March 2019 Recipe of the Month: Easy-Peasy, Tried-and-True Banana Bread

Have some old bananas around? This one is for you.

This is the recipe I make when I’m in the mood for homemade baked goods but am definitely NOT in the mood to bake. It’s the most low-maintenance recipe I’ve ever encountered and usually I make it with no more than a bowl, a fork, and a measuring cup. #lazysunday #lazyeveryday

The original recipe calls for walnuts and zero chocolate chips (the horror), but I’ve found that you can do either/or, or both, so long as the total amount adds up to about a cup. If you’re gluten-free, you can sub the flour cup-for-cup with a perfect-blend gluten-free flour and get a pretty great texture.

(Except it’s not cake, it’s banana bread)

(Except it’s not cake, it’s banana bread)

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups ripe bananas (about 4 whole)

  • 1 cup sour cream

  • 1 cup oil

  • 2 cups sugar

  • 4 eggs

  • 2 teaspoons vanilla

  • 3 cups flour (for gluten free, use Namaste Perfect Blend)

  • 2 teaspoons baking soda

  • 1 teaspoon salt

  • 1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional)

  • 1/2 cup walnuts (optional)

Steps: 

  1. Turn on music. What kind of person bakes without listening to music?

  2. Mash the bananas with a fork, potato masher, or in a food processor. However you do it, just make sure they’re fully mashed (big lumps leave soggy spots in the finished bread).

  3. Add sour cream, oil, and sugar and fully incorporate. To mix, either use a fork or buzz in the processor. It barely matters. 

  4. Add your eggs and vanilla. Again, doesn't really matter how you mix them in (just don't over-mix). 

  5. Sift flour, baking soda, and salt into the wet mixture, and fold in with a spatula (or in my case, a fork). 

  6. Throw in your chocolate chips and walnuts, which are optional, but trust me, you should add them. 

  7. Pour into a greased bread pan and garnish with more walnuts and chocolate chips (if you're using them, which you should) and bake at 350 degrees F for about an hour. It's done when you can insert a toothpick and it comes out clean. 

  8. Serve warm (or not) with butter (or not). But seriously, slather it with butter. It's better that way. 

  9. Go bananas.