Going bananas....

I have a love/hate relationship with bananas. I like fresh bananas, but only when they're just barely ripe, no brown spots, with a bit of green still in the peel. I don't particularly care for banana desserts--banana pudding, banana ice cream, bananas Foster.  Mehhh, they just don't do it for me. Banana "flavored" items, like candies or syrups, are just plain gross. But, I love banana bread.

Once a banana starts to get soft and develop brown spots, I throw them in the freezer. After I've accumulated 3 or 4, I pull out the stand mixer and turn on the oven. My recipe is pretty simple by comparison to a lot of them out there. There are no fancy flavorings, I don't add bourbon,or chopped chocolate, or any of the other variants you come across much of the time. But, this recipe lends itself well to those kinds of additions, so feel free to add your own mix-ins. My personal preference is chopped pecans.

Enjoy!

Banana Bread

Makes 2 standard bread loaves

While this bread is excellent on its own, try toasting the slices and topping them with a little butter. Delicious!

¾ cup unsalted butter
1 cup granulated sugar
¹/₃ cup light brown sugar
4 eggs
2 cups mashed banana (about 4 bananas)
3 ½ cups all purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon Kosher salt
1 cup chopped pecans

Preheat the oven to 350F. Butter and flour two standard 8 or 9 inch bread loaf pans.

Place the butter and sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. With the mixer on medium speed, cream the butter and sugars together until they have reached a light and fluffy texture and a pale color. Scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl. Add the eggs and mix through.

Add the mashed banana. I like to leave a few chunks in the puree. Depending on how firm the bananas are when you mash them up, you will sometimes even see them in the finished loaf. 

Once the banana is thoroughly mixed into the egg and sugar mixture, scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl.

In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the mixer bowl and mix to blend. Stir in the chopped pecans.

Divide the batter between the two prepared loaf pans and bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean.  Allow the loaves to cool in their pan for about 30 minutes, then remove from the pans and place on a wire rack to cool completely.

The loaves will freeze well, just wrap them well in plastic wrap, the foil, and place them into a ziptop bag in the freezer.