My Favorite Recipe for Banana Bread
It's fall, which means in the Jespersen kitchen there's going to be a lot of cooking & baking going on. I've never been a huge create-my-own-recipe gal, I leave that to the experts, but I can follow one like a champ! This fall, I'll be posting my favorite recipes here and there on the blog, to give you lovely friends out there a peek into with I'm cooking & baking, in case you want to get your susie homemaker hat on too.
This recipe for Banana Bread, from Molly Wizenberg of Orangette, is a favorite of mine. I like to adapt it for the changing seasons and being that we're just into fall, I added a bit of pumpkin spice to the recipe and voila, a new take on an old favorite!
Chocolate Chip (and Pumpkin Spice) Banana Bread
adapted from A Homemade Life
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 c. sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin spice (optional)
3/4 c. Chocolate chips
2 large eggs
1 1/2 c. mashed bananas (3 large ripe bananas)
1/4 c. whole-milk plain yogurt (well stirred)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
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1 | Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
2 | Grease 9 x 5 in loaf pan with butter
3 | In a small bowl, microwave butter until melted (on medium, in small increments to avoid butter exploding). Set aside to cool
4 | In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and pumpkin spice. Add the chocolate chips and whisk well. Set aside.
5 | In a medium bowl, lightly beat the eggs with a fork. Add banana, yogurt, melted butter, and vanilla. Stir to mix well. Pour the banana mixture into the dry ingredients (in large bowl) and stir gently with a spatula, until just combined. Don't over mix it. The batter will be lumpy but make sure all the flour is mixed in.
6 | Scrape the batter into the loaf pan and smooth the top with the spatula
7 | Bake for about 50 minutes to an hour, or until the loaf is golden brown and the center is cooked through (test with a toothpick).
8 | Cool the banana bread in the loaf pan for 5 minutes or so. Once cooled, enjoy!
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Looking for cookbook inspiration? Here are my favorite resources for cooking & baking. What are your favorite recipes for fall?