Best Banana Bread Ever ~ I Promise!

 

I had two options yesterday afternoon:  1. Crank out a design blog for today or 2. Give int to my son's request and bake him some banana bread.  I've never shared a recipe on this blog before, but decided, "Why not?"  A common downfall for many banana bread recipes is they tend to be dry.  I've tasted lots of banana bread in my life and none surpass this one ~ it's the moistest and tastiest you will ever hang your lip over.  If you don't agree, I'll be shhhawked!  Seriously, I hope you give it a try ~ it's so yummy!

Combine together:  1/2 cup softened butter, 1 1/2 cups sugar and 2 eggs.  

Using my handy-dandy KitchenAid mixer, I whipped it all together until it reached a nice creamy consistency.

 

Side note:  This is the one appliance in life I would rather not live without.  Find it here.

Next, combine the following dry ingredients:  1 1/2 cups all purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda and 1/2 teaspoon salt.  

I then dump it into the mixer along with the first three ingredients and mix well.  

Next, combine:  4 tablespoons milk, 1 tablespoon vinegar and 1 teaspoon vanilla.  

Pour that into the mixer with the other ingredients and blend together.

Finally, add 1 cup mashed (well ripened) bananas and 1 cup chopped nuts.  I put the nuts in my mini Black & Decker chopper (find it here) and chop them pretty fine.

Mix in with the other ingredients.  

Evenly distribute the batter into two greased loaf pans and bake in a 350 degree oven for approximately 45 minutes.

Check for doneness by inserting a toothpick in the center ~ when the toothpick comes out clean ~ you're good to go.  Hold onto your socks ~ you're about to taste the best banana bread EVER!!!

After the smell has been wafting through the house for almost an hour, I usually cut slices right out of the pan and serve it up immediately.  It's not unusual for a loaf to be wiped out in one sitting.  If there is any leftover, you can remove the loaf from the pan by running a butter knife around the edge between the bread and the pan.  Then turn it out onto a plate, let cool and wrap if up for later ~ it won't last long. I would love to lay claim to this scrumptious recipe but I can't ~ Caron, a friend of mine, shared this with me years ago.  I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

You might be interested to know my son, Gavin, was happy with my choice to make him some banana bread ~ design posting will resume here next time around. :)

P.S.  Here's the complete recipe:

Best Banana Bread Ever ~ I Promise

1/2 cup Butter ~ room temperature
1 1/2 cup Sugar
2 Eggs
1 1/2 cups All-purpose Flour
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon Salt
4 tablespoons Milk
1 tablespoon Vinegar
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1 cup Mashed, Ripened Bananas (about 2 Bananas)
1 cup Chopped Nuts (optional) ~ I use walnuts but you can also use pecans.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Meanwhile, mix together the butter, sugar and eggs.  Add in the flour, baking soda and salt and mix well.  Next stir in the milk, vinegar and vanilla.  Mash bananas in a separate bowl with a fork and add to the previous mixture along with the chopped nuts.  Evenly distribute the batter and pour into two greased loaf pans and bake for approximately 45 minutes and/or check for doneness by inserting a toothpick into the center of the loaf ~ when it comes out clean the bread is done.