Best Banana Bread Recipe Ever - Page 2 of 2 - Frog Prince Paperie (2024)
By Author Paula Biggs
Posted on Last updated:
93 Comments
This banana bread recipe is very straightforward and easy. The only thing that might might be a little strange is the buttermilk; most people don’t tend to have that on hand and don’t really want to but a whole container for just a 1/2 cup in a recipe. The alternative is to make the banana bread with sour milk. Not hard, you just add a tablespoon of vinegar to your measuring cup, then fill the rest of the way with milk and let it curdle for a few minutes. But more on the sour milk in a minute!
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I do read your comments, dear readers! The wonderful part about this recipe is that it’s flexible. Add some cinnamon, a handful of cranberries (my mother loves to do this), chocolate chips, or whatever else excites you. You can actually split this into two smaller loaves if you like; I just think it’s best baked in one giant loaf. We’ve made it in cake pans and as muffins and mini muffins, too. Go crazy! But be sure to adjust the baking time if you change the pan size.
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Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour10 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour20 minutes
Amazingly moist and full of flavor banana bread! There is a way around buying a whole quart of buttermilk for one use in this recipe. Pour a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar into a measuring cup then fill up to the half-cup mark before starting the recipe. The vinegar sours the milk, and is a great substitution for buttermilk.
Ingredients
½ cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste (buy it here)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer; add eggs and mix well. Add sour milk (or buttermilk), vanilla and bananas to mixture. Add dry ingredients to creamed mixture and blend well. Bake in 1 loaf pan (I like this one!) for 70 minutes.
Adjust your time down if you're baking in small pans. The smaller the pan, the shorter the cook time. Muffins in this recipe take about 25 minutes. I suggest checking your bread every 5 minutes after 25 minutes to see if a toothpick comes out clean if you aren't using a standard loaf pan. Once the toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, the bread is done!
After you’ve got your bread baked and cooled, it’s time to decorate them up for gift-giving! See how I used some cellophane bags and stamps to make perfect little gifts below!
If you love this banana bread, my ZUCCHINI BREAD (click here)is another must-try!
There are so many different loaf pan varieties out there; and lots with pretty print on the sides for whatever holiday you’re gift giving at! You’ll just want to bake your bread in a container the recipient doesn’t feel like they have to return. I made that mistake once–sending little mini loaves out into the world in pretty little porcelain loaf pans. Every one of them came back!
I like to slip the loaf pans into a cellophane bag and add a little tag to them. With a pretty loaf pan, the decorating the gift part is easy!
For my tag, I really just had a lot of fun going through my box of scrapbook punches. You don’t have to take all these steps; leaving out one or two details won’t deter from your pretty package!
Cut two 1×4 pieces of cardstock. Punch one edge with an edge puncher; punch the other with a hole puncher. Punch or cut a heart out of your choice of colors of cardstock, and punch a hole near the middle of the heart.
Layer the two 1×4 pieces of stock on top of each other and add the heart, lining up all the holes. String through with baker’s twine.
Use your Expressionery.com stamp to put your name on the 1×4 paper, then tie around the neck of your cello bag. It’s the perfect little decoration for a loving little gift!
Don’t forget to pin the banana bread recipe for later!
Thank you toExpressionery.com for sponsoring this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own, and I adore the high quality of their products!
Ripe bananas are not only softer and easier to mash and blend into a batter, but they are also sweeter, which is why baking recipes specifically call for ripe bananas in ingredient lists. As the bananas ripen, the fruit converts starches to sugars, making them sweeter and more flavorful.
Adding more eggs makes for a spongy, less flavorful banana bread. Doubling the number of eggs I was using resulted in a spongy cake with a moist texture.
Moisture is key when it comes to banana bread, and the ratio of flour to banana makes all the difference. If you use too much flour, you'll end up with dry bread. If you don't use enough, your bread will be too wet.
In the oven, the outside begins to cook much faster than the inside; the crack is from the inner batter rising and releasing steam through the semi-cooked outer batter.
Fear not! This doesn't mean your fruit has gone to waste. In fact, overripe bananas are the best bananas for baking the most delicious and moist banana bread you've ever tasted.
Let the bananas ripen (and overripen) at room temperature. Depending on the weather, this could take a few days, or up to a week. The best bananas for banana bread aren't yellow; they're black. Or they're at least streaked with black/brown, with just the barest hint of green at the stem.
How much banana should I use to replace one egg? Generally, half a mashed banana (about 1/4 cup) can replace one egg. However, it's important to consider the moisture content of the recipe as bananas also add moisture.
Banana. Use ripe bananas to add moisture. One mashed banana can replace one egg in cakes and pancakes. Since it will add a bit of flavor, make sure that it's compatible with the other ingredients of the recipe.
It makes the bread lighter and fluffier. The reason for that is the fat in the yolk that inhibits gluten formation just as any other fat would. This results in a looser dough that can expand and puff up more.
Actually the variance is a few ounces and could make a difference in your baking. This banana bread recipe calls for 2 cups sifted, all-purpose flour. Sifting flour lightens it and removes any lumps. This means you should sift the flour into a bowl, then measure it.
You may find banana bread delicious, but conventional banana breads tend to be high in added sugar, refined carbs, and calories. Thus, it's best to enjoy banana bread occasionally as part of a balanced, nutrient-dense diet.
If the loaf is still warm once it's wrapped for storage, condensation can form, which can lead to mold. Ensuring the whole loaf has fully cooled, one to two hours, will aid in better storage for longer-lasting banana bread.
You may be baking at too high a temperature. Home ovens are often not accurate. Try lowering the temperature by 25°F, and bake for a slightly longer time. If you are using a dark colored pan like many non-stick pans it will cause the outside to brown more quickly while the inside stays raw.
What to do if you've used too many bananas. If you must add an extra banana into your batter, there are ways to prevent the bread from turning mushy. Using a lot of bananas adds excess moisture, and there are two ways to get rid of it. You could either add more flour or increase the baking time.
Overmixing is a common problem with quick breads and is certain to happen with an electric mixer. Use only 15 to 20 light hand strokes with a spoon when mixing the combined liquid and combined dry ingredients together.
Overripe bananas are rich in antioxidants. When you consume them, overripe banana helps boost immunity which prevents several diseases. Not just that, they also help in preventing the cells from getting damaged.
According to a research article published in the Global Journal of Nutrition & Food Science in 2022, this starch-to-sugar conversion is responsible for softening the fruit and increasing its sweetness as it ripens.
The nutritional content doesn't change depending on how ripe the banana is. The only thing that really changes is the taste and how your body processes the sugar. So the kind of banana you should eat is pretty much just based on preference. Sign up here to get INSIDER's favorite stories straight to your inbox.
Introduction: My name is Dean Jakubowski Ret, I am a enthusiastic, friendly, homely, handsome, zealous, brainy, elegant person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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