The Only Banana Bread Recipe

Stop Searching !!! This is the Only Banana Bread Recipe you will ever need. In 1993 when I met my husband, I met his family. His family is of a Pennsylvania Dutch background. If you know anything about the PA Dutch…they are amazing bakers! Pies, Cookies, sweet breads…yum. My 1^st Thanksgiving with his family in 1993 there was no lie 13 different pies on the tables… the big bird played a second to the pies. Needless to say for this Jersey girl it was very intimidating. So I make a pie or 2…yuk…(I blaming my lack of backing ability on the fact I have warm hands). My pie skills were so bad..that my future mother in-law gave me a instant pie crust mix when she gave me the pie plate back…she said "Sherry, there is no shame in using store bought. " So I would never be a pie maker. So I searched for a baking recipe to make all my own. And this is it… 


Every time I make this bread get people telling me it is the best banana bread they have ever had…and not just my in-laws (even strangers tell me). My Mother said this is your "thing" for 
Christmas from now on. For me it is my go to recipe when I go to someone's house overnight. I found it 1996. It is adapted from the Southern Ort cook book 1990 version I purchased from the ort women in a mall in south Florida. The Original baker was Pearl Ansell of Orlando Florida. I picture Pearl to be an older women who received this recipes from her mom or grandma and she has taught it to family.

My just turned 5 Daughter loves making this recipe with me she peels the banana and mashes them with the potato masher. I love it because nobody in my family will eat the banana with brown spots, but they are the best for bread. 


BabyPop Pearl Banana Bread
(Printable Version w/o pictures)

Ingredients:

½ cup of vegetable oil

1 cup of sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon of vanilla

1 ¼ cups of all purpose flour

1 teaspoon of baking powder

1 teaspoon of baking soda

3 large or 4 small bananas (ripe)(brown spots are fine)

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Baking Spray or butter to grease the pans

• Preheat oven to 350
  

• Using an electric mixer beat oil and sugar in large mixing bowl for 2 min
  

• Add eggs and vanilla to oil/sugar, beat well with mixer (I was making a dbl batch use 2 eggs for one batch)

• Sift flour, baking soda, baking powder into batter, mix for 2 minutes (if you don't have a sifter light spoon in flour so it is not heavy)

• In separate bowl mash (with a potato masher or large fork) peeled banana with cinnamon (like chunky baby food): add to batter and mix to well blender

• Pour into 2 well greased loaf pans 9x5x3" or 1 pan if you like a bigger slice

• Bake for 37-40 mins for 2 loaves or 42-45 for 1 loaf (watch them once they get golden take them out as long as the toothpick comes out clean)

• Let cool for 10 min before taking out of loaf pan and cutting. Also can be frozen

Variations:

• ½ cup chocolate chips, add once the batter is already in loaf pan.. if you add chips mix in with mixer they tend to go to the bottom of the loaf once you pour in the pan.
  
• Smaller personal loafs which I make more at the holidays teacher gifts ..take about 37 min to bake , you can make 4 small loves from one batch of batter
  
• Banana ripe but no time to make the bread, freeze the bananas for later . The bananas tend to not be a chunky but the taste is the same. FYI Banana turn black when frozen they are still good