World’s Best Banana Bread

You can tell from the recipes section of this blog that I am a huge fan of fruit breads. From Peach Carrot Bread to Applesauce Nut Bread, I try to bake one at least every other week for my family. My kids love them, they’re far better for them than cookies or chips, and they’re great for breakfast, school lunches, and after-school snacks.

But our absolute favorite is BANANA BREAD. I’ve tried many recipes over the years and this one, with my modifications, is the absolute best. SERIOUSLY. The key is using over-ripe bananas — I bake a loaf any time we have a bunch of bananas that’s gotten too ripe for eating.

Try this recipe for yourself and see if you don’t agree with me that this is the WORLD’S BEST BANANA BREAD.

 INGREDIENTS

• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/3 cup buttermilk (OR pour enough lemon juice/lemon juice concentrate just to fill the bottom of your measuring cup. Fill the rest with milk to the 1/3 mark. Let stand for ten minutes and you will have buttermilk. This is what I do.)
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 cups mashed banana (this is the equivalent of 4 very ripe bananas)
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 1 3/4 cups AP flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional. I don’t use pecans because my family doesn’t like them. Whatevs.

DIRECTIONS

-Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Coat one loaf pan (or muffin tins if you’d rather do muffins) with non-stick spray.

-Blend oil, buttermilk, eggs, and banana.

-Blend sugar, flour, baking soda and salt. Add this to wet mix and blend well. Add pecans if desired.

-Pour into prepared pan and bake 1 hour and 20 minutes (20-30 minutes for muffins), or until cake tester inserted in middle of the loaf comes out clean.

-Let stand for ten minutes, then remove from loaf pan.