In case you've been living under a rock this year, 2020 has literally been full of surprises. I definitely didn't predict a time where I'd be confined to my house or that banana bread would make a major comeback, but here we are. Again, life is just full of surprises.
So if you're joining the bandwagon like myself, here's a super simple banana bread recipe to get you started. There's always room for improvement and additions, but this easy recipe will give you a pretty delicious standard banana bread.
P.S. My mom has a super secret award-winning recipe, so stay tuned for that post in a few months!
Ingredients:
3 bananas (Ripe work best, but don't worry if you don't have ripe bananas. I'll explain this later in the post.)
1 stick of butter
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
2 Cups of all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 cup of granulated sugar
1 teaspoon of baking soda
2 eggs
1/2 cup of nuts or chocolate chips (If you want)
Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350°.
Cut the stick of butter in half and place in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave butter for about a minute or until melted.
Add your 3 bananas to the bowl of butter and mash with a fork. If you don't have ripe bananas, you can still use them! Heat your oven to 350° and place the bananas on a baking sheet lined with tinfoil. Bake the bananas for 10 minutes or until they are mostly black. Slice them open horizontally and you will have mushy usable bananas.
Add the eggs and vanilla extract to the bowl and continuing mashing and stirring until you see no streaks of egg left. Add nuts or chocolate chips if you prefer.
In a separate bowl, combine your flour, cinnamon, salt, sugar and baking soda. Whisk until it's all mixed together.
Combine your dry ingredient bowl with your wet ingredient bowl and mix them together. A spatula works best for this.
Spray your loaf pan with cooking spray. Pour the banana bread batter into a loaf pan and bake for 45 minutes to an hour. The cooking time will vary, so be sure to check on your bread at the 45-minute mark. Insert a toothpick to the center to ensure no batter comes out on the toothpick when you remove it. I lowered my temperature to 300° after 45 minutes and cooked it for 10 additional minutes at a lower temperature.
Allow the banana bread to cool for 10 minutes, then remove from pan.
Have you baked some banana bread yet or are you planning on it? Let me know in the comments below!