Banana Bread

This is a light, moist bread that comes with a rich banana flavor and just the right amount of sweetness offered by the dark brown sugar. Dark brown sugar gives the bread a nice color and also that deep flavor which comes from the molasses.

Photography by Heaven on Hearth

For the banana mixture:

3 ripe bananas

¾ cup dark brown sugar

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

¾ cup melted butter
2 large eggs, room temperature

For the dry mixture:

½ teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 cups flour

For the baking dish:

1 to 1½ tablespoons flour

Pam for baking to grease the baking dish

Pre-heat your oven to 350° Fahrenheit.

Blend 2 cups of flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder and ½ teaspoon salt together in a large bowl. Set aside until the banana mixture is ready.

Flour, Baking Powder and Salt

Bananas, Dark Brown Sugar and Nutmeg

I like bananas that are have a beautiful yellow color with some brown dots on the skin that tells me that they are nice and sweet and fully ripe. When peeling, please ensure that all the long thin strings that are sometimes attached to the banana are removed, as they have a bitter taste.  Once the 3 bananas are peeled, the strings removed, break into pieces placing them in a large bowl along with ¾ cup brown sugar and ¼ teaspoon nutmeg. Crush the bananas with the sugar and nutmeg with a fork until you have a nice smooth mixture with a few banana clumps. Then add 2 teaspoons vanilla extract and blend in with the banana, sugar and nutmeg mixture. In a small bowl, whisk the 2 large eggs, then pour into the banana, sugar nutmeg and vanilla mixture and blend well.

Banana Mixture with Eggs and Melted Butter

Melt butter in a pan or just zap quickly in the microwave. If you are using 4 ounce sticks, you will need 1½ sticks. I cut them into pieces, placed them in a bowl and zapped in the microwave for 30 seconds. The butter wasn’t bubbling, but nicely melted with a few small pieces, which I mixed in with a fork. 

All Ingredients Combined

After all the butter pieces were melted, pour into the banana, sugar, nutmeg, vanilla and egg mixture making sure that all the ingredients are well incorporated. Then pour the mixture into the dried ingredients and blend well.

Banana Bread going into the Oven

Spray some Pam in the bread loaf pan, then sprinkle 1 ½ tablespoons of flour in the pan and shake around the pan until all sides are covered with flour. This will ensure that once the banana bread is baked it won’t stick to the pan. I used a glass loaf dish and not metal.

Once the baking pan has been prepared, pour in the mixture and place in the oven.  Bake for 1 hour and 25 minutes. I know it may sound long, but the bread will be just right with a beautiful brown color once baked.  To make sure that it is properly baked, test it by sticking the loaf with a long, thin bamboo stick or toothpick. If it comes out dry, then you know the banana bread is done. If you don’t have either, a knife will do the trick.

Slice of Banana Bread

Once done, remove from the oven and place the baking pan on a rack and let it rest and cool down before removing the bread from the pan. After the bread has been removed from the pan, let it cool a bit longer further before cutting a slice for yourself. Voilà. How easy was that? 






Don’t be surprised if the crust has a sweet little crunch to it. That’s just how it should be. I know…it does catch you by surprise, but what a delightful surprise.