Banana Bread
Everyone I know has at least one strange habit when it comes to food. It might be a specific way you peel a fruit, prepare a dish, or eat your favorite food. For example, at a young age I picked up from my dad the habit of eating grilled cheese by cutting strips off each side and rotating the plate after each one. This way you gradually cut away at the sandwich while maintaining the same shape.
One of my other strange habits is that I usually only eat bananas on Thursday or Friday. This is born from the fact that I only eat bananas when they are very very very ripe, and I’ll buy them at the grocery store on a Saturday or Sunday. My wife will eat a few throughout the week and then once they reach peak deliciousness (at least as determined by me) I’ll eat whichever ones are left over.
In January and February she was gone for an internship rotation and there was nobody to eat bananas early in the week. Come Friday I was left with 3 bananas that were just about to pass their prime, and I needed something to do with them. Enter this banana bread. Banana bread is best made with overly ripe bananas so this was the perfect recipe dig up.
I love the dense, moist bread and the tender and slightly sweet outside layer. Not to mention that there is just about no work involved on your part. A slice of this bread is perfect as part of your breakfast or a nice after dinner treat. The past few weeks I haven’t made too many yeasted breads while I am using up our freezer stores so this was a great way to get my baking fix.
I reduced the sugar by half from the original recipe and didn’t feel it was lacking in sweetness but you may prefer to add a bit more. Like any quick bread you can easily add other fruit or a simple glaze to the top to make it extra special. Enjoy!
- 3 very ripe bananas, peeled
- 1½ C AP flour
- ½ C sugar
- ⅓ C butter, melted
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp baking soda
- Pinch of salt
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and prepare a 4x8 inch loaf pan by coating with butter
- In a large mixing bowl mash the bananas with a for until mostly smooth. Add the melted butter in and stir until combined.
- Add the baking soda, salt, sugar, egg, vanilla extract, and flour. Mix until there are no dry bits left of flour.
- Pour the batter into the loaf pan and tap the bottom of the pan on the counter to help remove any air bubbles.
- Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes, or until a tester inserted into the middle comes out clean. You can start checking it after 50 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and cool completely while in the pan, about 2 hours. Remove from the pan and slice and serve.
