How to Make Banana Bread

One of the delicious treats that you can make for your kids as well as the rest of the family is banana bread. It is full of vitamins and is not complicated to make. Send some to school with the kids for snack time, make it to serve as a desert or create a great alternative to the typical breakfast. Using bananas that are a tad more ripe than those desired for eating by themselves is another way of saving money. Here is how to start.

Gather the Ingredients

When starting, pull out all the ingredients you will need. This will include: 2 bananas mashed, 1/3 cup butter softened, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 2/3 cup of sugar, 2 teaspoons of baking powder, 1 3/4 cups of flour, Extra flour and cooking spray for preparing the pan.

The Process

Turn the oven to 350 degrees and get your pan ready by spraying it with cooking spray and dusting it will flour. This allows the bread to be taken out of the pan with ease. Mix the mashed bananas with the baking soda, salt, flour, baking powder and sugar in a bowl.

Now put in the shortening or butter that is softened and mix this until it looks like crumbs. Add two eggs and mix some more. Put this mixture into the pan you have prepared. Bake this for about 30 or 40 minutes at 350 degrees. Check to see if it is done by inserting a toothpick into the middle of the pan and when it comes out with nothing on it, your banana bread is ready to come out of the oven.

Finishing Tips

The best size pan for making the banana bread is 4 x 8 inches. This will make the process much easier. Do not open the oven a lot while baking the bread. This only causes the heat to come out and makes the bread have to bake longer to get done.

The bananas you choose should have a lot of brown spots on the peels. These overripe bananas are sweeter than ones that are just ripe. Covering your bread with aluminum foil will keep it from browning too quickly on top and leaving the middle raw. This lets the bread bake and slows down the browning. If you have extra bananas and want to make a couple more pans of banana bread, it can be frozen to use later and will be nice and fresh. Be safe and do not forget your oven mitts when removing hot pans from the oven.

Chocolate Banana Bread Instructions

If chocolate banana bread is going to be made, you simply add a teaspoon of vanilla, a cup of chocolate chips (dark) and enough icing sugar to dust. This can be done when you are mixing the baking powder and flour together inside the bowl. Add the icing sugar then as well. The chocolate chips and butter can be melted by using a double boiler. This variety will take about an hour to bake and the loaf can be dusted with the icing sugar when it is done. Allow cooling for about 50 minutes before slicing.

Learn more about bread makers. Stop by Emily Cook’s site where you can find out all about cuisinart bread makers and what they can do for you.