Going ‘Naners!!!

One of my coworkers had a banana tree that made more bananas than she could imagine using so she brought in a giant bunch for everyone at work. They were adorable little bananas, but very green. I patiently babysat my bunch every day, turning them, talking to them… just encouraging them to ripen. Then I blinked and they were brown… poo! What’s a girl to do? Well, banana bread, of course! So here’s my favorite recipe for banana bread, slightly adapted from the recipe in Joy of Cooking. This recipe is different than most banana breads as it has butter instead of vegetable oil. Its fantastic… not quite as moist as your usual banana bread, but the flavor is very very nice.

For all you photo geeks out there, these images were taken with a Lensbaby. That is what gives it the really cool selective focus effect. bananna_bread_03.jpg

bananna_bread_02.jpg
Banana Bread Recipe

1 1/3 c all purpose flour
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
5 tbsp butter (room temp)
2/3 c sugar
2 large eggs (slightly beaten, room temp)
1 tsp vanilla
1 c mashed very ripe bananas
1/2 c coarsely chopped walnuts or pecans (or almonds)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and place the rack in the center of the oven. Grease a 6 cup (8 1/2 X 4 1/2 inch) loaf pan.

2. Whisk together the flour, salt, soda and powder and set aside. In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar on high speed until light and fluffy.

3. Beat in the flour mixture on low speed until well blended and the consistency of brown sugar. Gradually beat in the eggs and vanilla.

4. Fold in the mashed banana and chopped nuts, until just combined.

5. Scrape the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 50 to 60 minutes. Let cool in th pan or a rack for 5 to 10 minutes before unmolding to completely on a rack.

Makes 8 Servings

Note: If your eggs are not at room temperature, place them (before cracked, of course) in a bowl of lukewarm water for a few minutes. The butter can be microwaved for about 10 seconds to soften.

October 3, 2007 | Filed Under Bakery, Breakfast, Sweet Tooth

 

Critiques & Opinions

4 Critiques to “Going ‘Naners!!!”

  1. Katie on October 3rd, 2007 10:05 am

    Ohh… I like the lens effect. The bread in the second picture is happly floating off your plate and into my mouth. YUM!!! lol.

  2. Sam Pardue on October 4th, 2007 12:55 pm

    Beautiful Lensbaby photos of the bread. . . . I can almost smell the loaf. A nice looking recipe also. Thanks for sharing!

    Sam

  3. Maki on October 4th, 2007 10:05 pm

    I’m jealous, us canadians can only dream of a banana tree in our yards :(

    I also just stumbled upon the lensbaby site recently myself. neato.

  4. Hallie on December 5th, 2007 2:31 pm

    This may be my first real post on a blog, but I could not help myself. I wandered on to your blog this afternoon and almost screamed out loud at my desk. Making Nanner bread is one of my specialties, however I have never seen or heard of anyone abbreviating it the way my boyfriend and I do. I feel like Nanner just a really cute nickname for banana that should be more widely used. The recipe that my mother and I swear by has just a little sour cream in it, makes the texture perfect.

Leave a critique for the chef!




*
To prove you're a person (not a spam script), type the security word shown in the picture. Click on the picture to hear an audio file of the word.
Click to hear an audio file of the anti-spam word