By Vida Gustafson
Contributing Writer
This recipe is one of the most frequently used in my recipe notebook and the first one that I asked my Mom to write down for me when I moved out of the house 16 years ago.
There’s something so reassuring and homey about a slice of banana bread (with butter of course!), that even banana nay-sayers love it.
I don’t usually add any cinnamon, nuts, raisins or chocolate chips, but you’re the boss of your kitchen and you can be as basic or as over the top as you wish!
Ingredients
- ½ C (1 stick) butter, softened
- 1 C sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 C flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 6 ripe bananas
- 1 tsp vanilla
- ½ tsp salt
Method
Preheat the oven to 350 °F. Butter a bread tin, 4 inches by 9 inches. Cream the butter and sugar together in a large mixing bowl. Add the eggs, one by one, mixing thoroughly after each one is added.
In a separate large bowl or plate, mash the bananas. Very ripe bananas are best here, the browner the better. I’ve found that smooshing them up a little before peeling them works well too.
Add the dry ingredients and vanilla to your butter and egg mixture followed by the banana pulp. Mix very thoroughly. Pour into your baking dish and bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes. Insert a toothpick into the center of the bread at this time to check for doneness. If any batter sticks to the toothpick, bake for an additional 10 minutes. Cover the bread with a sheet of baking paper if it starts to look burnt. Every bake is different, I’ve had ones be perfectly done in 75 minutes and others that took a full hour and a half.
Cool in the dish for 10 minutes before removing and slicing. Store in an airtight container or plastic bag, it’ll be even better the next day!
