Banana bread Lisa

The best banana bread recipe – super moist with deep banana flavor; springy and not heavy.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
• 1 cup sugar (Lisa uses 1 1/2 cups, which makes for an even moister loaf)
• 2 eggs
• 3 ripe bananas
• 1/4 cup milk mixed with
• 1 teaspoon vinegar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 3/4 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt (not needed if using salted butter)
• 1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9-inch loaf pan (an 8-inch square pan also works).
2. In a large bowl, mix sugar into softened butter.
3. Add eggs; mix well.
4. Mash bananas and add to batter. Add vanilla.
5. Add vinegar to milk; add sour milk to batter.
6. In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
7. Gradually add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients. Mix well.
8. Add nuts, if using.
9. Bake for one hour (a square pan will take less time), until toothpick comes out clean. It’s important to do the toothpick test with banana bread, as often it looks nice and brown outside but still needs a few more minutes to cook fully inside.

Note

• My family actually likes it better when I cook banana bread in a baking dish (an 8-inch square or 11″x7″, 2-quart Pyrex). It cooks faster (about 35-40 minutes), and the texture is softer and lighter. My mom, a great cook but less-confident baker, also finds it much easier to know when the bread is ready in a baking dish than a loaf pan.

Here’s the link back to New life for old bananas, part 2.