Brown Bananas

These bananas have been sitting on my counter since the inception of this blog...

Which means they have been sitting there for far, far too long... But the problem is, my husband only eats almost green bananas, and I never thinking about eating bananas at all... So, they've just been sitting there, turning spotted, then mostly brown, then... brown brown.

Since this is literally the story of all of our bananas lives, I have an entire repertoire of things to do with them! I had all of these things in my head, that I was planning to do earlier this week, then a little later... and now, it was too late to do anything with them, other than mush them and be completely stereotypical and - make banana bread.

Now, I have never been the best at making banana bread (which is why I do so many OTHER things to do with brown bananas). It always turns out super tasty, but never cooks up quit right. Its usually a little dense, a little too moist or the top kinda burns... and I've always attributed this to the crummy electric ovens I am forced to use... but then this morning, it struck me... its proabably because I NEVER follow the recipes I find. It's not cause I don't want to - its usually because I THINK I have everything in the cupboard to make them, but come to find out I don't have even 2/3rds of what I need...

Joy of Baking's Banana Bread Recipe (found here) is my go to BASE recipe. Its SUPER forgiving and has lots of opportunities for substitutions, see that section below.

Super Forgiving Banana Bread 
Makes 1 - 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf

• 1 cup (115 grams) walnuts or pecans, toasted and coarsely chopped (optional) 
• 1 3/4 cups (230 grams) all-purpose flour 
• 3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated white sugar 
• 1 teaspoon baking powder 
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda 
• 1/4 teaspoon salt 
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten 
• 1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, melted and cooled 
• 3 ripe large bananas (approximately 1 pound or 454 grams), mashed well (about 1-1/2 cups) 
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and place oven rack to middle position. Butter and flour (or spray with a non stick vegetable/flour spray) the bottom and sides of a 9 x 5 x 3 inch (23 x 13 x 8 cm) loaf pan. Set aside.
2. Place the nuts on a baking sheet and bake for about 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly toasted. Let cool and then chop coarsely. In a large bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nuts. Set aside.
3. In a medium-sized bowl combine the mashed bananas, eggs, melted butter, and vanilla. With a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, lightly fold the wet ingredients (banana mixture) into the dry ingredients just until combined and the batter is thick and chunky. (The important thing is not to over mix the batter. You do not want it smooth. Over mixing the batter will yield tough, rubbery bread.)
4. Scrape batter into prepared pan. Bake until bread is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 55 to 60 minutes. Place on a wire rack to cool and then remove the bread from the pan. Serve warm or at room temperature. This bread can be frozen.
5. Substitutions: Use any nut or chocolate chips or nothing. Use half whole wheat flour. Use half brown sugar or half sugar substitute (like Splenda). 1 tbls ground flax seed mixed with 2.5 tbls water can be used in place of an egg. Since this recipe calls for melted butter, you can use oil to substitute some or all of the butter - this time I used 1/2 coconut oil and melted it with the butter I had on hand. Lastly, if you don't quite have enough banana, use apple sauce or grated zucchini to make up the difference.

I made all of these substitutions this time, and it turned out exactly as I have come to expect: SUPER delicious, but too dense and moist. Luckily, this is what my husband has come to expect from my banana bread too - so he'll be happy.

Final note - though you can substitute just about anything in this banana bread recipe - I highly recommend not substituting EVERYTHING like I did.

I will have a list of awesome things to do with bananas in the near future - I promise.