I love banana bread. Last weekend, I had some past-their-prime bananas. And so I decided to make some banana bread.
It seems so simple, doesn’t it?
Apparently not. Now, I don’t know how you cook, but when I mix something in a bowl, I start with the wet ingredients. It’s how my mom does it, and she knows what she’s doing when it comes to cooking things from scratch (and, you know, mixing things in a bowl).
According to Smitty, this is backwards. Feel free to weigh in on this debate in the comments. But I hope you agree with me. And, oh yeah, this is completely not the point of today’s post.
Today’s post is to tell you the sad tale of my banana bread. See, I mixed up all the wet ingredients, taking great care to measure everything exactly. I was even using the occasion as a teaching moment with Annalyn, pulling up a chair for her to watch and introducing her to the Wide World of Fractions.
(What? You think 2 is too young for that?)
My moment of parenting and baking brilliance came to a halt, however, when I opened the flour canister and realized: We had no flour.
I don’t bake very often. There. I said it.
No problem. I was in a domestic zone. I just covered the bowl and sent Mark to the store. He got the flour, I dumped it in, and the bread was off to the oven.
Oh, it smelled so good. And I felt so smug, so proud of myself. And then I took it out of the oven.
And it was terrible.
Please, Blog World, tell me: How do you make banana bread?
Speaking of bad bananas, @badbanana is one funny Twitterer. I’m not quite as witty, but since we’re talking Twitter, you can follow me @givingupperfect. (And if you don’t do the Twitter thing but want to, check out Allison Worthington’s Smart Girls’ Guide to Twitter.)
Enough of that. Tell me how to make better banana bread! (And say that three times fast!)
This post will be linked to Tasty Tuesday, Tuesdays at the Table and Tempt My Tummy Tuesday.
I use the Betty Crocker Big Red Cookbook Recipe. Here it is: http://www.recipezaar.com/Betty-Crockers-Banana-Bread-166029
I always follow directions, which is usually creaming sugar, adding wet ingredients, and then mixing in dry, for baking. I think!
Don't you hate it when that happens? :) I have the perfect recipe, but alas, I am bound by a nondisclosure agreement to not share it ~ but I can send you a great mix to make never fail banana bread! Would you like it?
Oh…and 2 y/o at the kitchen counter learning about fractions…definitely not too early :) When my youngest was 2, he was scooping dry beans into bags as his contribution to the family mix making business…learning fractions whether he realized it or not. Never too soon I say. You never know what might stick :)
Funny you should ask. I planned to pull my recipe binder out today before I went to the store to be sure I had everything I needed to make my mom's banana bread. I noticed last night that we have four bananas that are too brown now to be appetizing on their own. I'll use a two or three for banana bread and maybe make smoothies with the other.
Anyway, here's my way:
1 3/4 cup unbleached flour, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 tsp. baking powder (the newer the better), dash of salt, 1/4 tsp. baking soda, a stick of softened butter, a heaping cup of mashed overripe banana, and two lightly beaten eggs.
I use a square casserole dish and end up with little squares of bread versus using a loaf pan and ending up with slices. In the casserole, it cooks for about 35 minutes (done when the edges are brown and pulling away from the pan) versus taking about 50 minutes in a loaf pan.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put first five ingredients in a large bowl and mix with a fork. Add butter and use two knives to cut it up until it's crumbly. Use the butter wrapper to grease your pan. Mash the bananas on a plate with a fork and add them to the mix. Add the eggs. Add nuts or raisins (or chopped prunes or Craisins) if you want. Mix JUST a little. Pour batter into casserole or pan and bake away (times above).
I hope however you do it, next time it's great.
maybe it's a technical problem… if you dump everything together you might get clumps of baking soda or flour and that can make things yucky.
Mix all the dry and slowly add it into the wet about 1/2 a cup at a time until incorporated then add more- etc. And are all the ingredents at room temp (that makes fo easier mixing)?
Hi Mary – uh – yes – the BEST recipe ever!
http://reluctantentertainer.com/2009/09/easy-stir-banana-bread/
Check it out and tell me what you think!
Also, I have an easy pie crust recipe posted from my friend Kim today!
Happy Tuesday!
I have a couple of great recipes that I could email you if you want. One has dates in it and is SO good. Mmmmm.
But, basically, with a quick bread like that, you have two bowls. One with dry ingredients, one with wet ingredients. Usually you mix the wet into the dry, but sometimes it's the other way around. Big help I am, huh?
I'm not sure your method was the problem. A little more detail might be in order here. What was the problem? Too dry? Too wet? Didn't rise? Tasted bad? ???
I agree with unfinished mom, we need more details to adequately assess the bad bread :).
Toni
I use a fake-it don't make it recipe from Real Simple Mag and it always turns out great – [disclaimer: I've only made it in my PampChef mini loaf pan (4 pans in 1) and we don't add the nuts, because our 5yo has extreme allergies] … easy for non-cooks like me http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/banana-nut-bread-10000000780334/
i'm with unfinished mom. what was the problem?!
i mix the bananas first to smush them. then i add the shortening, eggs, and sugar, and then the dry ingredients. i have a recipe for either 2 bananas, 3 bananas, or 4 bananas. lemme know if you want it.
LOL!!!
I bake from a box.
The problem is that it had a weird texture. It was very dense and almost gummy or plasticky. I'm pretty sure it was slightly undercooked, but there's more to it than that. It just wasn't right.
