A few weeks ago, I got a text from my Mom, asking me for her Banana Bread recipe. Strange – I know, right? But, she was away from her own kitchen and she knew I would have it, because she gave it to me many years ago when I moved out on my own and it was on my old blog.
It’s a recipe I know by heart, because I have made it so many times. Definitely time to get it moved over here to Creekside, so today I am getting that taken care of.
I asked Mom again this morning, and unfortunately, she doesn’t remember where she got it the recipe in the first place. She added the technique of using a blender to combine the “wet” ingredients, but I have gone back to using a potato masher, mostly because for a number of years I didn’t have a blender, so I got out of the habit. Now, I like getting in there and smashing the bejeebers out of the bananas.
There are a few reasons to love this simple recipe. It is fairly low in sugar, and uses more bananas than most – 3 big ones or 4 small ones. That means it is moist, filled with banana flavor and not terribly sweet. The molasses adds a layer of richness that rounds things out very nicely. This bread uses just a few basic ingredients that most everyone has on hand, and is in the oven, baking in a matter of moments.
It begins with some nice, very ripe bananas. Which, if you visit here very often, you may know that I don’t like at all, unless they are squished up and baked into something yummy. I actually put them in the other room while they are ripening, because I’m not even very crazy about the aroma of them. Until they are tucked into this bread that is!
- 3 large or 4 smaller ripe bananas
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoons molasses
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 & ½ cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ to 1 cup chopped lightly toasted walnuts
- Preheat the oven to 350º and generously butter a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan.
- Peel the bananas and place them in a medium mixing bowl. Mash them with a potato masher or fork until they are mostly liquified, but with some small chunks still.
- Stir in the egg, oil, molasses and sugar, until the sugar is mostly dissolved.
- In a smaller bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt.
- Add to the banana mixture and fold together, just until incorporated - do not overmix!
- Fold in the nuts.
- Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan, and place on middle rack of the oven.
- Bake for about 45 minutes, turning halfway through the baking time until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. If you want to test by temperature the center should read about 190º on an instant read thermometer. It will be very richly browned across the top when it is done.
- Cool in the pan for about 5 minutes, then turn out to cool further on a rack. Wait at least 30 minutes to slice. Store leftover tightly wrapped and refrigerate if keeping more than a couple days.
There you go – so easy, simple ingredients and an absolutely luscious result.
Serve it warm with softened cream cheese, or toast nice thick slices and butter them lavishly.
Enjoy!
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