As I mentioned last week, I am working on stocking my freezer with meals for when the baby comes. In addition to meals, I also try to freeze other staple items; banana bread is absolutely one of them! Though this week’s recipe isn’t a meal, it makes the perfect weekday
breakfast or addition to weekend brunch. I love making multiple loaves and keeping one on the counter for the week and throwing the other loaf in the freezer for another time, especially for when we have overnight guests.
This recipe is inspired by my grandmother’s recipe. She passed away when I was eight, but my mom has held on to dozens of her recipes and thankfully passed them down to me when I got married. I have adapted her recipe slightly to be a little more moist and flavorful, but otherwise, Grandma Hagge deserves all the credit for this cornerstone recipe.
Do your breakfasts need a boost? This recipe is the perfect solution, Average Chefs!
Grandma’s Banana Bread
Serves 8-12 (Approximately 12 slices)
Estimated time, start to serve: 1 hr., 20 min.
Ingredients:
4 overripe bananas (or 3 extra large)*
¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) salted butter, melted
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
3 Tbsp. milk (whole or 2% preferred for moisture, but skim works just fine)
½ tsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
Optional mix-ins: ½ cup chocolate chips, ½ cup chopped nuts, or 1 tsp. cinnamon
*If you find yourself with overripe bananas but don’t have time to make the bread yet, take the banana out of its peel, put it in a Ziplock bag, and store it in the freezer until you’re ready to make bread. The bananas will be brownish and watery when you thaw them out (like my photo below), but they will work perfectly fine in this recipe anyway!
Instructions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Melt the butter–covered–in the microwave. Add the wet ingredients plus the sugar to a blender (bananas, butter, sugar, eggs, milk, lemon juice, and vanilla extract). Blend on low speed for 10 seconds.
3. In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, and salt). Add the blended wet ingredients to the bowl of dry ingredients and stir gently until the mixture is just barely combined and no white flour is visible.
4. Pour the batter into a greased loaf pan. Bake for an hour (55-65 minutes) or until the top of the loaf is medium brown and a toothpick comes out clean.
5. Let the bread cool in its pan for about 5 minutes, and then let it cool outside of the pan for another 10-15 minutes. While still warm, transfer the bread into a sealed container or gallon-sized Ziplock bag.
6. Strongly recommended, if not serving immediately: Freeze the banana bread before eating. The moisture gets locked inside the loaf, and the bread is far more moist once thawed out!
7. Enjoy! Top with butter or peanut butter or simply eat plain.
Proud of your work? Take a photo of your “Average” creation and tag @the.brass.spoon on Instagram to show off your skills! If you allow me to follow you, I’ll post your story to my story!
If you’re new, remember to subscribe to future recipes by entering your email address below. Share the link to this recipe with friends and family who could use a few meal ideas! Please reach out to me with questions or special requests for future weeks via the Contact Me page or my Instagram DM’s.
Commentaires