My mom makes an amazing banana bread. This is not that recipe.
You know how sometimes you can eat something your whole life and you think it’s the best ever and then you try to make it yourself and it…doesn’t work? Yeah. That’s how I am with my mom’s banana bread recipe. It didn’t matter how many times I made it, it never turned out quite like hers.
Funny enough, a friend gave me this recipe about 10 years ago and it actually turned out closer to what my mom makes than her own recipe did when I would attempt it. Hmmmm… Do we think Mom is holding out on me? (Just kidding, Mom! Love you!)
I have no idea where this friend found this particular recipe but it has been the absolute favorite in our house ever since.
What I love about this recipe…
- It’s a one-bowl recipe. You literally dump everything in one bowl and mix it together. Less dishes to wash = happiness.
- It is super moist, but can stand up to a thick layer of butter and reheating in the microwave. Because that’s how we eat banana bread, yes?
- You get to use up the bananas that went “bad” way faster than the people in your house could eat them. Or, you could be like me, and have to buy bananas for the specific purpose of setting them aside (hiding them) for banana bread because the teenage boys in your house eat everything in their path.
- The ingredients are easily doubled, so I almost always do. (Eat one, freeze on…am I right?)
- You can fudge the ingredients a bit. Not enough shortening in your house? Use half shortening and half butter. Works like a charm. Have two giant bananas or 4 small ones? That works, too. It’s very forgiving!
- Banana. Bread. Need I say more?
What’s in it?
3 overripe bananas
1 egg
½ c. shortening
1 c. sugar
1 ½ c. all-purpose flour
½ tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. vanilla
How do you make it?
Now, like I said, this is a one-bowl recipe. I use my Kitchenaid mixer for the whole thing and mash the bananas with the paddle attachment. Easy peasy. But before I got this dreamboat of an appliance, I did it all by hand and even had my boys help.
Now, to proceed…
Preheat oven to 350 and grease a loaf pan. Peel the bananas and mash them. (Here they are after the mixer did the work for me.)
To the mashed bananas, add the egg, sugar, and shortening; mix well. Add flour, salt, soda, and powder. Mix well, but don’t overmix. When all the ingredients look combined, you’re done. Step away from the mixing. Stir in vanilla.
Bake in a greased loaf pan at 350⁰ for 50-60 minutes.
Let cool for 10 minutes before removing from the pan. Finish cooling on a rack.
We love to serve this with scrambled eggs and fruit for breakfast, but honestly, my kids would eat this all day long if I’d let them.
If you try it, leave a comment and let me know what you think! Hope you love it as much as we do.
BananaBread (Click to download a PDF of the recipe!)
