It seems like I’ve been trying to make this banana bread recipe for years. Everytime the bananas were just a day away from being perfect, Rockford would through them away. Maybe he’ll think twice about that now that he’s tried the bread.
The recipe is modified from Cook’s Illustrated (because I didn’t have any walnuts). I used a mini-loaf pan and reduced the bake time to 30 minutes. Next time I’m trying the chocolate version, and I might even use walnuts, too.
Banana bread
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting pan
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3 very ripe, darkly speckled large bananas, mashed well
1/4 cup plain yogurt
2 large eggs, beaten lightly
6 tbl (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 tsp vanilla
Adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease the bottom and sides of a 9 by 5 inch loaf pan; dust with flour, tapping out excess.
Combine the flour, sugar, salt baking soda in a large bowl with a whisk.
Mix the mashed bananas, yogurt, eggs, butter and vanilla with a wooden spoon in a medium bowl. Lighly fold the banana mixture into the dry ingredients with a rubber spatula until just combined and the batter looks thick and chunky. Scrape the batter into the prepared loaf pan.
Bake until the loaf is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 55 minutes. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack.