I absolutely love banana nut bread, but I had never baked it before. I decided to give this a try because I let a bunch of bananas get way too ripe while in quarantine. Below you will find the recipe I followed, as well as a couple photos I took along the way.
What's great about this recipe is you can bake a few loaves, wrap them in plastic wrap, and freeze them. Then when you are ready, let them thaw at room temperature for an hour before enjoying. I used the Banana Walnut Bread Recipe from Food Network to bake my banana bread.
Inspired to bake something yourself? The library has a large collection of both print and digital cookbooks to help you find new and exciting baking recipes. If you want to try your hand at some other baking methods and techniques, Creativebug offers classes on cake decorating, cookies, how to make pie crust, and more.
The ingredients you will need for this recipe are (photo):
- 1 1/4 cups of all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon of fine salt
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup of unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for preparing the pan
- 1 cup sugar
- 3 very ripe bananas, peeled, and mashed with a fork (about 1 cup)
- 1/2 cup of toasted walnut pieces
Step 1: Sift the flour, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl, set aside. Whisk the eggs and vanilla together in a liquid measuring cup with a spout, set aside. Lightly brush a 9 by 5 by 3-inch loaf pan with butter. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Step 2: In a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or with an electric hand-held mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Gradually pour the egg mixture into the butter while mixing until incorporated (photo). Add the bananas (the mixture will appear to be curdled, so don't worry), and remove the bowl from the mixer.
Step 3: With a rubber spatula, mix in the flour mixture until just incorporated. Fold in the nuts and transfer the batter to the prepared pan (photo). Bake for 55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean. Cool the bread in the pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes (photo). Turn the bread out of the pan and let cool completely on the rack. Wrap in plastic wrap. The banana bread is best if served the next day.
