Pantry Recipe: Banana Bread
We make this banana bread recipe once or twice a year when we have browned or blackened bananas on hand. I add cinnamon, which I haven’t found in most banana bread recipes. I like using a bundt pan so that the finished bread fits in a glass diner-style donut stand that I have.
Pantry Recipe: Banana Bread
When you have 3-5 brown spotted or darkened bananas you can turn them into this quick banana bread. Use a bundt pan for a ciruclar shaped loaf, or the usual 3x5 loaf pan. When I use the 10.5" bundt pan the resulting bread fits perfectly in our diner-style glass pedestal cake stand with the round dome lid, which serves to keep it fresh right on the counter or table. This recipe is adapted from The Silver Palate Cookbook by Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins with Michael McLaughlin, printed in 1982, which my mother used in her kitchen when I was a child.
Equipment
- 1 Stand mixer optional
- 1 rack for cooling
- 1 bundt pan or loaf pan
- 1 fork to mash bananas
- 1 spatula
Ingredients
- 8 tbsp butter 1 stick
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs room temperature
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 3-5 whole ripe bananas (black or brown color or spotted mashed with a fork
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
Preparation
- Preheat the oven to 350 F
- Grease the bundt pan or loaf pan (I use cooking spray).
Assemble ingredients and mix
- Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.8 tbsp butter, 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- Add each egg one at a time and mix well after each one is added.2 eggs
- Sift the remaining dry ingredients together in a separate bowl (flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon) and then add to the creamed butter, sugar, and egg. Mix until just incorporated.2 cups all purpose flour, 1 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- Peel and then mash the peeled bananas with a fork if not already mashed.3-5 whole ripe bananas (black or brown color or spotted
- Fold the mashed bananas and the vanilla into the mixture.1 tsp vanilla extract
- Pour the batter (it will be thick so use a spatula) into the greased pan.
- Bake in a pre-heated 350 F oven for 60 minutes, then test for doneness. A knife inserted in the cake should pull out relatively clean. If it is not relatively clean then bake 10 or more minutes. NOTE: with three bananas as 60-70 minute bake time is about right. Using 4-5 bananas will increase the bake time to 80-90 minutes.
Cooling
- Cool the pan on a rack for ten minutes. Then, flip the pan to unmold and cool further on a rack. Do not cover until fully cooled to room temperature.
