World Famous Banana Bread Recipe

Cooler weather for me means an increased and renewed interest in baking.  My family appreciates that.  One of our favorite (I guess we have several favorites), is banana bread.  mmm-mmm!  I have to bake a double batch every time I do make this, because an entire load gets eaten within less than a half hour after it gets pulled out of the oven.  I particularly like wrapping them up in foil so that the tops get sticky.  That is my favorite part.

I am not sure where this recipe came from.  I have been using it for so long that it has become engrained into my memory. 

3 cups of all purpose flour (I actually use 2 cups of white, and 1 cup of wheat)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon cloves

2 cups of sugar (you can also substitute 1 cup of honey for this)

3 eggs

1 cup of oil (you can use vegetable oil, but we use olive oil that is suitable for baking)

1 cup butter milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 bananas that are starting to get brown, they work the best

In a mixing bowl, add all the dry ingredients except for the sugar and mix with a spoon until even.  In the mixer, add the sugar, eggs, oil, milk, bananas, and vanilla extract.  Mix until smooth.  Slowly add in the dry ingredients mixing on low.  Once all ingredients are added, turn up the speed and beat until smooth.  Butter or spray 3 bread pans, then pour the batter in evenly.  Bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees.  Poke with a fork to see if they are done.  If the fork comes out without any batter stuck to it, they are finished.  Take out of oven and set on a rack, then turn over and let them fall out after a few minutes to cool completely.  After cooled, wrap in aluminum foil and let them set overnight.  This will make the tops sticky!

We do not refrigerate ours, but they don’t last long so I have never felt the need to do any refrigerating.  And I always make at least 6 loaves in one setting.  They do freeze very well to save for later.

Save time and put all the dry ingredients in Ziploc bags to use as needed later.  When I do this, I add the sugar in with the dry stuff.  This will make making banana bread less hectic and intimidating in future, because it is such a time saver!