I don't have my recipe with me, but it called for all-purpose flour, baking soda, salt, sugar, 3-ish bananas, eggs and milk. I think. I followed the recipe exactly. Really, I did! But it still turned out gross. :(
Thank you for all the recipes and tips!!!
I hate it when people leave links in the comment section, don't you? They're just la-hay-zay.
And so am I.
So here is my link to my grandmother's banana bread that is NO FAIL. http://www.theothermama.com/2009/08/apron-fest-09-givewaway-and-recipe.html
And, it's always wet ingredients first in my kitchen. A lot of fanceee things have you mix the wet, then the dry separately, then slowly mix the dry into the wet, etc. I think. From my limited Fain-cee cooking experience.
Speaking of cooking, how did it go last night?
My first few attempts at banana bread were the same way! My oven gets the outside too done with the inside being undercooked, so now I just make banana bread in a glass cake pan. It may be cake shaped instead of loaf shaped but the texture is perfect. I can live with that! Good luck!
~T
Here's a great recipe that's easy as well. Th recipe answers the question about wet and dry ingredients too.
Sharon
Banana Bread
1 ¹⁄₂ cup (375 ml) Flour
1 cup (250 ml) Sugar
¹⁄₂ tsp (2.5 ml) Salt
4 tsp (20 ml) Baking powder
1 Egg—well-beaten
¹⁄₂ cup (125 ml) Water
³⁄₄ cup (190 ml) Evaporated milk
1 cup (250 ml) Banana—mashed
2 tbsp (30 ml) Liquid oil
1 Walnuts—optional
1. Grease bottom ONLY of 5×9 loaf pan and set
aside.
2. Mix all dry ingredients together in a bowl. Mix all
other ingredients with beaten egg. Add all at once
to dry mix and stir only until flour is moistened
well. Pour into prepared loaf pan.
3. Bake at 350° in conventional oven for 1 hour OR
bake at LOW-MIX BAKE for 45 minutes in
convection oven.
From Sharon's Kitchen
Source Tanya Sinkler Yield 8 servings
Here's a great recipe that's easy as well. Th recipe answers the question about wet and dry ingredients too.
Sharon
Banana Bread
1 ¹⁄₂ cup (375 ml) Flour
1 cup (250 ml) Sugar
¹⁄₂ tsp (2.5 ml) Salt
4 tsp (20 ml) Baking powder
1 Egg—well-beaten
¹⁄₂ cup (125 ml) Water
³⁄₄ cup (190 ml) Evaporated milk
1 cup (250 ml) Banana—mashed
2 tbsp (30 ml) Liquid oil
1 Walnuts—optional
1. Grease bottom ONLY of 5×9 loaf pan and set
aside.
2. Mix all dry ingredients together in a bowl. Mix all
other ingredients with beaten egg. Add all at once
to dry mix and stir only until flour is moistened
well. Pour into prepared loaf pan.
3. Bake at 350° in conventional oven for 1 hour OR
bake at LOW-MIX BAKE for 45 minutes in
convection oven.
From Sharon's Kitchen
Source Tanya Sinkler Yield 8 servings
I think plenty of people left plenty of recipes, however, this was very funny, and while, I make a great banana bread…other things have baffled me. I make these brownies with fudge icing, and if it is too humid out…the icing doesn't work. Weird. :) I enjoyed this post.
Here is the best recipe ever. My whole family loves this bread.
3 cups plain flour
2 cups sugar
1tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 c.nuts
3 eggs beaten
1 c vegetable oil
2 c bananas
1 large can crushed pineapple (this is the secret to moist delicious bread)
Mix together all the ingredients and bake 1 hour at 350 degrees. This recipe makes 2 loaves.
Forgot to tell you to add nuts if you like. Some of my kids won't eat things with nuts in them so I don't always add nuts. But it does make it even more delicious. You don't have to do wet ingredients first just throw it all together and mix it up good.
Oh how I love banana bread. SO. GOOD.
Here's a link to my die-hard favorite loaf of banana bread – EVER:
http://mommyscook.com/2009/11/02/sour-cream-banana-bread/
The directions tell you the order and how to go and you can't skimp on the sour cream – it makes it just right. Mmmmm
I just made banana bread that was excellent — it's been a family favorite since 1996 :)
http://joyinmykitchen.blogspot.com/2009/11/light-hawaiian-banana-bread.html
I'll do a banana bread post soon. :-)
I always, always, always add the bananas last when making banana bread.
Thanks for sharing your "fail". It's a great reminder that not everything comes out great on the first try!
Once the baking soda get wet it starts doing it thing. So, when you let it set while Mark went to the store it starter dong it's job. By the time it went into the oven it had already done what it had to do. Leavening like baking soda has a job to do once it gets wet. Hope this helps. If you email me I can tell you more.
Geri
I have NO idea. We made it once in a dark pan, but our oven is so crappy that it burned. It also made so much that we also made muffins. They burned too. It wasn't a good experience.
I think it depends on the recipe. If the recipe doesn't say, I was always told to mix dry ingredients first to ensure the dry ingredients are mixed well and evenly distributed.
But sometimes I'll come across a recipe where you have to "cream" a few items together and then add the dry ingredients. In that case, I'll follow the directions from there.
But if the directions don't go into a lot of detail, I'll mix the dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet ingredients in another bowl, and then I'll gradually add the mixture of dry ingredients to the wet mixture.