Banana bread is a sort of bread made from bananas that have been mashed. It’s usually a moist, sweet, cake-like fast bread; however, some banana bread recipes are raised loaves in the classic form. Even though particular banana bread is excessive in sugar, fat, and calories, most banana pieces of bread are an excellent source of essential vitamins and minerals. Bananas, for example, are high in potassium and vitamin B6, and these nutrients are abundant in banana bread created with these fruits.
Use ripe bananas for a loaf of moist, banana-y banana bread. The bananas should be dark yellow with plenty of brown patches, and it’s okay if the skin has entirely gone brown. Peel the bananas and store them in an airtight container or freezer bag; defrost the bag and mash the bananas when ready to use.
What Is Exactly Banana Bread?
Banana bread is a baked good that typically contains bananas, flour, butter or oil, eggs, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, vanilla, and cinnamon. While many proud homes have their specific recipes, banana bread is a baked good that typically contains bananas, flour, butter or oil, eggs, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, vanilla, and cinnamon. A traditional banana bread recipe includes ingredients like these.
Banana bread recipes vary, as they do with other baked items. Some recipes necessitate the use of different ingredients. For example, you can find thousands of vegan, paleo, and low-carb banana bread recipes online. As a result, this dish can be customized to meet various dietary and nutritional requirements. Banana bread nutrition varies based on the ingredients utilized, and you may make it as nutritious or as decadent as you want. Traditional banana bread recipes produce a sweet treat that is strong in carbs, sugar, and fat.
Best Banana Bread Recipe
There are a million banana bread recipes on the internet, but this is the only one you’ll ever need. Instead of milk, we use full-fat sour cream (don’t even consider low-fat), which gives the banana bread a mild tangy flavor and a deeper texture. We use one egg plus one egg yolk instead of two eggs (as in most banana pieces of bread), making the banana bread incredibly moist.
Ingredients
- Two cups of all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
- 1/2 c. (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
- One c. granulated sugar
- One large egg plus one egg yolk
- 1/4 c. sour cream
- 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
- Three ripe bananas, mashed
- 1/2 c.semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1/2 c. chopped toasted walnuts
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350º. Line a loaf pan with parchment paper and grease with cooking spray.
- Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.
- N another large bowl, mix melted butter, sugar, egg and egg yolk, sour cream, and vanilla. Add mashed bananas and stir until combined. Gradually add dry ingredients to wet ingredients until just combined.
- Fold in chocolate chips and walnuts and transfer to prepared loaf pan.
- Bake for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow cooling in the pan for 10 minutes before turning onto a cooling rack to cool completely.
Can You Use Not So Ripe Bananas For Banana Bread?
The ideal bananas for banana bread are black, not yellow. Or at the very least, they’re striped with black/brown, with just a smidgeon of green near the stem. Again, the darker the banana, the better: there’s no such thing as a banana too ripe for banana bread. You’d be shocked if a banana can ever be too dark or overripe to use for bread. Even if the center is mushy and the peel is black, you can use the banana in your bread as long as it doesn’t have mold growing on it.
Brown, overripe bananas are sweeter because the carbohydrates in the banana are converted to sugar throughout the ripening process. You can also use super-soft, black bananas with a pungent odor and oozy interiors. There are no such things as overripe bananas for banana bread as long as they aren’t rotting.
Can You Freeze Ripe Bananas?
Freezing bananas can help you avoid wasting food by preserving their flavor and freshness until you’re ready to eat them. Because bananas are such a versatile baking ingredient, you might find it easier to keep frozen bananas on hand than to wait for them to ripen on your counter when you want to bake. Bananas in the freezer can last up to three months, whereas fresh bananas on the counter could only last a week or two. Freezing bananas that have reached their ripeness peak or are on the verge of becoming overripe is an excellent approach to keep them fresh.
Instead of throwing them out because you can’t consume them right away, freeze them for quick pieces of bread, muffins, and smoothies. You can freeze them whole, with or without the peel. When bananas are ripe, and the peel is just beginning to brown, they’re best frozen. When bananas are at their sweetest, that’s when you should eat them. Freezing bananas intact is a fantastic option if you want to use them in smoothies or bread.
How To Freeze Banana?
Peel them, or don’t – either way is acceptable. There are a few different ways to freeze bananas:
Peeled: You can peel bananas and place them in a bag. If they’re still reasonably fresh, they may stay pretty well separated. But more ripe bananas may end up squished together.
Mashed: Ripe bananas can be easily mashed together. You can store them flattened in a bag.
Sliced: If you want to use sliced bananas to defrost them, it’s best to slice before you freeze. Spread them out on a baking sheet on parchment paper to freeze, then place them in a bag.
Whole And Unpeeled: Leaving bananas in the peel protects the fruit, but it’s more burdensome (though not impossible) to peel them later. The sight of frozen banana peels may be unappealing, as they turn dark brown or black when frozen, but the fruit inside will remain its standard color and stay fresh.
What Can I Do With Overripe Black Bananas?
Here are five ways to use overripe black bananas:
Banana Bread
Overripe bananas offer more flavor and are simpler to work with than firm, fresher bananas, so banana bread is the go-to dish. If you have three or more bananas, make Banana Bread, which is crunchy and exciting, by adding uncooked millet.
Banana Pancakes
This pancake recipe has only bananas and eggs, which is perfect for toddlers. It turns out it’s also a terrific gluten-free and dairy-free pancake substitute that you can personalize with a scoop of ground flax, chocolate chips, or whatever else you like. We make these at least once a week in our family, and The Kitchen has an excellent overview here.
Frozen Bananas For Smoothies
Have you tried making a Smoothie Bag yet? In the freezer, I keep a large bag of fruit for smoothies in the future. I put wrinkled blueberries, soft peaches, and brown bananas in the Smoothie Bag whenever it looks like I won’t get to them in time or they’re starting to look a little worse for wear – wrinkled blueberries, soft peaches, and brown bananas – and they’re ready to be blended whenever I’m ready for a cold sweet treat.
One-Ingredient Banana Ice Cream
Banana ice cream, too, from The Kitchen! If you have frozen bananas in your Smoothie Bag, you can combine them to a startlingly ice cream-like texture in the blender without using an ice cream machine, and it’s nothing short of miraculous.
Banoffee Pie
It’s the most straightforward and most delicious dessert ever. I make Leo cook the Banoffee Pie whenever we need to bring a dessert to a function. However, it is not well-known, yet it is delicious and nutritious.
Conclusion
Banana bread is a sort of bread made from bananas that have been mashed. It’s usually a moist, sweet, cake-like fast bread; however, some banana bread recipes are raised loaves in the classic form. If you use too much banana, your bread will be heavy and wet in the middle, appearing undercooked and unpleasant. If you have any bananas left over, they can be frozen for later use. Remember that a banana is never too ripe for banana bread unless it’s rotten, infected with fruit flies, or starting to decompose.
