The archetypal quick bread (bread leavened without yeast) has to be the banana bread. Everyone makes banana bread. It is comfort food extra-ordinaire.

Besides, how else are you going to dispose of overripe bananas on the kitchen counter? Mind you, by overripe, I by no means refer to bananas that are past due. I am referring to those darkly speckled bananas that have ripened at room temperature. These unsightly bananas are no longer cosmetically pleasing to the eye or appropriate for resale on supermarket shelfs. However, when bananas are permitted to ripen to this stage, their starch content actually decreases because naturally occurring enzymes break them down into simpler sugars. Green bananas actually contain complex carbohydrates that are difficult to digest and could cause stomach upset. Ripe bananas are sweeter and tastier and make great banana bread.

Recipe follows:

The following banana bread batter recipe is a modification of one from Leite's Culinaria, which itself referenced a recipe from an episode of America's Test Kitchen from 2004 (Season 3, episode 4).

Because this was initially a new recipe, I made two batches of batter. One eventually went into a standard loaf pan. The other was portioned into muffin tins. The batter in the muffin tins baked to doneness quickly and permitted me to sample it before I made a standard loaf. Besides, banana bread muffins turned out to be great breakfast food.

Recipe


Bread cooling

Cooled bread

Muffins cooling

Close up of one Muffin

Stuff You'll Need:

• 2 cups of all-purpose flour (plus some flour for coating the loaf pan or baking dish)
• 1/4 cup white granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 ripe bananas
• 1/4 cup plain yogurt
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 stick of unsalted butter (6 tbsp) (plus some butter for coating the loaf pan or baking dish)

Prep:

1. Coat the inside of your loaf pan or other baking dish well with butter or shortening and flour. This usually involves adding a thing layer of butter or shortening to the insides of the baking dish, droping several tablespoons of flour into the dish, gently tapping the dish to coat, and discarding any extra flour. The reason this is important is because modern consumer bakeware is normally teflon coated and non-stick. For the batter to climb as it bakes, it needs to cling onto something. This produces a higher loaf and lighter bread. If you have any professional or older aluminium bake ware, please skip this step. You are good to go.
2. Position an oven rack to the lower-middle position of the oven. Remove any extraneous racks and store them in a safe place.
3. Melt the 3/4 stick of butter either on the stove or in the microwave on high for 15 seconds and set aside.
4. Allow the butter to cool to room temperature.
5. Sieve together the flour, baking soda, and salt into a large metal bowl.

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F
2. Peel and mash your bananas into a medium bowl with a wooden spoon, fork, or spatula and set it aside. You should end up with approximately 1.5 cups of banana pulp. Do not mechanically puree the bananas. This actually overworks the bananas and produces odd compounds and tastes.
3. Add the yogurt, eggs, melted butter, white sugar, brown sugar, and cinnamon into the mashed bananas and mix well
4. Add the banana mixture into the flour mixture and gently fold them together. The result will most likely be thick and chunky, a rightful gloppy mess.
5. Scrape the mixture into the prepared pan or baking dish
6. Place the pan or baking dish into the preheated oven
7. Bake for 55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean
8. Unmold onto a tea towel and allow to cool to room temperature

Properly wrapped and stored in a dry place, the bread can last 3 days at room temperature.

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