Banana bread is my favorite food. Not just any old "favorite food" like people have, I mean I make a loaf of banana bread at least once a week. I can whip it together and have it in the oven in a matter of minutes. I LOVE banana bread.
There's a method to this madness. Banana bread is relatively easy to make, popular, delicious, and quite flexible. My recipe calls for 4 bananas, but I typically use 5 if I have extra or just 3 if I want it to be less dense. Word from the wise though, I wouldn't add more than four unless you like your banana bread mushy (no judgement here, I like it too). I add walnuts to mine pretty frequently, but other add-ins like chocolate, blueberries, cream cheese, raisins, let you imagination run free.
Regardless of what you add, banana bread is a solid food for cleaning out your pantry. I prefer to eat bananas when theyre still green. But when they get ripe and brown, they're much softer and sweeter, which will give your bread the flavor & texture you want.
Below is a downloadable PDF version of this recipe for easier access!
Ingredients
4 ripe bananas
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tablespoon milk
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter a 9x5x3 loaf pan, or line with parchment paper.
Peel bananas and mash with fork or potato masher in a bowl. If your bananas aren't as ripe as you like them, microwave them for 1 minute (You can read more about this method in Americas Test Kitchen's recipe). Mix in milk and cinnamon.
In a separate bowl, whip sugar and butter together until creamy and fluffy. Slowly add in banana mixture until combined.
Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Stir into banana mix just until flour disappears.
Pour batter into pan and top with mix-ins (optional). Bake for 1 hour 10 minutes. Once toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, let cool in pan for 15 minutes before transferring to cooling rack. (The longer the bread sits in the pan, the mushier the bottom will get.)
The bread is delicious when served by itself but can be topped with honey, ice cream, yogurt, cream cheese, or butter. Enjoy!
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