2 Sep
2009

Posted in: Breads, Desserts, Food
By kelli    1 Comment

Old Timey Banana Bread

The villains: Three very overripe bananas.

The heroes: The usual. Sugar, butter, eggs, flour, a pinch of salt, baking powder.

I make banana bread occasionally. You know, any time I get overzealous in my banana buying and end up with a handful of brown blobs hanging around the fruit bowl. Such was the case yesterday. And I had a bad, bad day yesterday. So I did what I almost always do when such a day rears its ugly head. I bake. I usually Google easy or quick banana bread recipes. But nothing has stood out (evidenced by the fact that none were saved in my random-internet recipe blue binder). So I looked in our family cookbook my aunt and I put together as a Christmas gift this past year, and there was my great grandmother Lucas’ banana bread recipe. It wasn’t exactly quick or easy (comparatively), but it wasn’t ratatouille, either, and the result: Worth the extra two bowls to wash and 10 minutes of preparation. Hands down the best banana bread I’ve ever made.

A couple confessions. Granny’s original recipe called for shortening, for which I substituted butter. (It’s a pretty well-known baking fact that shortening and butter can be substituted equally in recipes. Butter has a bit of water content that can make cookies a bit crispier than when you use shortening, but in breads it’s a non-issue. Plus I like butter. Alot. I just can’t stir up the same affection for shortening.) I also added a splash of vanilla because it just didn’t feel right to be making a baked good without it. With those two caveats, I present you:

Granny Lucas’ Banana Bread
1/2 C. Shortening (or butter)
1 C. sugar
2 eggs
2 C. flour
1 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1 t. baking soda
2 T buttermilk
3 large bananas, mashed
1/2 C. chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a loaf pan. Cream shortening/butter and sugar together. Add eggs to creamed mixture and mix well. In a separate bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Combine half of dry ingredients into creamed mixture. Add bananas and buttermilk, and blend well. Add remaining dry ingredients, mixing well. Mix in chopped nuts. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan. Bake 50 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.