Banana Loaf

I love baking with Bananas. The sweet aroma that sifts through the house when the dough is in the oven, is so heavenly! Sis-in-law got me a nice non-stick loaf pan from Singapore and I wanted to bake a loaf using that while she was home... what better recipe to choose than ones with bananas. I picked this recipe from joyofbaking.com. I replaced the APF with wheat flour and omitted the nuts.

Banana Bread Recipe Adapted from joyofbaking.com:

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups (230 grams) wheat flour

3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated white sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

3 ripe large bananas (approximately 1 pound or 454 grams), mashed well (about 1-1/2 cups)

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Banana Bread Recipe: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C). Since I use a convection oven and a dark metallic non-stick pan, I reduced the temperature settings to 170 degrees C. Butter and flour (or spray with a non stick vegetable/flour spray) the bottom and sides of a 9 x 5 x 3 inch (23 x 13 x 8 cm) loaf pan. I did not grease the pan. Set aside.

In a large bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon. Set aside.

In a medium-sized bowl combine the mashed bananas, eggs, melted butter, and vanilla. With a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, lightly fold the wet ingredients (banana mixture) into the dry ingredients just until combined and the batter is thick and chunky. (The important thing is not to over mix the batter. You do not want it smooth. Over mixing the batter will yield tough, rubbery bread.) Scrape batter into prepared pan. Bake until bread is golden brown and a  toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 55 to 60 minutes. Place on a wire rack to cool and then remove the bread from the pan. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Makes 1 - 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf.

Verdict:

You can't go wrong with this recipe. The loaf is lovely crumbly and sweet and the aroma of baked bananas is irresistible even at room temperature.