I’m sure you’ve heard this before: “Oh, well. Gotta throw out these squishy, overripe bananas. They are too icky to eat!” Those are the words of a frustrated non-baker looking for a banana to eat right out of the peel. But for bakers, a pile of overripe bananas is a gift dropped straight down from heaven. Next to chocolate, of course. For this post, I am concentrating on banana bread. It’s a staple in every coffee shop, so why not include it in my recipe archives for the blog? Usually studded with walnuts, banana bread is quick and easy to make, and you can be confident that it will turn out moist and tasty. Have some banana bread with coffee or tea, and you can’t go wrong.
Here is a quick an easy version of a standard banana bread recipe. One difference with this version is that instead of using just white sugar, I also use brown sugar for a subtle change. Also, I am not a fan of chopped walnuts floating around in my cakes, so I opted for chocolate chips instead. I decided to sprinkle the chips on top just before baking so there would be a nice presentation and a difference in texture between the cake and the upper crust. I liked the outcome. Plain banana bread would also work. Whatever route you choose, just don’t throw out those overripe, mushy bananas!
The recipe for this quick and easy banana bread is below. Check out the step-by-step, illustrated instructions after the recipe. See you there!
| Servings |
loaf
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- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 large eggs at room temperature
- 2/3 cup vegetable oil (e.g., canola oil)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons milk
- 1 cup mashed bananas (about 2 large or 4 small bananas)
- 1/2 cup chopped nuts or chocolate chips (optional)
Ingredients
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- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a 9 inch x 5 inch x 3 inch loaf pan. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking soda, and sugars.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, oil, vanilla extract, and milk until well combined.
- Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and stir quickly until combined and batter is smooth, but take care not to overmix.
- Stir in bananas and nuts or chocolate chips (if using) until well-combined.
- Transfer batter into prepared loaf pan. Bake in preheated oven for about one hour, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. Let cool on wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and let cool completely on rack. Slice and serve.
Note: If using chocolate chips, instead of mixing into the batter, try sprinkling on top of the batter for an interesting presentation.
Step-by-Step Instructions for Banana Bread
First, hide your overripe bananas from your family so you can bake some banana bread. Preheat your oven and prepare a loaf pan by lightly greasing and flouring the pan. Then, in a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients: flour, salt, baking soda, and sugars.
In a separate bowl, combine the wet ingredients: eggs, oil, vanilla extract, and milk.
To mix, I simply fork blended the ingredients.
In a small bowl, mash-up a few bananas with a fork.
You need about one cup of mashed bananas. For this bake, it took 4 small bananas to make one cup.
Now it’s time to combine everything together. Whisk the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.
Whisk until smooth (i.e., mix until there are no lumps of flour lingering around). The batter will be pretty thick.
Then, stir in the mashed bananas. If you would like chopped nuts or chocolate chips in your quick bread, now is the time to add them in. Or leave the batter plain. Or add chocolate chips later on like I did.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
I sprinkled some chocolate chips over top.
Bake for about an hour. Remove and let cool for 10 minutes in the pan, and then remove from the pan and let cool completely on a wire rack.
Time to serve!
After my family of five had one slice a piece, about half was gone. I hid the rest just like I hid the overripe bananas! We came full circle.
