Best Banana Bread Recipe
Making The Best Banana Bread
Do you have bananas on your counter that are in need of eating or baking into something good? You can turn them into the best banana bread. If you are like us and want to enjoy the bread a little longer, we make mini loaves, so they can be frozen and pulled out later to enjoy.
And if you have additional bananas, why not make banana muffins too.
How Ripe Should My Bananas Be?
You should use ripe bananas. I like the state where they is still yellow on the banana peel with dark spots. The bananas should not be stiff, but be soft and easy to press with a fork. You should not use bananas that have mold on the skins or look rotten. If you were going to toss them, then you may not want to put them in another dish you were going to eat.
What Type of Sugar Should I Use?
Using white sugar, brown sugar or dark brown sugar, changes the flavor (and darkness) of the banana bread recipe. This recipe calls for brown sugar. You can use either dark or light brown sugar. And if you don’t have that, you can use white sugar. Vanilla extract also adds flavor to your recipe, so don’t leave it out!
Can I Use A Mixer to Make My Bread?
You can. Be careful not to over mix or the bread will become dense when baking. Once all the ingredients are incorporated (and why the bananas are a good thing to add first), stop mixing. If you overmix, you will have a dense bread.
What Is The Secret To The Perfect Banana Bread Recipe?
My opinion to the perfect banana bread, is using ripe bananas, not over stirring and setting a timer so you don’t over cook your bread recipe. The secret to eating your banana bread before it goes bad (in my opinion) is mini loaves so you can freeze banana bread to eat later and none goes to waste.
Can I Make One Large Loaf Instead of Mini Loaves?
Definitely. You will need to spray your baking pan with nonstick spray. Cooking time is increased to about 1 1/2 hours.
What Are Other Banana Bread Recipes?
Yes! There are many ways you can make you banana bread. We like to make banana bread like this recipe, or use a white sugar recipe. You can also make banana bread with cream cheese, with oatmeal or in a bundt shape. Take it up a notch and add mini chocolate chips into your bread recipe and when it comes out of the oven, add more on top. You could also add 1/2 cup sour cream to your recipe, to add a little flavor and moisture. And don’t forget chopped walnuts. You can add your favorite nuts (pecans and chopped walnuts are favorites) to give your delicious banana bread a crunch.
Can I Freeze Banana Bread?
Yes. You can wrap your bread in plastic wrap and the aluminum foil. Be sure to write what it is and the date.
Best Banana Bread Recipe
Ingredients
- 2-3 ripe bananas
- 2 eggs
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup softened butter
- 2 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
Instructions
- Preheat the oven 350F.
- In a large bowl, add the bananas and lemon juice.
- Mix in the eggs, brown sugar and soft butter and mix together.
- Add the vanilla and mix.
- Pour in the flour and baking powder.
- Do not over mix, you just want everything incorporated.
- Overmixing can make the bread dense.
- Spray loaf pan (s) with non-stick spray.
- Add 1/3 of the batter if you are making 3 mini loaves, or put it all into 1 large loaf pan if you are making a large one.
- Place loaf pan(s) onto a baking sheet to keep from tipping in the oven.
- Bake for 30 -35 minutes for a mini loaf and 1 1/2 hours for a large (regular) loaf.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool for a few minutes before removing from the pan.
- Store in aluminum foil.
Notes
