I'm amazed at how superior your vanilla is!
– Des, The Grommet
Menu
Bananas are a perfect fruit, full of potassium, conveniently packaged, and while sweet, they actually have a low glycemic index, meaning that the sugars break down slowly and won’t spike your blood sugar.
Did you know that bananas are botanically a berry? Neither did I.
What I did know, is that perfect as they are, they ripen and brown quickly, which makes them not so great to eat as-is, but makes for a very flavorful banana bread.
The following recipe is an old Sunset quick-bread recipe that our family has used for years.
As you can see in the photos above, you can also “gild the lily” by adding 2/3 cup chopped walnuts and 1 cup Guittard bittersweet chocolate baking wafers. If you can’t find baking wafers, chocolate chips are fine. What I like about the baking wafers, however, is that they are flat discs that melt into the bread to create delicious, little puddles of chocolate. Warm the bread or slices of the bread briefly in the microwave so the chocolate is soft, and serve with lightly sweetened whipped cream, or at room temperature with soft cream cheese.
Print2–3 large bananas (1 cup)
1 cup granulated sugar (or 1– 1/4 cups coconut sugar)
1 large egg
4 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
1 1/2 cups all-purpose unbleached flour
1 teaspoon each salt and baking soda
1–1/2 teaspoons Rain’s Choice pure Vanilla Extract
Preheat oven to 325 degrees fahrenheit. Lightly grease a 9-5 inch loaf pan; set aside.
In a bowl, mash bananas; you should have one cup. Beat in sugar, then egg, butter and vanilla extract. In another bowl, stir together flour, salt, and baking soda; add to banana mixture and stir just until all flour is moistened. Pour batter into prepared pan.
Bake for 55 minutes to an hour for bread loaf. If you choose to make muffins, bake for approximately 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.
You can add nuts or dried fruit, if you choose, for added texture, or to turn it into chocolate banana cake, add 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips. When making chocolate banana cake, you will want to let the bread cool completely before removing it from the pan or the melted chocolate will cause the bread to fall apart.
Sunset – Easy Basics for Good Cooking
I was given a small bottle of Rain’s Choice in a gift basket and I have been hooked ever since. The flavor makes all of my baking so much better! I will never use grocery store vanilla again!
2 Responses
you forgot about
The vanilla
When to add
To recipe.
Hi Laura, the recipe is now fixed. You add the vanilla after butter is blended with sugar and eggs. Thank you for catching the missing vanilla!
Patricia