Andrew and I are really bad at eating bananas before they go rotten, so we make a lot of banana bread. This is by far the best recipe we've encountered. Instead of being a sticky and dense loaf, it's light, bouncy, and full of pure banana flavor. It's also fairly easy to make if you have a stand or hand mixer. Back when we first started living together, I had neither of those things and used to beat this by hand until I felt like my arm was ready to fall off. All in the name of banana bread.
Flour Bakery's Banana Bread
(Recipe from Joanne Chang's cookbook Flour: Spectacular Recipes from Boston's Flour Bakery + Cafe)
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (230 grams) granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 2/3 cups (210 grams) all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 cup canola oil
- 3 1/2 very ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 1/2 cups or 340 grams)
- 2 tbsp sour cream
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F and set the rack in the center of the oven. Grease a 9x5" loaf pan.
- Using a stand mixer, beat together the sugar and eggs on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
- While the sugar and eggs are beating, sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and kosher salt. Set aside.
- Switch stand mixer to low speed and slowly drizzle in the oil.
- Add the mashed bananas, vanilla, and sour cream to the mixer and mix on low speed until just combined.
- Using a spatula, gently fold in the dry ingredients until combined.
- Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake for 60 - 75 minutes until the loaf springs back when you press on it.
- Let cool in the pan for 30 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to finish cooling.
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