You walk into your Grandmother’s kitchen and smell butter and cinnamon. The glorious inviting smells envelops you like a warm hug. She goes, “just baking some banana bread with those old bananas your grandfather let get too ripe!” She takes it out of the oven, steaming goodness, and sets it on the counter. She says, “would you like a piece with some milk?” you don’t hesitate for a single second. She dabs some butter on your piece and you watch it slowly melt on the top. You feel whole, loved, and comforted.
Many of us have memories just like this one… the classic banana nut bread is one that cannot be beat. Whether you need to get rid of over-ripened bananas and put them to good use, or you bake it with intentions like bringing a glimpse of comfort to a friend who’s going through a hard time. This is an ol’ trusty, save it in your go-to box of recipes and you’ll thank me later. May or may not be better than Grandma’s, but will not disappoint.
Tip on getting your bananas ripe if you want to make a loaf in a jiffy and don’t have any, you can use fresh bananas and bake them at 300°F on a sheet pan for 30 minutes (in the peels).
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- Pinch of nutmeg
- Pinch of cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ cups mashed banana (about 3 large or 4 medium very ripe bananas)
- 6 tablespoons salted butter, melted and slightly cooled
- ¾ cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup chopped walnuts
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease an 8½ x 4½-inch loaf pan and set aside. (I like using Baker’s Joy pan spray)
- In a medium bowl, sift or whisk together flour, nutmeg, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
- In a separate large bowl, whisk together mashed banana, melted butter, sugar, egg and vanilla extract.
- Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, stirring just until combined. Fold in the walnuts.
- Pour batter into prepared loaf pan. Bake until the bread is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 50 minutes. Do not overbake.
- Remove from the oven, unmold from the pan, and cool completely on a wire rack before slicing and serving.
Tip: Wrap the loaf in plastic wrap while still warm, the steam will be trapped and it will be extra moist when you decide to have a slice later on.
The Texas Table 