozen bananas can be defrosted and baked into bread or added to vanilla pudding or blended in a smoothie.
April is the sort of time of year when it can be warm and sunny one day and cold and rainy the next. This bread works wonderfully as a mood enhancer while still in the oven, manages to make a dreary afternoon brighter with coffee or tea, and makes an excellent breakfast on the go, toasted and slathered with butter, cinnamon & sugar or even peanut butter for an Elvis twist. Give away the second loaf, or wrap it in plastic wrap and freeze until you need another pick-me-up. Later in the summer, this recipe can be gently adapted for Zucchini Bread.
Banana Bread (two loaves)
at least 2 and as many as 4 or 5 bananas, mashed
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
vanilla
2 and 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped roughly chopped pecans or walnuts (if desired)
Mash at least two if not four very ripe bananas in a bowl or plate and set aside. In a large mixing bowl, cream together the sugars and butter, then add the mashed bananas, eggs, milk mixture and vanilla individually. Next add the dry ingredients. Scale up the flour if your batter appears rather wet. You want a thick muffin batter consistency.
Once the batter is combined, divide evenly and pour into two sprayed/greased glass loaf pans {9x3.5x5 or so}. Sprinkle the nuts on top of each loaf pan of batter, pressing them gently onto the top.
Bake in a preheated 300 degree oven for 90 minutes. yes, this is the longest banana bread recipe known to man. You will still enjoy it, especially the scent of bananas and toasted nuts filling your home.
{apologies for the continued use of my Instagram feed for recipe photos. Soon enough, I'll return to my pretend proper photography of food. Until then, we're cooking and eating too quickly to pause for documentation}
"Be well. Do good work. Keep in touch." - Garrison Keillor
Yet, we always have bananas about to go to waste. It stems at least partially of my mother & I's love of green green bananas. If they're yellow, we eat only begrudgingly. If there are sugar spots {the actual name for those disfiguring, horrible brown spots}, it just isn't happening.
My father loves the ones with the sugar spots. If the banana has even a hint of green or isn't beginning to spot just a little, he is not eating it. You would imagine that we'd then live in a happy little banana nirvana, mom & I eating until dad found the bananas palatable. Alas, you'd be wrong. If mom & I don't eat all the bananas first, there is a waiting period of a day or two between our target banana texture and flavor and dad's. In that day or two, bananas are often forgotten, laying, languishing on the shelf under the bread cabinet.
It is an ignoble end for a tasty fruit, and one that can be stopped at any moment. It is just as easy to mash a banana with the back of a fork and toss it into bread batter as it is to put that mashed banana into a container in the freezer or throw it away. Frozen bananas can be defrosted and baked into bread or added to vanilla pudding or blended in a smoothie.
April is the sort of time of year when it can be warm and sunny one day and cold and rainy the next. This bread works wonderfully as a mood enhancer while still in the oven, manages to make a dreary afternoon brighter with coffee or tea, and makes an excellent breakfast on the go, toasted and slathered with butter, cinnamon & sugar or even peanut butter for an Elvis twist. Give away the second loaf, or wrap it in plastic wrap and freeze until you need another pick-me-up. Later in the summer, this recipe can be gently adapted for Zucchini Bread.
Banana Bread (two loaves)
at least 2 and as many as 4 or 5 bananas, mashed
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
vanilla
2 and 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped roughly chopped pecans or walnuts (if desired)
Mash at least two if not four very ripe bananas in a bowl or plate and set aside. In a large mixing bowl, cream together the sugars and butter, then add the mashed bananas, eggs, milk mixture and vanilla individually. Next add the dry ingredients. Scale up the flour if your batter appears rather wet. You want a thick muffin batter consistency.
Once the batter is combined, divide evenly and pour into two sprayed/greased glass loaf pans {9x3.5x5 or so}. Sprinkle the nuts on top of each loaf pan of batter, pressing them gently onto the top.
Bake in a preheated 300 degree oven for 90 minutes. yes, this is the longest banana bread recipe known to man. You will still enjoy it, especially the scent of bananas and toasted nuts filling your home.
{apologies for the continued use of my Instagram feed for recipe photos. Soon enough, I'll return to my pretend proper photography of food. Until then, we're cooking and eating too quickly to pause for documentation}
"Be well. Do good work. Keep in touch." - Garrison Keillor
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