Banana Bread... The Sequel

I realize that Amy has already posted a fabulous banana bread recipe, I also have a go-to recipe that I love, LOVE to use.  It's origins are a secret from my past many moons ago, but, if I ever lost this recipe and couldn't recreate it exactly, there's no doubt in my mind I would resort to whatever tactics necessary to recover it*.

I make banana bread regularly.  I like my bananas nearly green, so anytime I see my bananas have faint traces of brown, I am immediately disinterested.  Barf.  I think my future soul mate will like ripe, brown spotted bananas.  We'll call it:  No Bananas Left Behind.  Anyways, as it is now, I have nobody to pick up the slack and eat brown spotted bananas, so I throw them in my freezer.  I currently have six brown frozen bananas in my freezer.  They are all waiting patiently for their own banana bread debut.

Maybe I should consider buying less bananas each week...

Soul Mate:  Do you each Bananas in Stage 5 - 7? CALL ME.  Not shown:  Stage 8 - this is when they get put in the freezer.

KELLEY's Fabulous Banana Bread:
1.5 cups of sugar
1 3/4 cups of flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 c buttermilk**
1 tsp vanilla***
1/2 cup oil
2 eggs
2 ripe bananas

This recipe is easy: dry ingredients in a bowl.  Mix.  Add wet ingredients.  Mix.  Add Bananas.  Mix.  Pour into 9 x 5.  Bake.  325 degrees.  1 hour, 20 minutes. Eat.  Share.  Love.




Don't be afraid.... this is going to be amazing.


Truth be told, there aren't many tricks to this.  In the past I would throw all the ingredients in a bowl at once, without regard to their wet or dry characteristics.  I really feel like you can't mess this up if you follow the recipe.  I like using frozen bananas best, because as Amy mentioned, they are so easy to mash up. After the banana bread has cooled slightly, I pop it out of the baking dish and cover overnight with plastic wrap - this creates a really nice, moist (shudder) layer on the top that is de-lish-ious.




Mmmmmmm............ Enjoy. 


*Including stalking the house of passive aggressively e-mailing the ex boyfriend that gave it to me.
*You can substitute regular milk for buttermilk if that's all you have.
**If you use fake artificial vanilla, feel free to throw in a few more dashes.  I always do.

Mom's Banana Bread

This banana bread is super delicious.

Trust me.

There is a secret ingredient. It's orange juice. My mom used to bring me this banana bread when she'd come visit me at college.

This was also one of the first recipes that I ever made.

Start by mixing the first three ingredients. Don't mix all of the ingredients at once. I have made this mistake before.

Mix these ingredients in a large bowl
2/3 cup oil
1 2/3 cup sugar
3 eggs

Now, add these ingredients and mix
2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp almond extract (I often substitute with vanilla extract when I don't have almond extract)
1/4 cup orange juice
4-5 mashed bananas

Mashing the bananas is a great stress reliever. I had one frozen banana in the freezer, so I was able to use that banana, and I bought four fresh bananas. Frozen bananas are easier to mash.

Once you've added the mashed bananas to the mixture and mixed, carefully pour into a bundt pan. My bundt plan is a classic bundt pan.

Check out these cool, detailed bundt pans that you could buy!









































Toss it in the oven at 350 for 50 minutes.

I wish you could experience the smell! It smells like my childhood.

Complete the toothpick test. Let cool for 15 minutes, and enjoy! The best pieces are the warm pieces.