Weekly Banana Bread
It makes sense to start my blog with the one thing I bake most frequently - my infamous banana bread. It's a tried and true recipe, but I've forgotten where I got the original -- probably found it while flipping through a Good Housekeeping or Martha Stewart at the grocery store checkout with my mom as a teenager. I've tweaked it several different ways over the years to make it my own, but despite the minor adjustments, the one thing that stays consistent is that it always brings me comfort. Because of that, it's no surprise that I often make it when I'm having a bad day, or those moments when I feel a someone is in need of a pick-me-up…and I think we can all agree we can all use a pick me up lately!
My recipe is straightforward, and you likely already have all the ingredients in your pantry. It gives you everything you want in a good banana bread: moist, springy, and perfectly addictive. I change up the add ins pretty regularly, if I do any at all. Mini chocolate chips or salted cashews are my go-tos, but if my husband requests, I've been known to swap out for peanut butter chips. Additions or not, the one thing I don't change or skimp out on is the demerara sugar. Using it in the batter helps coax out a natural caramel flavor from the ripe banana and gives the loaf itself a beautiful complexity of flavor. A proper sprinkle on top right before it goes into the oven ensures a nice crackly crust with just the right amount of bite. I hope you like this recipe and are able to make it your own!
Weekly Banana Bread
4 very ripe bananas
1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup demerara sugar *see notes below
2/3 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
2 cups AP flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup mini chocolate chips or chopped nuts (optional)
Preheat oven to 350 F. In a large bowl, mash together bananas, sugars, eggs, and oil. (A potato masher works well for this, but if you don’t have one, mash the bananas in the bowl first before combining and continuing to mash with other wet ingredients. That way it will be more uniformly smashed!) In a separate bowl, whisk together all the remaining dry ingredients. Once well combined, add dry ingredients to the mashed banana mixture. Mix together until a loose batter is formed. If adding in mini chocolate chips or nuts, toss in a separate bowl with a tablespoon of flour until bits are covered. (Don’t skip this step — it’s crucial to help make sure that the mix-ins don’t just sink to the bottom!) Gently fold the flour-coated chocolate chips or nuts into the batter — do not overmix! A few quick turns of the batter to suspend the mix-ins will do. (If you skip the mix-ins, disregard this step…#obvi.)
Evenly distribute the batter amongst three loaf pans that have been greased generously with softened butter or sprayed lightly with cooking spray. Sprinkle demerara sugar on the tops of the loaves before placing in the oven. Bake 45-55 minutes, rotating your loaves midway through baking time. You’ll know they’re ready to come out of the oven when the tops are nicely browned and a toothpick inserted into the middle of the loaves comes out clean. Cool on wire racks and enjoy at your leisure. (I’ve been told these freeze well, but I’ve honestly never had them around long enough to worry about that!)
* Notes -
Demerara sugar is pretty commonly found in most big box supermarkets and in neighborhood ethnic markets. You can find it under the brand name of Sugar in the Raw, but if you can’t, or if you don’t care to stock another type of sugar in your kitchen, you can just substitute out equal amounts of white sugar. That being said, you will not get the same deep caramelized flavor as you would if you used the demerara sugar, but it will still be delicious!