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Ingredients

• 4 oz./1 stick butter (can be substituted for ½ cup mayonnaise)

• 4 large ripe bananas

• 2 large eggs

• 2 ½ cups unbleached flour

• 1 cup granulated sugar (can be substituted for 1 cup soft brown sugar or ½ cup honey)

• ½ cup buttermilk (can be substituted 1/3 cup sour cream / plain or full-fat Greek yogurt)

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

Optional Ingredients

• ½ cup chopped walnuts or pecans

• 1 teaspoonful cinnamon / nutmeg / allspice / cardamom /vanilla

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. If your loaf pan is not non-stick, grease/butter it, then coat it with flour.

3. Use a whisk to mash the bananas in a bowl to a creamy consistency.

4. In a large bowl, cream the butter/mayo with the sugar

5. Gently mix in the mashed bananas, the yogurt/sour cream/buttermilk, and any nuts and spices.

6. Fold the flour and baking soda into the banana mix with a large spatula, so that all ingredients are well combined but not beaten.

7. If your batter is more runny than soft, gently stir in more flour; about ¼ cup flour should be good.

8. Pour the soft batter into the prepared loaf pan

9. Bake for 50 minutes, or until it passes the toothpick test.

10. The finished loaf should be slightly separate from the edges of the pan, medium to dark brown, risen in the center, and sound hollow when you tap it on the bottom. It can be frozen. 

Fun Facts

• January 21st is National Banana Bread Day in the US.

• Banana bread has been a favorite since the Depression when overripe bananas were cheap.

• Yes, indeed, those black-streaked yellow skins make the best banana bread.

• In the 1930s corporate kitchens promoted the use of baking soda and baking powder. Bread can be made quickly with these leaveners, so banana bread is one of many “quick breads.”

• America discovered pearlash (potassium carbonate) which, with water or an acid liquid, makes the gas carbon dioxide, which makes baked goods rise. They exported thousands of tons to Europe. Today, we use baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) and not pearlash, and, more generally, baking powder, since its discovery in 1857.

• Americans eat about 30 lbs. banana each per year.

• Banana bread recipes can all be used to make muffins

• Slices of banana bread make fantastic French toast.

• Breads are dense, cakes are light; banana bread is dense and for that reason, it is not called cake.