In a Hurry Banana Bread for the Holidays

I try to bake at least twice a month,  more during the holidays. Recently I have tried some new recipes for my sourdough starter. I also love to make sandwich breads. But among all breads my absolute favorite is Banana Bread. 

Because I love Banana Bread so much, and have made so much of it, I have a lot of different recipes, just for amazing ways to make Banana Bread.  The one I am writing about today, as I enjoy several pieces of warm banana bread, is my favorite. Maybe that is because it is done, start to finish, so fast.  It is hard to imagine any thing better than the taste of great banana bread made from start to eating in ten minutes.

As I said, I've tried many different banana bread recipes but I like this one the best. It is a little drier than recipes made with Vegetable or Canola Oil, but I like the flavor of butter and consistency of this bread better. And then their is my secret way to get half the banana ingredients ready for the mix.

My family prefers I make this bread in small loaf pans instead of a big regular bread pan. It seems to bake more evenly in a smaller pan too. Another great thing about small loves is you can freeze them and thaw out each day before gobbling them up the next day.

Banana Bread

Makes 1 full-sized loaf or 2 small loaves

Preheat the oven to 350.

In one bowl, combine:

1/2 stick (4-5 tablespoons) butter, softened
2 eggs
2 or 3 very ripe bananas
2/3 cup sugar

It's best to use a potato masher or spoon to squish the banana and mix the ingredients together. It is alright for there to be small (1 centimeter) chunks of banana in the batter, but you want most of the banana to be reduced to mush. Here is the secret, if one of the three bananas was frozen the day before, let it defrost one hour before you start putting the ingredients together. I do not know why but it really increases the smooth banana flavor of the bread.

In another bowl, combine:

1 1/3 cup all-purpose unbleached flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)

Combine the wet and dry ingredients and mix until the ingredients are blended together.

Stir in any additional ingredients here, such as chopped walnuts or pecans, dried cherries or apricots, or chocolate chips. A handful (about a half a cup) is about right.

Pour the dough into greased baking pans and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Small loaves take around 30 minutes, a normal-sized loaf takes around 50 minutes.

Remove from the oven. This bread is great warm or cold. I love it both ways. 

After they have cooled for 5 or 10 minutes the loaves can be removed from the pan to cool. Once they are cool they can be individually wrapped and frozen.

Thank you for taking the time to learn about my favorite banana bread recipe. Check back every day for another recipe or subscribe to this blog.

I have included several youtube videos on different ways to make great banana bread. I hope you take the time to watch them, the each run about 3 minutes.

Thank you.
Javaman