Let me start off by saying this banana bread is some of the best I've ever had. The inside is extremely moist and the crust is perfect. I only had half of a piece yet I still am practically obsessed with this recipe. I made this in the afternoon and the whole loaf was gone by the end of the night (so much for a slice at breakfast!). I judge a lot of the recipes I look at by the words the person writing about it uses. The blog I found this on titled it "The Amazing Banana Bread", now if that doesn't make you want to give it a try I don't know what would. The recipe is originally adapted from a Cook's Illustrated recipe. I also added a 1 1/2 teaspoons of cinnamon because I always think it tastes great in sweet bread recipes. I've already set out six more bananas so I can make two loaves later in the week, you should too!

Banana Bread
Recipe from Doesn't Tazte Like Chicken

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups walnuts, toasted and chopped coarse (I skipped the walnuts)
3/4 cup sugar (I used one cup because I wanted mine to be sweeter)
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 very ripe, soft, darkly speckled large bananas, mashed well (about 1 1/2 cups)
1/4 cup plain yogurt
2 large eggs, beaten lightly
6 tbsp of unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Turn on the oven to 350F.
2. Butter and flour the bottom of a loaf pan.
3. Mix the mashed banana, eggs, yogurt, melted butter and vanilla in a large bowl.
4. Stir the walnuts into the banana mixture (doing so will reduce the risk of over-mixing).
5. Sift flour, sugar, salt and baking soda into the banana mixture.
6. To me, this is the most crucial step in this recipe and I realized this only after baking batches and batches of chewy muffins and loaf cakes. The goal is not to over mix the flour with the wet ingredients. Using a rubber spatula, very, very, very gently mix the flour with the wet ingredients. Stop as soon as the dry ingredients are moistened. The batter should be chunky instead of smooth. If you have a smooth batter, then you will end up with a tough banana bread. If you are an amateur baker like me, then I sincerely wish you good luck with this step. I’m still learning to master this step myself  A strange thought came to me today: could over-mixing be better prevented if I use my hands? Any thoughts?
7. Bake for 55 minutes or until a wooden skewer comes out clean after inserted into the bread.
8. Let the bread cool in the pan; slice and serve.

1 comments

Anonymous said... @ April 16, 2011 at 7:26 PM

Oooh gosh I hope I didn't overmix >.<

- Jessica

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