The One About Banana Bread

Today’s recipe is… *insert imaginary drum-roll please*…Banana Bread! Banana Bread is one of the simplest yet well-rounded baked goods there is. The thing about it is you could eat as a quick on-the-go- bite in the morning, or dress it up by adding your spread of choice on top.

I recently learned of Banana Bread within the last few months. It’s not a dish I could remember growing up on, or even seeing anyone in my family snack on. I was scrolling on Instagram one day when I saw that someone posted a picture of a piece of theirs. I remember thinking… “Hmm…that seems interesting.” Days soon followed and more post about banana bread began to appear, and one of my close friends even called to show me that she made a chocolate banana bread. (Banana Bread is obviously a quarantine must.)

Isn’t it funny that once you “discover” something, you start to see it everywhere all of a sudden…LOL!

Thus began my hunt to create the perfect banana bread recipe. Which means this was a journey of trial and error…heavy emphasis on the error. I looked up basic banana bread recipes on the internet as a foundation and just started from there. When it comes to baking, every piece of the recipe has to be kept in consideration. Everything from the type of ingredients you use to the type of bake-ware you make your dish in.

My first attempt wasn’t too bad…but it wasn’t the greatest either. The first batch came out very dense. The middle of the bread appeared to be way too dense and under-baked, while the crust around the bread was completely overcooked. The banana flavor was subtle, but the overall bread appeared to be bland. So what should my next steps be? I started with the texture of the bread. In my first batch, the banana mixture in the bread appeared to be underdone, making the bread doughy and dense. Starting with 4 bananas, I went down to 3 for my second batch. Which helped make the bread a lot fluffier. Secondly, it was time to focus on the flavor. Although I could taste the banana flavor just fine, I thought it could use a nice background flavor. To rectify this, I tried a bit of cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla bean to spice it up just a lil bit.

The most important difference in each batch would have to be my baking dish. Originally I used a cast iron loaf pan, but switching to a ceramic baking dish made a noticeable difference as well. Now don’t get me wrong, you can absolutely use a cast iron pan if that’s what you prefer, you would just have to make some small alterations. I suggest lowering your oven’s temperature to 300-325 degrees and placing some aluminum foil to cover the top of the pan. Your pan type will DEFINITELY affect your bake time. The ceramic dish baked the bread evenly, and allowed it to be removed neater. Which is a major bonus for when you wanna take super cute pics for your website!

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Like I said before, I’m not perfect and I don’t claim to be… so I just wanna show y’all my kitchen failures too.

Kitchen Failures

Kitchen Failure

Kitchen Failures

It was my first batch, and it obviously needed a lot of tweaking. I just took this L and kept it moving.

Because "Mistakes are proof that you're trying."

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Eventually, after many kitchen experiments, I finally got the recipe where I wanted it to be... word to Donell Jones.

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Klassic Banana Bread

Golden Brown Banana Bread

Klassic Banana Bread

As I mentioned earlier, the best part about banana bread is the customization. The possibilities are literally endless. Here’s some toppings/combinations you could try:

· Dessert chips (Chocolate, Peanut Butter, Butterscotch, etc.)

· Peanut Butter

· Cocoa Powder

· Fresh fruit

Jams

· Nutella

· Nuts (Pecans, Almonds, Walnuts, etc.)

· Cinnamon sugar/Snicker-doodle

· Etc…

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RECIPE

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Bake Time:1-1 hour 10 minutes

Ingredients:

• 4 Bananas ( Save 1 for garnish)

• 2 eggs

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

• 1 1/2 cup A.P. flour

• 1 cup sugar

• 1 Tsp Baking Powder

• 1 Tsp cinnamon

• 1/2 Tsp nutmeg

• 1/2 of fresh vanilla bean (optional) or 1 Tsp vanilla extract

• Pinch of Salt

• Tbsp of Old Fashioned Oats for garnish (optional)

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Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. In your mixer, cream together 3 bananas, butter, eggs, vanilla, and sugar. While that's mixing, in a separate bowl, mix all your dry ingredients together.

3. Once wet banana mixture looks thoroughly mixed, although it will have some lumps, turn mixer off. Add dry ingredients, and fold in with a spatula. Making sure you scrape the sides of the bowl. Continue to mix with mixer.

4. Once all your ingredients come together, prepare your loaf pan. You can prepare it a few ways. I used the butter and flour method, but you could use parchment paper or nonstick spray to line your pan.

5. Only fill your pan about 1/2 -3/4th the way full. Keep in mind your bread will rise and you don't want it to overflow. I prefer only filling it 1/2 way. Any leftover batter will be used in a second batch or placed in a muffin tin.

6. Take last banana and split in half. Place the 2 halves inside up on the top of the batter. Then sprinkle the oats on the top as well.

7. Place batter in the oven. Bake for 1 - 1 hour 10 minutes. Remove from oven after required time and make sure the middle of the bread is completely done. (You can do this by touch or with a toothpick.)

8. Let bread cool, and remove from pan.

9. Enjoy!

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Song of the week:

'Do It' by CholexHalle

What’s some of your favorite banana bread combinations. Leave them in the comments below!