Do you have a *really* good banana bread recipe?

I haven't made it in years, and the only recipe I have on hand is Betty Crocker, vintage late '60s. I'm thinking of making banana bread as a little gift for my BIL, and I'm not sure that I want to take cooking advice from a collection that includes "Olive Surprise Roast."


PS--the first person to include tofu in their recipe gets a poke in the eye!

This is a teeny variation from the Cook's Illustrated recipe, and the variation is entirely because I don't like walnuts at all. You can use whatever nut you like, just watch your extracts to either match or complement.

10 oz all purpose flour, plus flour for dusting the pan
3/4 cup sugar (5.25 oz)
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp kosher salt or 1/2 tsp regular salt
3 bananas (1.5 cups) over-ripe is best.
1/4 cup plain yogurt (though I have successfully substituted peach yogurt, and decreased the sugar by 1.25 ounces)
2 eggs or 1/2 cup egg substitute (the egg sub works really well)
6 Tb melted butter or 3 Tb vegetable oil + 3 Tb melted butter (but you have to have some melted butter)
1 tsp vanilla extract or almond extract
1/2 cup slivered almonds


Heat oven to 350. Grease and flour a loaf pan (or use baker's release spray). Use the muffin method to mix - i.e. mix dry ingredients in one bowl and wet ingredients plus sugar in a separate one. Mix together, just barely moistening the dry ingredients. (10-20 strokes)

Bake for 50 minutes. Let cool in the pan 5 minutes, then turn out. When completely cool, wrap in plastic wrap.

:hide:










:rofl: just kidding, that sounds great!

...if only I had an :eyepoke: smilie...

it's the rebel in me............


:headbang:

Thank you so much!

I love walnuts, so I'll just bump those back in. I'm so excited that I can use those ugly old bananas that are sitting in my freezer!

Thanks again!

It was made with 1/2 whole wheat flour, and with orange juice as the liquid. It was delicious.

Was yours a family recipe that someone else might have?

I substitute half the sugar called for with brown sugar, substitute a couple tablespoons of melted butter or margarine for part of the shortening or oil, add a few tablespoons of honey and a big spoonful of sour cream, if I have it on hand. This seems to improve the texture and make it a little more moist. I've also found that if I make it the day before and wrap the completely cooled loaf in plastic wrap overnight that it makes the banana flavor more pronounced.

Banana Bread (nothing fancy, but guests gobble it up)

1 c. sugar
1/2 c shortening
2 eggs
4 Tbl. sour cream
1 tsp. baking soda
2 crushed bananas
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
Walnuts

Mix in order given. Bake in slow oven at 325 deg. for 1 hour.

I stick a knife in the center of the loaf toward the end of cooking. Frequently, I end up cooking the loaf longer, until the knife comes out pretty clean.

This is from a midwestern, small town community cookbook, for what that's worth.

I left out a key ingredient:

2 C. of flour, to be added to the mixture after the crushed bananas.

On Edit: corrected list of stuff

Banana Bread (nothing fancy, but guests gobble it up)

1 c. sugar
1/2 c shortening
2 eggs
4 Tbl. sour cream
1 tsp. baking soda
2 crushed bananas
2 C. flour
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
Walnuts

Mix in order given. Bake in slow oven at 325 deg. for 1 hour.