Often, we purposefully set aside a couple of bananas, letting them get seriously ripe. We love a pile of black speckled bananas because it gives us the perfect excuse to make a loaf of banana bread.  And if we are ever lacking enough bananas, there’s a good chance our bodega on the corner will have an excellent selection of extra ripe bananas. This is Luke’s recipe (originally sourced from Nigella Lawson) and he is the b-bread maker. But I am the expert on moistness.  And, strongly believing moistness is a vital characteristic for perfectly baked banana bread, I always insist that we take the bread out of the oven a bit earlier than Nigella suggests. Despite banana bread being Luke’s domain, he begrudgingly listens. The result (in my opinion): perfectly baked b-bread.

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup + 2 TBS whole wheat flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 3-4 **very** ripe bananas, mashed
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325°F and butter and flour a 9 x 5 inch bread pan.
2. Mix dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt) in a medium sized bowl.
3. In a large bowl, mix the melted butter and sugar.  Beat in the eggs, one at a time.  Then add the mashed bananas, whisking until incorporate with eggs and sugar.  It’s ok if there are a few banana lumps. Next, with a wooden spoon, stir in walnuts and vanilla extract.
4. In 3 batches, add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mixing with a wooden spoon until relatively smooth.
5. Pour mix into loaf pan.  Give a few shakes to make sure the mix is even in the pan.  Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes (Nigella’s suggestion.  We typically cook closer to an hour).  You can tell when the bread is ready by inserting a toothpick into the middle (the thickest part).  When you remove the toothpick, it should come out fairly clean.

Details: Makes one 9 x 5 inch loaf of banana bread.

Perfect for breakfast, though we also enjoy a slice toasted in a buttered skillet with a scoop of vanilla ice cream for dessert!

To print the recipe, click here: Classic Banana Bread