Best Banana Bread

I'm not sure when I had first come across this recipe, but I remember it this way...
When I was a kid, my parents had gone to a yard sale and came home with this little square booklet of typed recipes. I picked up the book and skimmed through it when my eyes landed on a recipe for Banana Bread. I had never made banana bread before, but had tried the recipe and it was perfect. It still is years later! I admit, I'm a bit biased as I have never used another banana bread recipe, but when I find a recipe that works, even as a child, why try anything different? I have altered this recipe from time to time, but I never really stray far from the original.

Original Recipe: Unknown Author

1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 eggs
2 cups flour
1/4 cup vegetable oil3 large ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

1. Cream together butter and sugar
2. Add beaten eggs
3. Add sifted flour and baking soda
4. Add mashed bananas (and nuts etc)
5. Bake in a greased loaf pan for 45 minutes at 325º (preheated)


This time around:

I always add about a cup of Walnuts and about a cup of Chocolate Chips to the Original recipe (what doesn't taste great with chocolate chips and walnuts?) Oh, and it always takes at least an hour to bake but be sure to test it out for yourself! When you think it's done, stick a knife in the centre and if it comes out doughy, it's not done yet.

This time around, I used 1 cup of Unbleached Flour and 1 cup of Whole Wheat Flour instead of 2 Cups of White. I thought I had more Walnuts in the kitchen cupboard, but I was running low, so I used 1/2 cup of chopped Walnuts, and 1/2 cup of chopped Pecans. In the end, I had forgotten to add the Vegetable Oil to the recipe but it was too late since it had already gone into the oven!

The results? Well, tasty as usual! The missing Vegetable Oil made the bread a little less moist than normal (and a little less fattening!), and the Whole Wheat flour gave the bread a bit more of a grittier taste. But even with these changes, the loaf of bread was still as yummy as ever! Delicious and warm right out of the oven, tasty the next day after it's been sitting out wrapped in tin foil to keep it moist, and the last few pieces still yummy after sitting in the fridge to preserve it for just a bit longer. The bread was gone in just a few days, and even passed my guest of honour's, taste test!