Firsts. Whether it be in love or experiences, they always hold a special place in your heart.
This first — a banana bread recipe— was given to me by The Amazing Musician College Buddy. I loved it when she baked it and when I was a lucky recipient of a slice or two. Or three or four. For years, the recipe had been misplaced, but yesterday I found the scrap of paper I'd jotted it down on. With three spotty bananas waiting to be mashed and mixed, I embraced the opportunity and the memories.
Sifting has been de rigeur as of late. There's nothing worse than a clump of baking soda that didn't break down. The bananas and other wet ingredients are mashed and mixed in a 4-cup pyrex cup and then poured into the dry ingredients. After the addition of buttermilk, the chocolate chips are dumped in and the loaf is baked at 350ºF.
Thanks for the great recipe, Sonja!
Sonja's Banana Bread
1½ cups mashed bananas (about 4)
½ cup margarine or butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, well beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon salt
½ cup buttermilk
¾ cup chopped nuts or 1¼ cup chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350ºF. Butter and flour a 9x5 loaf pan.
Mash the bananas in a bowl. Add the melted butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla and combine thoroughly.
In a separate bowl, sift the flour, baking soda and salt. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Add the banana mixture and the buttermilk. Mix thoroughly. Add the nuts or chocolate chips.
Bake for 65-70 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out cleanly.
Great timing! I was just breaking out the brown bananas! :-)
ReplyDeleteI haven't checked out your site recently - what good timing! 3 bananas ready to go and one in the freezer... Of course, I need a loaf of sweet bread like I need a hole in the head. But need has nothing to do with this! Also - I totally love that your handwritten recipes look like mine because I get (lovingly) mocked for them by friends who come over. I list the ingredients with no title saying what it makes (I know what it makes - why write it down?), then the cooking temp and time. Instructions are usually superfluous. So now I know that my method must be OK because I saw it on your blog!
ReplyDeleteHaha- I have been making WAY too many breads as of late and they've made their way to my gut... but it sure smells SOOOO good.
DeleteI've always been intimidated by baking, but this seemed like a really manageable recipe, so I decided to finally take the plunge. Made a couple of mistakes, but it still turned out surprisingly good, so thank you! I lived to tell the tale and made sure to link back to your fabulous blog and recipe so that other bakeophobes would be similarly inspired. :)
ReplyDeleteWow! Great recipe. Very good. I used 1/2 cup milk instead of the buttermilk and it was still fantastic . Thanks for sharing
ReplyDelete