BANANA BREAD || HOW TO BAKE A BANANA BREAD

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So let me say this upfront --- Homemade banana bread is one of my family's favourite bread. I have baked tons of banana bread in the past but funny enough, I haven't come around to publishing any one of them on the blog. But today, I got my feet on the ground and insisted that this bread recipe must go live irrespective of whose horse is gored. Permit me to introduce you to my irresistible banana bread recipe. A bread with a PhD! --- LOL. Yes, it is an honour to share with you my simple banana bread recipe and I have no doubts that you will love it. This quick and lovely banana bread recipe perfectly fits the bill for anything called bread. I refer to it as a WINNER because it is surely a WINNER. Even my hubby attested to how nice this bread is and he said thus "Babe, this banana bread surely tastes so good, even better than the store-bought ones. Please can you be baking this banana bread every weekend?" Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm, well, we'll see how it goes. But who has the time to be baking bread every weekend?
Well, just so you know that banana bread is that kind of bread that must be baked or made with mashed bananas. There is no banana bread with bananas. If life gives you some overly ripe bananas, please make some soft and delicious loaves of banana bread from them. Life is so easy when you can do certain things from the comfort of your home especially when it comes to food. "Eat good and healthy foods and your worries will fly very very far away from you!" Banana bread is distinguished by its cake-like appearance, its distinctive sweet taste, moist texture and tempting appearance.
There are tons of banana bread recipes, each recipe with its own list of ingredients. But personally, I believe that any type of banana bread is incomplete without baking powder, baking soda, oil, plain flour and banana. The rest of the add-ins do have alternatives, for example, you can use either yoghurt or condense milk as an alternative for an egg, you can choose not to add sugar or salt at all, you can decide not to add vanilla flavour, and the bread will still come out pretty well. But irrespective of the fact that a banana bread can still come out well with only 5 ingredient list, there is still no harm in using the complete list of ingredients the recipe calls for.
When next you have some overripe bananas lying around your kitchen and you are bugging your brain on what to do or not to do with them, worry no more as this recipe is here to solve your problem. Whipping up those overripe bananas with a few collections of other basic kitchen ingredients will get you and your family smiling once again on your dining table when having a quick breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner together. Just the strong aroma oozing out from the bread while baking in the oven is powerful enough to drag all your neighbours come knocking their hands on your door...LOL. Believe me, this is the best banana bread I have had in a while now! The bread came out so well, soft, classy, tasty, flavourful and packed with loads of sweet overly ripe bananas. The best part of baking this bread is that you do not require any expensive mixer, once you have a fork and a bowl, then you are good to go. For this recipe, a fork perfectly does the work of a mixer for you.

TIPS FOR BAKING THE BEST BANANA BREAD

• You definitely need some overripe bananas. If your bananas are not overripe, leave them for a few more days to get to the peak of their ripeness before proceeding to bake your banana bread. You will know that the bananas are ready to use the moment you observe multiple dark or brown spots on the bananas. These spots, which are found on the exterior of a banana fruit are known as bruises. The moment you observe these bruises on your ripe bananas, it simply suggests that your bananas are fully ripened and that the acid in them has been converted into sugar. This is also the main reason why I do not add so much sugar each time I am baking my banana bread. Once your banana is at the peak of its sweetness, then it is time to pull out the rest of the necessary ingredients and then get into work. You also need to mash the bananas and because they are so soft, it is easy to mash them with the back of a fork.


• Because this recipe calls for both baking powder and baking soda as the leavening agents, it is highly recommended that you use plain flour (all-purpose flour) for baking this bread. Please do not use a self-raising flour together with baking powder and baking soda as that will alter the texture of the bread. If peradventure you have only the self-raising flour, then do not add any other leavening agents to the bread. If probably you do not know what a self-raising flour means, it is the type of flour that has the baking powder and salt already mixed in it.


• Eggs play an integral role in baked food products such as bread, cakes, meringues etc. Eggs act as a glue or binder on baked foods, they create stability within a batter as well as act as a thickener in baked foods. But this recipe is not strict on eggs. So if you do not have eggs or you fall in the categories of individuals that do not eat eggs, then you can use condensed milk or yoghurt as an alternative.


• Use an equal amount of both baking powder and baking soda as your raising agents. You won't be disappointed by this combo since they help to leaven the bread a wee bit.


• To uplift the taste and aroma oozing out from your bread, then you surely need to add some sugar, salt and vanilla extract.


• To make the baking pan non-sticky, butter is surely the best to use. But if you do not have butter, you can rub your pan with either vegetable oil or cooking spray.


• When mixing the banana bread batter, remember not to over mix the batter. Once the flour is fully combined with the rest of the wet ingredients, that's it.


• It takes the bread approximately 1 hour to bake properly in a preheated oven of 350 °F. I can assure you that this 1 hr is the shortest one. While the bread is baking in the oven, you can spend the rest of the time washing up and tidying up things. And before you say "Jack Robinson", the cake is done. For me, it is always my fastest 1 hr.


• Once the bread is baked, ensure to conduct your toothpick check to confirm that the internal of the bread is properly baked. Pierce the bread with either a toothpick, cake tester or knife to see if they come out clean. If they come out sticky, that's a strong indication that the bread is not properly baked hence requires further baking.


• I always like placing my bread in the middle of the oven. That way, the top or bottom of the bread will not brown too quickly. However, if you observe that the top of your bread is browning faster, then loosely cover it with an aluminium foil and carry on baking until properly baked.


• Allow the bread to cool down a bit in the baking dish before transferring it to a cooling rack where it continues cooling until it has completely cooled down.


• You can then slice your bread once it has completely cooled down. Then enjoy your yummy, moist and flavorful banana bread.

I highly recommend that you give this banana bread recipe a try and you will be glad you did. The outcome is just phenomenal. See the full ingredient list and recipe below so that you can get started.