Banana bread

Who knows what my kids will remember from their childhood when they are grown up? But hard as it may be to  tell what family experiences will stick and which ones will vanish in oblivion, there’s one I know will be a sticky.  The banana bread.  We  love it and we just can’t get bored.  You’ve seen as a loaf, served with tea,  made with vegetable oil to take care of dairy allergies (no nut or eggs anyway), made in Greece, and now in a circle covered with confectioner’s sugar to make it more festive. Just play with it. With less or more banana for more moisture; with self rising flour or all-purpose flour combined with baking powder; with plain white or whole wheat flour; with more or less sugar; with butter or vegetable oil. Just make it to your taste. It’s perfect!

Recipe

Ingredients

• 5 tablespoons butter at room temperature OR margarine OR vegetable oil
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 2 cups all-purpose flour combined with 2 teaspoons baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon baking soda OR 2 cups self-rising flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 ripe bananas, mashed with a fork
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

How to make: In a mixer, beat the oil or butter with the sugar for 2-3 minutes. Then, switch to lowest or `stir’ speed. Add the flour and salt. Add the bananas and the vanilla extract. Do not beat.  When the dough is thoroughly moist, pour the dough in a greased/oiled pan. Bake in pre-heated 375 F or 190 C oven for about 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Let it cool off before taking it out of the pan.

Notes and tips:

a) To quickly bring butter to room temperature, you can heat it in the microwave oven for about 10-15 seconds until it’s soft but not melted.

b) If you use all-purpose flour, combine it with the baking powder, baking soda, and salt before you add it to the mixer.

c) If you use self-rising flour, you don’t need to add baking powder or baking soda

d) You can replace all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour.

Servings: 6 generous slices

Calorie count: 374 per serving

More photos of the same basic recipe

Loaf of banana bread

Sliced loaf of banana bread

Banana bread with vegetable oil. Check the recipe “Banana bread — the healthiest!”

Banana bread made in dark, metallic, long loaf pan

Banana bread cupcakes. See recipe “Banana bread cupcakes”

Banana bread served with tea