Guest Post: Myra's Banana Bread

My friend Myra and I went to middle and high school together. We are both 2L's at different law schools and she recently wrote about baking on her facebook wall. I asked her to write a guest post as I have been so busy and haven't been posting much. Coincidentally, this is the exact same banana bread recipe I use and I even make the same modifications from the original recipe!


An Ode to Forgotten Bananas
Oh, the sad tale of forgotten yellow fruit,
Picked at its peak, it begins its commute,
To the grocery store, and without a doubt,
A shopper will pick the bunch out.
Then left on the counter, alone and forgotten.
It thinks to itself, "Oh, I'll surely go rotten."
But there's a happy ending, so let's skip ahead,
those poor old bananas will soon become bread!


Banana Bread (modified from this Food Network recipe)
1 cup granulated white sugar
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 large eggs
3 ripe bananas (or 4 smallish ones)
1 tablespoon milk
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Butter a 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan.

Cream the sugar and butter in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

In a small bowl, mash the bananas with a fork. Mix in the milk, cinnamon and vanilla.

In another bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Add the banana mixture to the creamed sugar/butter mixture and stir until combined. Add dry ingredients, mixing just until flour disappears.

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes. Don't take it out too soon or the middle will collapse. The bread will look brown long before its through cooking, so don't let it fool you! A good test is to stick a toothpick in the center; when it comes out clean, your bread is done! Let it cool on a rack for 15 minutes. Remove bread from pan by sliding a knife around the edges, invert onto rack and cool completely before slicing.