Forget the Sourdough. Everybody’s Baking Banana Bread

[Brett]

Forget the Sourdough. Everybody’s Baking Banana Bread

In the past month, banana bread beat out pancakes, brownies and pizza dough as the No. 1 searched-for recipe in the U.S. and world-wide, according to Google.

The humble loaves are taking a star turn on Instagram and Twitter. “Is Covid-19 sponsored by banana bread?” one tweet said. “The isolation stages of grief,” another said, are “denial, anger, bargaining, depression, banana bread.”

Professional bakers say banana bread is low-hanging fruit for beginners. Basic recipes require only five ingredients: bananas, flour, baking soda, eggs and butter or oil. And, of course, the riper the bananas, the better.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/forget-baking-sourdough-everybodys-making-banana-bread-11588255498

 

[dmbrand]

Yum! I make banana bread all the time. Pumpkin bread is really good, as well.

 

[Pardytime]

Timely post, Brett. I just 5 min ago assembled the ingredients for making Banana Bread, which I haven't made for two years. Waiting for the butter to soften.

 

[mentalbreak]

The preference at our house is mini-muffins with mini chocolate chips instead of a loaf. But yes, we are even buying extra bananas just to let them ripen for banana bread muffins.

Tip - if you have overripe banana ready for baking, peel and place in ziploc in freezer. I portion them 2/bag since that is what my recipe calls for. When you thaw them, they may be watery - I just dump everything, water and all into the batter and they come out perfectly.

 

[CO skier]

High Altitude Banana Bread
(should work at lower altitudes, also)​

½ cup walnuts (optional)
2 Eggs or 1 egg and 2 egg whites, beaten
2-3 very ripe bananas, coarsely mashed
¼ cup milk
¼ cup white sugar
¼ cup light brown sugar
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
1½ cup all purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
4 Tablespoons butter, melted
¼ cup mini-chocolate chips (optional)


Line a 9x5 stoneware baking dish with parchment paper and preheat to 350 F.

Toast walnut for 90 seconds in microwave, stirring every 30 seconds. Set aside.

Combine eggs, mashed bananas, sugars, vanilla and milk in a bowl.

Combine flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon in a larger bowl.

Fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients until well blended.

Fold in half the butter, then the other half.

Fold-in chocolate chips and walnuts, if using.

Add 2-3 Tablespoons milk, as needed for a pourable batter

Pour dough into the preheated 9X5 inch loaf pan, or three smaller loaf pans (7-8 soup spoons full per small loaf).

Lower temperature to 340F and bake for 45 minutes for large loaf or 35 minutes for small loaves, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Let bread cool in pan for 5-10 minutes before removing to a cooling rack.

 

[geekette]

I honestly only make banana bread when I have bananas past their peak. I don't ever buy bananas for this purpose!

Late last night I made a pan of 5 ingredient peanut butter cookies. I was going for quick and easy sweet treat. I have a jar of off brand peanut butter that was perfect for this.

 

[PigsDad]

One thing we like doing is adding fruit to the banana bread batter. Sour cherries (my favorite), apple, pineapple, raspberries are some we have tried. The tartness of the fruit adds a nice contrast to the sweetness of the bread.

Kurt

 

[TravelTime]

I made orange cranberry muffins last weekend. It was out of a box but came out delicious. Maybe I will try banana bread next. I love zucchini bread.

 

[Ironwood]

Yesterday we hauled out of the basement, our nearly 20 year old breadmaker, which we hadn't used in 6/7 years, cleaned it up and made cinnamon/raisin bread. Had to improvise on powdered milk with almond milk, but it rose nicely and this morning it was the best toast I've had in a long time. This lockdown has us rediscovering old indoor activities.

 

[Patri]

It is true. Friends have been posting on FB about their banana bread. I will use my breadmaker again as soon as I find yeast in the stores. TP is back somewhat, so yeast can't be far behind.

 

[Luanne]

I was going to make banana muffins but couldn't find our muffin tins. So I made oatmeal banana cookies. Didn't even think of banana bread. Next time I have bananas going bad, banana bread it will be. I already checked to be sure I could find the loaf pan.

 

[geekette]

I made orange cranberry muffins last weekend. It was out of a box but came out delicious. Maybe I will try banana bread next. I love zucchini bread.

I may never again have zucchini bread. It has to do with the year I was overrun with zuchs and could not give them away. ugh. I am intentionally not planting them this year.

 

[Ken555]

I made two banana breads so far, and they were great! I’ve got bananas in the freezer for the next one. I use monkfruit instead of sugar, and it’s a great alternative.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[PigsDad]

It is true. Friends have been posting on FB about their banana bread. I will use my breadmaker again as soon as I find yeast in the stores. TP is back somewhat, so yeast can't be far behind.

Check your local restaurants to see if they are selling supplies. One here was selling 1 lb block of yeast for $8.

Kurt

 

[PigsDad]

I may never again have zucchini bread. It has to do with the year I was overrun with zuchs and could not give them away. ugh. I am intentionally not planting them this year.

Never leave your windows down in your car in August when to pop into a store -- you may come back to find your car full of zucchini!

The first year I planted zucchini, I planted three hills with three plants in each hill. OMG! I was overrun with zucchini.

Kurt

 

[easyrider]

The reason my wife has made so much banana bread is that the bananas have been turning brown before we can use them. She freezes the bananas we think are too mushy and then makes a batch of banana bread.

Suposedly, because of quarantine, we are stuck with too many eggs from our two chickens. Yesterday they layed four eggs. We are not egg eaters for the most part so she has been baking them into cookies, breads and brownies.

Bill