Banana Bread

Maria was definitely right to think that others were intimidated when asked to be on a cooking blog (at least I was). I have posted a total of one recipe in the 5 years I have been blogging. But look at that, you get two recipes for the price of one today!

Moving onto today’s recipe: banana nut bread. This is a family favorite. I know some families keep their special recipes on lock-down, but our family likes to share the joy. And this recipe certainly brings joy to me. My mom has become known for it around her parts and it is one of my favorite things she makes.  The recipe comes from my great grandfather’s cousin (my maternal grandmother’s father’s cousin), Hulda. If they name didn’t give it away, Hulda was born in the early 1900′s and this recipe was passed down through the family. Without further ado, here is the recipe:

Banana Bread

Ingredients:

2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
1 ½ cups sugar
1/4 cup sour milk
2 ripe bananas

Let me jump in here with a couple of notes.  First of all, if you want a really flavorful banana bread, use those gross, soft, blackened, over-ripe bananas that no one in the house wants to touch except the fruit flies.  You can use just regular bananas, as I did this time, but the over-ripe bananas will make a darker, richer bread.  If you don’t want to make the banana bread right away, but those over-ripe bananas are starting to take on a life of their own, throw them in an airtight container in the freezer.  When you are ready to make the banana bread, thaw them for about 30 minutes (now they are super gross) and then proceed to use them.

Secondly, I did not have butter in the house when I made this bread on Monday (keep reading and you will see this wasn’t the only way I was unprepared).  So I used vegetable oil instead and the bread still turned out fine.

And last, you don’t have to let milk go bad to make the recipe.  Simply take a little less than 1.4 cup of milk and then add a little white vinegar to make a 1/4 cup.  Voila: sour milk.  I also used rice milk, instead of cow’s milk and again, it turned out fine.  Ok, moving on.

Directions:

Sift dry ingredients.
Blend butter, eggs and sugar.
Add sour milk.
Alternately flour mixture and banana to mixture.

I have a confession: I have never once sifted dry ingredients.  I think I should be kicked off this blog just for this reason.  I simply mix them together.  After all the mixing, here is what the batter looks like:

Pour into greased loaf pan.
Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or longer until tooth pick comes out clean.

I was sure I had three small disposable loaf pans in the cabinet, but apparently I didn’t.  Thankfully this recipe is one that works in just about any size or type of pan (I like using three small loaf pans because I can share with others or freeze 1-2 of the loaves).  So I I used two small cakes pans and adjusted the baking time to 40 minutes.  I gently placed a piece of aluminum foil over top for the last 10 minutes to keep it from getting too brown on top because I am dealing with one of those small Euro ovens.

You can also see I threw in some chocolate chips.  My mom uses walnuts in hers, but the kids like it with chocolate chips (ok, maybe I have a bit of a chocolate addiction too).

Here is the finished product after I poked it with a knife a few times (I couldn’t find where I put the toothpicks).

And here is the finished product being enjoyed.

Happy Wednesday all!