As soon as the cooler weather hits, it seems to kick my sweet tooth into play. I mean, you have Halloween which is a candy-fest, and then the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons are jam-packed with goodies. Mmmm, jam… ugh, see what I mean??
I know pumpkin bread is really popular about now, and I love me some pumpkin muffins! But even more delicious to me is banana bread, which is my absolute favorite. Fortunately, it’s ridiculously easy, and a great use for those bananas I never did get around to eating.
Time: 10 mins prep, 40-50 minutes baking. Easy? Check. One hour or less? Check.
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
Ingredients:
1 c. sugar
1/2 c. shortening
2 eggs
3 very ripe bananas
2 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
Nuts are optional. I don’t like them, so I would have no clue how much to add, but feel free if that sounds good to you.
Mash your bananas, then add your sugar, eggs, and shortening. Mix thoroughly. Sift your flour and soda together and add them to your wet ingredients. Mix it all up until you have a somewhat stiff batter. It’s much thicker than cake batter.
Spray your loaf pan with non-stick spray. I just LOVE using the little loaf pans. They gift easily, for one. Also, while I can’t seem to stop at one slice of bread, I do have to stop at one loaf. This recipe makes 3 little loaves, if you want to go that route too. (You may recognize my fabulously indestructable recipe card in the background there, from this post.)
Bake for 40-50 minutes, until you pass the toothpick test (where you stick it into your bread and it comes out clean). For my little loaves, usually 40 minutes. For a traditional loaf, closer to 50.
My gram would also point out that sweets begin to smell different when they’re just about done. That woman never knew how long to cook anything, she just cooked with her nose. I had to get the time down for myself, because I tend to wander away during baking. Ahem.
Cool completely and serve anytime… Good thing I’m typing instead of talking, because I’m already sampling a slice. :)
Mmmmm… I link to these fabulous parties!
I love banana bread any time of the year! :)
Thanks for sharing at Show & Share!
Colder months have approched us here in MN, and I am trying to become a better “baker”, and Bannan Bread was the 1st thing I tried (with the help of a fabulous person, my Mom) ~ DELICOUS :)
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Have a great week!
oh my this is one of my weakness fresh baked banana bread.
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Maggie
http://passionatelyartistic.com
I know what you mean about wandering away while things are baking though I would really like to be such a fabulous baker that I could just smell when things are ready. I like the idea of the smaller loaves too – great for gifts (if you can keep yourself from eating them I mean).
Oh my gosh. That sounds so tasty…and I have about a million bananas in my freezer that I “saved” for a bread recipe. I'm sure that I'll be trying yours!
Thanks so much for linking up with my {new} Whip it up Wednesday handmade party! Great to have you this week.
Best,
Emily from Nap Time Is My Time