I don’t like bananas. Which sounds a little crazy considering I’m sharing my perfect banana bread recipe. I don’t like bananas… on their own. BUT, slices on ice cream with hot fudge? That’s better. Banana bread? Much better. A classic, but I’ve always found it to have a dated, flat flavor. Here, the flavors are all enhanced with a bit of extra salt and the best ingredients. This tastes best the day after baking and even better after being frozen and defrosted.
Banana Bread
Recipe: Candice Hunsinger
9″ x 5″ loaf pan, Serves 6-8 (or use an 8″ x 3″ cake pan if you don’t have a loaf pan)
Ingredients
*Make sure ALL of your ingredients are at room temperature – bring them out the night before, or a minimum of 6 hours.
4 oz. (1 stick or 115g) unsalted Butter, room temperature
1 c. (250g) Brown Sugar
1 tsp (4g) Vanilla Extract
1 tsp (6g) Himalayan Pink Salt
2 large Eggs
1/4 c. (85g) Greek Yogurt (or Sour Cream)
4 large (approx. 430g) Bananas, super ripe (you want a lot of brown spots!)
1 1/3 c. (185g) All Purpose Flour
1 tsp (5g) Baking Soda
1 c. Chocolate Chips or walnuts, or both, or whatever your favorite mix-ins are (optional)
PROCESS
Preheat Oven to 350 degrees.
Butter pan, and line with parchment paper.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer, or mixing bowl with hand mixer, combine butter, brown sugar, vanilla extract and salt. Mix on medium-high 5-7 minutes until smooth.
- On low speed, add eggs, one at a time. After the last egg is in, turn speed to medium-high and mix for 3-5 minutes. It will look broken, but that’s okay. Scrape down the sides and bottom.
- Add the greek yogurt and mix until smooth, about 1-2 minutes, scraping down the sides, if needed.
- Add bananas and mix on medium-high speed until bananas are mixed in thoroughly.
- Add flour and baking soda, and any mix-ins, and mix on medium-low until there are no traces of flour. Be sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl and mix again to ensure full incorporation.
- Pour batter into pan and smooth until top is level.
- Bake in center of oven at 350 degrees for 60-70 min or until set (a toothpick comes out clean, and it springs back to the touch).
- Take out of oven, and let cool at room temperature for at least 3 hours before cutting!
- If freezing, triple wrap in plastic wrap of foil.