Everyone has their favorite banana bread recipe. And I’ve tried a dozen or more. Which is why I can tell you with absolute certainty that this one is special.
It came to me in a round-about way. We were having a breakfast buffet at work, more than 5 years ago, and I agreed to bring bread or muffins. I wanted to bake (of course) but wasn’t sure about any of the recipes I was using at the time. I mentioned to my roommate at the time that I wanted to make banana bread and she told me that her best friend’s mom had a family recipe that was the best she’d ever had – and she wasn’t lying.
This recipe was emailed to me on May 16, 2007 – and I’ve been making it at least monthly since then. I have a very dirty, folded up print out of that email that I use – so thought it would probably be best to transcribe it here for posterity, and so I can share the deliciousness with you all.
First and foremost, you’ll beat together the sugar, eggs and butter.
Next, add your mushy bananas. I generally use 3 if they’re big, 4 if they’re small.
At this point, you’ve got a delicious, sweet banana batter. Lick your fingers.
Next, mix the baking soda and flour in a separate bowl.
Then, you’re going to mix in this dry mixture and the buttermilk, alternating and blending between. You don’t want to dump it all in at once – add a little of each and mix, then add more.
Remove from mixing stand and stir in your walnuts or chocolate chips. I love really nutty banana bread so I use two small bags of walnuts. My kids love chocolate chips but I don’t usually add them.
After mixing it all up, divide between 3 big or 5 small loaf pans. I used on 4-up small loaf pan and dumped the rest in a normal sized pan. As the added touch, I always sprinkle the tops with sugar; turbinado if I have it (and I did).
Bake at 350 degrees F for roughly 25 minutes; test with a fork every five minutes until it comes out clean. In my convection oven, it’s usually done around 30 minutes total.
Depending on how full you fill the pans, this recipe makes 3 big or 5 small loaves.
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup butter (I use salted)
- 2 eggs
- 1.5 cups sugar
- 2 cups flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 3-4 very ripe bananas
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- Optional: small bag chopped walnuts
- Optional: half bag of chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour your pans.
- Using your mixer, mix up the butter, eggs and sugar.
- Mash up the bananas and combine into the mixture.
- Mix the flour and baking soda in a separate bowl.
- Adding into the banana mix, add a little bit of the buttermilk and a little of the flour mixture, until it's all blended in. Don't add them all at once.
- Add walnuts or chocolate chips.
- Pour the mixture into the pans and sprinkle some sugar (I use turbinado) on top of each.
- Check after 30-35 minutes; they should be done around 40-45 minutes, when a fork comes out clean.
