Thursday, November 7, 2013

My Favorite Banana Bread Recipe

This was from an old Crye-Leike realtors cookbook I was given years ago.  Can't find the cookbook, but the banana bread recipe is my one and only go-to after all these years.  It always turns out well for me, unless I stay on the computer until the smoke detector goes off...lol!

Banana Bread

Ingredients:

6 lg. very ripe bananas
1 cup oil (any cooking oil, I usually use light olive oil, the clear kind)
1 1/2- 2 cups sugar  (I like a little less than the 1 1/2 cup)
2 large eggs
2 1/2 cups plain (all purpose) flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 -2 tablespoons vanilla

@1cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour 2-3 bread loaf pans and set aside. (I use two smaller and one larger pan)

Mash bananas till creamy.  (I use a potato masher by hand).  Add eggs, oil, soda and salt and vanilla, and mix well.  Mix in flour a little at a time.  If you want nuts, add most of them now and stir in. 
Pour into bread pans till half full of batter.  If you are using nuts, sprinkle remaining chopped nuts on top last.

Bake 40-45 minutes, less or more, till golden brown and knife inserted in center comes out clean.  Do not overcook!  When done, set pans aside to cool.  When completely cool, slide knife around edges of loaves to loosen and turn them out.  When no longer warm, wrap them till airtight to keep them moist.  They freeze well if wrapped in freezer paper and airless plastic bags.