Grandma's Banana Bread

Do you ever find yourself with bananas that are just a little too brown for you and your family to enjoy eating? Instead of throwing them out, why not turn them into something delicious? In these times, where every penny counts, let's take a page from the book of the resourceful 'Silent Generation' and make some mouthwatering banana bread! 😋

Banana bread holds a special place in American culinary history. It gained popularity during the Great Depression, a challenging era, similar to today, when people had to make the most of what they had. I remember my Grandma, who was part of the 'Silent Generation' loved to bake banana bread. Her recipe is simple and can be dressed up or down, depending on your preferences.

My Grandma's banana bread recipe is incredibly easy to follow, so much so that even my husband has mastered it. And the best part is that he's been able to add his own special touches to make it truly unique.

What we need to get started

• 3 ripe bananas, preferably a little brown, they taste better in the banana bread
• 1 cup of sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups of all purpose flour
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 stick room temperature butter
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• (optional) cooking spray

How to get started

You will bake your banana bread in a 5x9x3 loaf baking pan, 325℉ for 45 to 75 minutes, until a tooth pick stuck in the middle comes out clean(I have noticed baking times vary based on how big the bananas are, I always start checking my bread at 45 minutes and continue cooking in 10-15 minute increments depending on how clean my toothpick is) 

Make sure your oven is preheating to 325℉ before you start combining your ingredients, it's something I always forget until I am done making my batter, and get so frustrated because I have to wait!

Now prepare your batter

1. You will cream together your 1 cup of sugar and 1 stick of room temperature butter, you can do this with a mixer, if you do not have one a fork will work just fine if your butter is room temperature. 
2. After your butter and sugar are creamed together add 2 eggs.
3. Add 1 tsp of vanilla extract, and mix in.
4. Mash your 3 ripe bananas, if they are not ripe you can squeeze the banana in the peel to soften up the inside. Mix bananas well into the egg, sugar, vanilla and butter.
5. Mix the rest of the dry ingredients well( 2 cups all purpose flour, ½ tsp baking soda, ½ tsp salt) together in a separate bowl.
6. Slowly add dry ingredients into wet ingredients, mixing well
7. Once all your ingredients are mixed well you will pour the batter into your well greased 5x9x3 loaf baking pan.
8. Bake your bread at 325℉ for 45 minutes, or until a tooth pick stuck in the middle comes out clean.
9. Once the toothpick stuck in middle of the bread comes out clean, take bread out of the oven and allow to cool before slicing into it!
10. Enjoy grandma's banana bread. 

Try something different, cook with your heart

My grandma's banana bread recipe is very simple and straight to the point, which leaves a lot of room for variation. Cooking with your heart is the best way to make this recipe one your family will truly love. 

We have tried multiple variations, I have found if adding items such as chocolate chips, nuts, or dried fruits it is best to only add about 1-1½ of the additional ingredients to the original batter. 

When adding additional wet ingredients I like to take away a banana and add about ½ cup of the wet ingredient. 

How to store the bread

• Room temperature, you can store banana bread at room temperature in an airtight container for 3-4 days.
• Refrigerator, when refrigerating banana bread make sure you have it covered well, and you can store it for about 1 week longer. 
• Freezer, you can store your banana bread in the freezer for future enjoyment for about 2-3 months.

Of course none of this is food safety advice, this is just the practices me and my family have found that have been the most effective. 

So next time you see those brown bananas, don't be upset that you have wasted money, take your bananas and turn it into something delicious like banana bread. 

This simple recipe is a great starter recipe for many people who are not sure how to make dishes from scratch, and it is a recipe that is very difficult to mess up. It gives you the opportunity to "cook with your heart", like all our grandma's used to do. 

I am interested in knowing your thoughts, any tips, tricks, or variations you know using a similar recipe from your grandma?