Banana Bread Recipe

Banana bread is one of my favourite things to bake. It's so easy and so customisable! I make this recipe plain, with walnuts or even chunks of chopped chocolate thrown in. And it delights each time. This Banana Bread recipe is a keeper!

RECIPE

Ingredients

3  ripe bananas
1/3 cup melted butter
1 cup of sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

METHOD

-Preheat the oven to 175°C and butter and flour a 4x8-inch loaf pan.

-In a bowl, mash the ripe bananas with a fork until smooth. Add the butter and mix.

-Mix in the baking soda. Stir in the sugar, beaten egg, and vanilla extract.

-Add the flour in two batches and mix well.

-Pour the batter into your prepared loaf pan. Bake for 45 mins or until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean.

-Remove from oven and cool completely on a rack. Remove the banana bread from the pan. Slice and serve. Enjoy!

Banana Bread

Back when I had just started living alone, meals were the least of my concerns. Most of the times it was instant noodles. Or dal and rice if we felt like 'cooking'. My roommate and I survived on this for months on end. At that time I thought that if I wanted a good meal it would have to be cooked by my mom, it didn't even occur to me that I could make it myself! It took me a couple of years to realize that it didn’t really have to be like this, I didn’t really have to eat all this unhealthy ‘instant food’ crap. So then it was down to recipes of sabzis (vegetables) taken down over the phone and the little mess I would then make of them in my kitchen.


It’s been many years since and I can now say that I would be able to make most of the food that I like. Except. Baking. I don’t know why but it scared me to death. I had heard, as I’m sure everybody has, many horror stories about it. All the exact measurements and precise timings intimidated me. But I also love cakes, and couldn’t live with the fact that I could not make at least a simple one. So one fine day, I decided to sum up my courage and give it a shot. I thought I would do it when I was alone at home. That way if it turned out really bad no one would know. So there I was, alone with my oven, with the simplest recipe I could find- Banana bread.

Fortunately for me, it turned out just fine. And I was on a roll! Since then, I’ve almost given up cooking regular food. I’m lucky to have a full time cook now so whenever I find the time, it’s almost always some baking for me. Maybe it had something to do with the banana bread I chose to make- something so simple and homely- something about the aroma, the comforting feeling it gives you when you take your first bite…

So once again, many cakes and cookies later, I visited my good friend today. . This time armed with much confidence than the last. And needless to say, it was as good as the last time, maybe even better. And it reminded me why it would always be one of my favorites…