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Banana Bread! Yum!

I was going to make some other kind of bread on Wednesday, but it was pointed out that we had a number of bananas that were ready to go—more than we were going to eat. And we didn't have long to eat them, so could I please do something with them?

Ripe banana.

Four of these—perfect for banana bread.

So I looked for a recipe with plenty of bananas, and guess what? Leslie Bilderback came through again! Thanks Leslie! (Note: I think I've described this before? But not with pictures like this.)

Banana Bread

  • ¼ cup (½ stick) unsalted butter
  • ¾ cup granulated sugar
  • 3 ripe bananas
  • 1 egg
  • ¼ cup sour cream (I actually used closer to ½)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1½ teaspoons baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • (Optional; I don't usually bother) 1 cup chopped walnuts
Preheat oven to 350 °F (175 °C; Gas Mark 4). (Here Leslie gives instructions for prepping a 9" x 5" loaf pan with "pan spray" and parchment; I just give it a good wipe down with some margarine or butter.)

In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until creamy and smooth. (I used the hand mixer, and it didn't get "creamy and smooth" until I went in there with the spoon and pasted all the little bits together.) Add bananas and egg and beat until creamy. (And if the bananas have a few dark spots inside, you're going to see those too. No harm done though.) Stir in sour cream and vanilla.

Sift together all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt. (I just poured each into our Pyrex quart measure and stirred it around with a fork.) Slowly stir into batter. Fold in walnuts if you're using them.

Transfer batter to prepared pan and smooth the top.

The pan should now look like this...

and the spoon should be ready to lick!

Bake for 30 minutes. Reduce heat to 325 °F (160 °C; Gas Mark 3) and bake another 30 minutes, or until a toothpick, skewer, or similar small, sharp, CLEAN item inserted in the center comes out clean. (Leslie says, "Tent with foil if loaf browns too quickly," but ours barely browned at all. It was more a light gold color.)

Remove from oven and cool 10 minutes in the pan before removing and cooling on a rack.

It's a bit short.

But it looks Delicious!!

God speed, and remember: All sorrows are less with bread.

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