When I met my husband in our early dating days, I tried to impress him with my baking skills…or lack thereof. My first baking project was chocolate chip cookies…from scratch! I figured since everything will be going in the batter, why not just skip reading the recipe, go down the list of ingredients and toss everything together in the same bowl? I didn’t separate my dry ingredients from my wet ingredients. I didn’t bother using room temperature butter. And I certainly did not lightly fold my batter but whipped it like a maniac. The result? Cookies came out as hard as concrete. You could have easily given someone a concussion with them. Absolutely awful.
Throughout the years, I learned techniques really do make a difference and I’ve gotten much better at baking. One of my favorite things to bake is banana bread. It’s so simple to make and I get to control how much sugar goes into them since most store-bought banana bread are way too sweet for my taste. The below recipe I believe is the perfect combination of sweetness and moistness. So enjoy!
Ingredients:
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped coarsely
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 dark speckled bananas, mashed well
1/4 cup plain yogurt (or sour cream, milk, buttermilk)
2 large eggs, beaten lightly
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Grease the bottom and sides of a 9×5 inch loaf pan. Dust with flour and tap out excess.
3. Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and walnuts together and set aside.
4. Mixed the bananas, yogurt, eggs, butter, and vanilla.
5. Fold the banana mixture into the flour mixture until just combined and chunky.
6. Bake until loaf is golden brown or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. About 1 hr.
Cool in pan and then serve.
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