Best Ever Banana Bread

If you have these…

…then you need to turn them into this.

I grew up on this banana bread recipe. And this is the recipe my children will grow up devouring. I may be a bit biased, since this is my Gramma B’s (GG) recipe, but I have tried quite a few recipes, and this one always comes out on top. Now, the recipe is a bit generous with the butter, but it’s totally worth it. This bread will melt. in. your. mouth.

This past January, I found a healthy version on Pinterest, and thought I would give it a go. Aren’t we all thinking healthy thoughts in January? 🙂 It substituted applesauce for butter, honey for sugar, whole wheat flour for all-purpose. We tried it. Yeah, not so much. Norah especially gave it a good try. Half way through her slice, she tentatively whispered, I don’t care for this. Sorry, Mommy. “Yucky” is a no-no word around our house when it comes to food. Although, I think I may have secretly uttered it to Mr. H when we were having a slice. Nothing against the healthy recipe – I’m sure there are tons of people who love it. But not us. We like our butter. And we like a lot of it. This is Norah, at 2 1/2 years, expressing our collective feelings on butter.

So anyway…we’re back to happily munching GG’s recipe. And, yes, it’s bold to call any recipe “best ever” but I’m going to be bold.

Best Ever Banana Bread

• 3/4 c. butter, softened (1 1/2 sticks – and that’s butter, people, NOT margarine!)
• 1 1/2 c. granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 c. very ripe bananas (mashed – about 3 large)
• 2 eggs
• 2 c. all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 c. buttermilk (or sour milk = 1/2 c. milk with 2 tsp. lemon juice)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. If you do not have buttermilk (I never do), then first mix up your sour milk so it can do its thing while you mix everything else up.

Cream your butter and sugar.

Add your mashed bananas. I usually measure them, but if I’m feeling extra sassy in the kitchen, then I just throw three large bananas right in the mixing bowl. But it’s really best to measure them. Add the two eggs.
Mix until combined.

Mix the flour, baking soda and salt in a separate bowl. Add the flour mixture alternately with buttermilk (sour milk). Mix by hand just until combined.

Pour into two greased loaf pans.

Bake at 325 degrees F. for 40-45 minutes. Loaves are done when a toothpick comes out clean.

Just look at all that golden goodness.

Let loaves rest for 10-15 minutes, then go around the inside edge with a butter knife to loosen the loaves. Turn over on cooling rack. You may want to let them cool a bit longer, but our patience usually runs out pretty quickly. Mmmmmm….

And, yes, we do spread a little butter on our slice(s). So I don’t know who I was fooling with that butter-less recipe I tried!

It makes my little peeps very happy.