Best Ever Banana Bread!

Description

Whenever I pass a display of bananas in the grocery store, I can almost smell the wonderful aroma of my best banana bread recipe. It really is amazingly good! —Gert Kaiser, Kenosha, Wisconsin

Ingredients

• 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1-1/2 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 2 medium ripe bananas, mashed (1 cup)
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup chopped walnuts

Steps

1. Preheat oven to 350°. In a large bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. In another bowl, combine the eggs, bananas, oil, buttermilk and vanilla; add to flour mixture, stirring just until combined. Fold in nuts.
2. Pour into a greased or parchment-lined 9x5-in. loaf pan. If desired, sprinkle with additional walnuts. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean, 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 hours. Cool in pan for 15 minutes before removing to a wire rack.



Banana Bread Tips

How do I quickly ripen bananas?

When baking with bananas, use ones that are ripe (or even overripe) to yield the best flavor. If you have a day or two to spare, place bananas and an apple, avocado, peach or tomato in a brown paper bag and keep on your counter. This will trap the ethylene gas of the fruits and quicken the ripening process. To ripen bananas even faster, place them in their peels on a baking sheet and warm in a 250° oven for 15-20 minutes.

Do you have to use baking soda in banana bread?

Both baking soda and baking powder are chemical leaveners that provide lift to your baked goods. If you want some rise in your banana bread and don’t have baking soda handy, try substituting baking powder. Baking powder is about 4 times weaker than baking soda. So for this recipe, use 4 teaspoons baking powder as a substitute for the 1 teaspoon baking soda. If the rise is not important to you, you can leave it out completely