Got Ripe Bananas? Make Homemade Banana Bread!

 

I like having bananas around the house.  Until I don’t.  Bananas sure have a way of turning ripe, brown, and spotty when you’re not paying attention.  And then what?

I always have good intentions.  I’ll bake some bread! I’ll make a smoothie!  I’ll freeze them!

But usually I don’t.  *sigh*

Sometimes my bananas make me feel so guilty.

If your bananas are making you feel guilty too, a batch of this homemade banana bread will help you feel resourceful, thrifty, and industrious in no time.  It uses two or three ripe bananas, which always seems to be about how many are sitting there waiting to be used up!  {there’s never just one banana that’s the problem, right? }

So here’s the banana bread recipe I’ve been using for many years that’s my first choice when I’m looking for a way to put those overly ripe bananas to good use. You can use this recipe to just make one loaf in a standard size loaf pan (which is about 9″), but I often make this in the small size foil loaf pans too.  It makes three small loaves which are perfect for sharing.

Banana Bread

Ingredients:

• 1-3/4 cup  Flour

• 2 teaspoons Baking Powder

• 1/4 teaspoon Baking Soda

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 2/3 cup Sugar

• 2 or 3 Very Ripe Bananas

• 2 Eggs

• 1/3 cup Vegetable Oil

• Chopped Nuts – Optional

Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar in a medium sized mixing bowl and set aside.

Peel the bananas and break them into smaller pieces, and place them in a large mixing bowl.  Sometimes I also mash them up with a fork a little bit at this point too.

Add the eggs and the oil to the bananas and mix together (I use a hand mixer for this).  Gradually add in the dry ingredients to the banana mixture until everything is well mixed together.  Finally, stir in the chopped nuts if using.

Pour the batter into a greased loaf pan (approximate 9″ size), or into 3 mini loaf pans.

Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes (or for 40 minutes if using the small loaf pans), or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

 

You might also like to read:  Baking Brown Bread In Tin Cans