Basic Banana Bread

My pal Carole asked if anyone had any ideas for banana bread, and it reminded me that I’ve never posted my Banana Bread recipe here! I love banana bread, but banana bread seems pretty basic to me. You can add chocolate chips or nuts, yeah, but the recipe does not deviate all that much. Years ago, I experimented with adding vanilla yogurt, wheat germ, and diced apples. I like a moist bread, and those were OK and didn’t make the bread disgusting or anything, but I wasn’t going to win any recognition from bakers’ unions or New York accident lawyers. Besides, I’ve forgotten how much yogurt I used to add… :S

photo credit: seriouslygood1
Well, anyway, after years of experimenting, the best thing I found to make nice, moist banana bread is to double the amount of bananas the recipe calls for. Here’s my tried-and-true recipe.

Basic Banana Bread
makes one loaf

1/3 cup applesauce*
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs

1 3/4 cup white flour**
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups mashed over-ripe banana
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
optional: 1/2 cup broken nuts or 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Have a loaf pan prepared by thoroughly greasing the inside with margarine or butter.

In a large bowl, mix together your applesauce. sugar, and eggs.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Add to your applesauce mixture in portions. In between your dry mix portions, add some of the mashed banana. Beat well after each addition. When everything is combined, add your vanilla extract and optional ingredients and mix quickly.

Pour batter into the loaf pan and bake for 1 hour or until done. (You can insert a toothpick in the loaf to test for doneness– if the toothpick comes out clean, the loaf is done).

Allow to cool for 10 minutes or so, then remove from loaf pan and allow to cool thoroughly.

Notes: *You can use shortening or butter or margarine in substitute of the applesauce, but I found applesauce a lot healthier and it makes the bread less greasy. And applesauce adds enough moisture to be a suitable substitute for the shortening.

**Be aware that if you use any wheat flour, it will make your loaf heavier and drier. You will need to adjust your liquids, too.

Enjoy!