yum yum yum!!! i have such a delicious & easy recipe for you today. it’s been so long since i posted a recipe & i wanted to make it something special to warm you up on this cold january day. but trust me, once you make this banana bread once, you’ll be making it all year long!
this recipe is so dear to my heart; it was passed down from my nana to my mom, who in turn passed it on to me. i’ve tweaked it just the tiniest bit to fit our pantry needs from time to time but it still tastes just as good as nana’s did when she pulled it piping hot out of the oven.
i’m pretty sure my nana is smiling up in heaven thinking of all the people who will be sliding a greased loaf pan of her banana bread into the oven later this afternoon –*wink!!
ready to bake?? pull out your oven mitts & let’s get to preheating!
you need just a few basic ingredients for this yummy loaf….
♥ 1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
♥ 2 3/4 tsp baking powder
♥ 1/2 tsp salt [i use course ground]
♥ 1/3 cup honey
♥ 1/3 cup corn syrup
♥ 2/3 cup white sugar
♥ 2 eggs
♥ 3-4 very ripe bananas
just a few words about the ingredients –
i’m pretty big on just “eye-balling” measurements, so don’t feel too constrained. i almost always add an extra pinch of salt & more honey than necessary :]
nana’s original recipe called for 1/3 cup shortening [melted] in place of the honey. while i do always have shortening on hand for other recipes but i just loathe using it because of the sticky, smeary, gross clean up afterwards.
honey gives the crust just an extra crunch of sweetness so i use an equal replacement of honey for the shortening. feel free to use whichever you prefer!
this is the only recipe i use that calls for corn syrup. so instead of buying it on the shelf, i just make it. it’s so simple! for a cup of corn syrup in a recipe, use 1 cup of white sugar [or brown sugar for dark corn syrup] and 1/4 cup water. for this particular recipe, we need 1/3 cup of corn syrup — use 1/3 cup of sugar & 1/7th cup of water, mix & voila!
make sure your bananas a R-I-P-E! seriously, your banana bread will not turn out right unless they are practically falling out of the skins mashed. if i’m not up for making a loaf when our bananas are ready to be tossed, i just stick them in a ziploc & store them in the freezer. they will keep FOREVER & you just need to defrost them whenever you want to bake them! i use three large bananas, my mom uses practically a full bunch. totally up to you on how many you use.
and now we mix!
mix together your flour, baking powder & salt — just a few little whisks is fine to get it mixed up.
next, add in the sugar & wet ingredients [shortening OR honey, corn syrup, and eggs].
throw in your super duper ripe bananas & give it a light beating in your mixer. you don’t have to mix it long — maybe a minute or so & it will all be battered & ready.
lumps are good! don’t over mix the batter or your loaf will just be dense & chewy. leave the lumps!!!!
now pour your batter into a greased loaf pan & bake it for 60-70 minutes [depending on your oven] at 350degrees.
no touching, opening the door or peeking! just let it bake — go clean the dishes, fold the laundry & color five pages of a dora coloring book with your kid. then come back & get ready to nom!
the most frustrating step — pull the banana bread yummy-ness out of the oven & let it cool for 5-10 minutes in the pan. i know you want to slice right into it — can you smell my banana bread from there?!
when it’s cooled enough to touch, but still warm enough to melt butter, tip the loaf out of the pan onto a cutting board or pretty serving platter & slice! enjoy it as a delicious, satisfying breakfast loaf, afternoon snack or pre-bedtime dessert.
i bet you’ll never throw out another bunch of browned bananas again!
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
Oh my goodness you are AWESOME!!!! Being allergic to tree nuts makes it impossible to quench my banana bread thirst! -And not being “cooking inclined”, backing it myself was never a thought! I’m just too excited to make this now!!!!!
oh man i can’t imagine!!! try this — it’s so easy & fool proof. in fact you could just throw ALL the ingredients in at the same time & only mix once and have the same outcome
I want to know how you got bananas to get that ripe with a toddler around. I mean we only go thru about a banana and a half a day here so its hard for them ever to get past a light green state (yeah we like them with a touch of green). I might have to buy an extra bunch and hide them so I can try this recipe out.
she’s newly addicted to watermelon, so i only buy about 3 bananas a week & she usually doesn’t even eat those! it comes & goes LOL
This looks really awesome! A few weeks ago I made a banana nut cake, I don’t have a bread pan, and it was ahh-mazing but I couldn’t find the recipe after I searched my internet history for hours. Literally hours so maybe i’ll have to try this one!
Marissa
let me know what you think if you try it out!!
I love banana bread. I need to buy a bunch of bananas and hide them so they go bad or else my 2.5 year old will consume them. This recipe looks so good.
Mine just came out of the oven. It’s not as crispy looking as yours, but I made it gluten free. It tastes pretty darn good though.
oh yum! our oven is kind of on the hot side, so i only bake it 60 minutes. you could try a bit longer & cover it with foil the last 15 min or so if it browns too much. so glad it tastes good though! YUM!!
Okay I made this again and swapped 1/3 vanilla yogurt for the corn syrup and it still comes out amazing (plus waaay less calories and sugar!). Thought I’d let ya know
that sounds AMAZING! i bet greek yogurt would make it divine, too — with lots of extra nutrients + such! thanks for the tip, i’m totally trying it next time!