Banana Bread

Banana Bread

This banana bread recipe came from my aunt Judy’s neighbor. It is honestly the best banana bread I have ever had in my life. And let’s be honest, anything my aunt thinks is delicious probably is because she really knows what she’s talking about. Why? Because she writes cookbooks. Yes, food and cooking runs in the family. Her latest book (which she wrote with her husband, my hilarious uncle) just came out and it’s wonderful, especially if you’re a fan of Mad Men. You can find info on the book and order it here.

Anyway, so Judy fed this banana bread to us one time and now it’s the only banana bread I’ll make.

Banana Bread

Makes 2 loaves

Ingredients

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon of salt
2 3/4 cups flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs, beaten
4 or 5 mashed bananas
3 tablespoons of milk
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1-2 cups chocolate chips, optional
chopped walnuts, optional

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two bread loaf pans. In a bowl, combine baking soda, baking powder, salt, and flour. In a separate bowl or an electric mixer if you’ve got one, beat together sugar and vegetable oil. Add eggs and bananas. In a small cup combine milk and lemon juice, mix to curdle. Add this to the liquid ingredients along with the vanilla. Slowly add dry ingredients and mix well. Add as many chocolate chips and/or walnuts as you want (some people like it plain, some really chocolatey, some with just a few chocolate chips).

WARNING! When I mix in the chocolate chips before putting the batter into the pans, my chips always sink to the bottom. What I’ve started doing is just sprinkling them on top and mixing them in a little bit so they’re more evenly spread out.

Anyway now you can divide your batter between the two loaf pans and bake for about 50 minutes or until a knife inserted comes out clean (except for any melted chocolate…yum). Allow to cool.

These breads can be wrapped in foil and a freezer bag and frozen for a while. It’s good in case you are one of those people who can’t help eating stuff that’s around the kitchen, you can make one loaf disappear and save it for later.