Spring Banana Bread

It's the first weekend of Spring, and I've finally gotten caught up on this blog for the months I've missed. Though I didn't plan any specific baking for the new season, I felt like whipping up something in my kitchen again, and overripe bananas were just the inspiration I needed to make banana bread.

I've made many a banana bread in the past: Banana Pecan Muffins, Buttermilk Banana Bread, Banana Chocolate Bread, and even a failed attempt at Banana Muffies. All of them ended up tasting fine, but none were quite strong enough to be my "go-to" recipe every time (at least, not as memorable as I would have liked them to be). Thus, I turned to the Internet for help--especially since I had no buttermilk on hand and needed a recipe without it. One of the first results was a banana bread recipe from Simply Recipes that had no dairy other than butter and was advertised as "the most popular recipe on Simply Recipes, first posted 2005." Sounded like good reviews to me.

The execution of the banana bread was easy--I had all the ingredients on hand and could gather them quickly. I felt like making a loaf of bread rather than muffins, so I followed the original recipe, but decided to add brown sugar instead of white sugar for a little molasses flavor sweetness (And of course, I used my traditional whole wheat pastry flour in place of all-purpose).

Ingredients:

2-3 very ripe bananas, peeled (I had two small ones on hand)
1/3 cup melted butter
1 cup of sugar (I used brown sugar)
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 and 1/2 cups of whole wheat pastry flour

Directions:

1.) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spray a metal or ceramic loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray.

2.) In a single bowl, mash the bananas with a fork, then stir in the melted butter, baking soda, and salt. Add the sugar, egg, and vanilla. Sift your flour last, folding it in slowly so that the flour fully incorporates into the mixture.

3.) Pour the batter into the loaf pan and bake for about 45-55 minutes (The original recipe calls for an hour to an hour and 10 minutes, but my bread browned up just a little too much after 53 minutes. I forgot to check it earlier as the Simply Recipes method suggested). Use a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread to check for doneness (if it comes out moist with crumbs on it, the bread might need a little more time. If it comes out dry, you're good). Cool completely, remove from pan, and slice to serve.

Sadly, this banana bread came out a little more done than I had planned, dark brown across the top, but with a nice crunchy crust that was still appealing. And even though I waited until the bread had cooled before cutting it, the slices came out more than a little crumbly, making it harder to serve. I decided against bringing it to brunch, for fear of the slices falling apart. However, here at home my family and I have been perfectly satisfied munching on the pieces. Flavor wise, this recipe delivers. A warm slice with butter on top made for the perfect tasty snack, and even the crumbling slices were a nice combination of crunchy on the top but soft in the center. So I'll definitely give this recipe another go, perhaps with a few tweaks and a little less bake time, to see if it's the banana bread keeper I've been looking for.