Easy Banana Bread

Banana bread is a wonderful baking project for those chilly autumn days when you just want to stay in and feel coziness envelope you through a delicious, hearty meal. Perfect for pairing with a fragrant tea or cup of black coffee, this easy banana bread recipe can become a staple in your kitchen. Bake for friends or keep it all for yourself! It’s hard not to hoard when it’s this delicious. 

Bananas? In Bread? The History of Banana Bread

One of the fascinating things about history is that things we think of as normal parts of our lives are often relatively recent arrivals. Though we might think of bananas as ubiquitous today, they only arrived in the United States in the 1870s. Banana bread only began appearing in cookbooks when baking powder became widely available in the 1930s. Some say that housewives used the recipe to get rid of overripe bananas. But there’s even a banana bread conspiracy: certain people believe that banana bread was developed in corporate kitchens to sell more baking powder. 

Easy Banana Bread Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 ½ cups flour
• 1 ¼ tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground cardamon
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp ground nutmeg
• ½ tsp ground cloves
• ¾ cup butter
• ¾ cup sugar
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• 3 ripe bananas, peeled and mashed
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp almond extract
• ½ cup toasted walnuts, chopped

Instructions 

1. Grease a standard loaf pan and set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, cardamon, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.
3. Using a stand mixer, cream butter and sugars until fluffy.
4. Add eggs, bananas, and extracts and beat until well combined. The banana will remain chunky.
5. Add dry ingredients gradually, scraping the bowl of the mixer with a spatula to be sure all is well combined.
6. Pour into loaf pan and top with walnuts.
7. Bake for an hour. Test with wooden skewer. When the skewer emerges clean, the loaf is done.
8. Remove from oven. Gently run a butter knife around the edges to loosen the loaf from the pan. Let cool to room temperature before removing from pan.
9. Serve right away or wrap first in parchment paper and then in foil to store in a cool place for a couple of days.
10. For a special treat, whip a stick of butter with 2 tbsp spiced rum. Slather slices with rum butter. Enjoy!

Recipe, Styling, & Photography by Keith Recker

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