Quick Banana Bread Recipe

This quick banana bread recipe uses a special technique to bring out all of the sweet juicy goodness from your bananas resulting in a moist, delicious loaf.

I love banana bread but for a long time I didn’t particularly enjoy making it.  It used to seem like a tricky beast to get it just right.

I started subscribing to Cook’s Illustrated and am highly impressed with what I had seen.  The first piece of mailing that I got was Cook’s All-Time Best Recipes:  Foolproof Favorites from 20 Years of Cook’s Illustrated.  I love just about everything about it, except that the body of Cook’s Illustrated magazine is in black and white.  (I can understand how that is cost-effective, but I love to look at color photos.)

Anyway, there is a recipe for Ultimate Banana Bread (page 68-69.)  The article discusses how the riper the banana the more fructose is produced.  (Think sugar.)  Then there is a piece about banana juice.  Cook’s Illustrated instructs the reader to microwave bananas to extract the juice, strain it, and then reduce it.

How I Made Cook’s Illustrated Banana Bread

I like to take shortcuts, so I just microwaved my bananas and poured the juice first into the batter, then added the bananas themselves.

They also place sliced bananas on top (“Shingle Your Loaf”) to add more flavor before baking.  I omitted this step.

I was reluctant to bake it for the 55 minutes like they suggest because my oven is an ole cranky gal and I often have problems getting baked items just right.  (Okay, sometimes it probably is operator error, but trust me – my oven is about to croak.  Sometimes I hear her groan after I have used her and turned her off.  I am afraid she is going to fall out on my floor one day.)

The top had a beautiful color and the texture makes me want to ply it off and eat it immediately.   It was like eating a”muffin top.”

The hardest part about this bread was waiting for it to cool.

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4.42 from 48 votes

Banana Bread

This quick banana bread recipe uses a special technique to bring out all of the sweet juicy goodness from your bananas resulting in a moist, delicious loaf.

Course Breads

Cuisine American

Keyword Banana Bread, bananas, quick bread

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 55 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes

Servings 8

Calories 339kcal

Author Lynda

Ingredients

• 4 ripe bananas
• 1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 stick unsalted butter softened
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• demerara or granulated sugar for dusting

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray loaf pan with non-stick spray.
• Peel bananas and place in a microwave safe shallow bowl. Microwave on high for 3 minutes. Allow it to cool for 5 to 10 minutes.
• Combine flour, baking soda, and salt and set aside.
• Whip butter on high-speed in large bowl of an electric mixer. Add brown sugar and mix until well combined. Add eggs and vanilla.
• Slowly pour banana “juice” into batter in mixer and blend. (Remember that there are eggs in the batter and the juice is still hot/warm. You have to temper the batter.)
• Add bananas and mix until incorporated.
• Add flour and mix until smooth.
• Pour into prepared pan and Sprinkle top with sugar. Bake for 50 – 55 minutes or until done.
• Remove to wire rack and allow to cool.

Video

Nutrition

Serving: 1slice | Calories: 339kcal | Carbohydrates: 52g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 77mg | Sodium: 328mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 24g

When you make it, feel free to add nuts or chocolate chips to the batter before baking.  Those would be tasty additions that compliment the bananas.

How do you like your banana bread?

For a different take on banana bread, check out this video from Cosmopolitan Cornbread:

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• Brioche French Toast – Making French toast might be easier than you think.  It’s so easy that I learned how to make it as a child by watching my dad make it on the weekends.
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• Flourless Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Muffins – I made these tasty muffins with AverieCooks.com’s recipe.  If you are avoiding gluten yet still crave a muffin, these are the way to go.
• Homemade Banana Nut Muffins – All the deliciousness of banana bread in a handy muffin.