How to Make Banana Bread

Hi my name is Jasmine. Grandmothers are not the only ones that can make delicious banana bread. Making banana bread looks difficult but really, it is not. I have helped others learn how to make banana bread. Today, I will show you how to make amazing banana bread. My past customers have said how my banana bread has a very nice taste and is not dry.

First off, the ingredients needed are 1 ¼ cup of sugar, ½ cup butter or margarine (softened), 2 eggs, 1 ½ mashed overripe bananas (3 to 4) bananas, ½ buttermilk, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 2 ½ cup all purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 cup optional nuts or chocolate chips. Also, needed is a 9 inch loaf pan, large mixing bowl, a mixer, and spatula.

Let's get started, first heat the oven to 350F. Grease the bottom of a loaf pan. We want the oven to be heating while we are mixing our ingredients. Do not grease the pan too much. Always turn the oven on before you start mixing things together. Oftentimes, mixing ingredients before preheating the oven can cause them to sit together too long, giving a soggy taste.

Next, we are going to mix these together. In a large bowl, mix 1 ¼  sugar and ½ butter. Make sure that the butter is softened so that it mixes better. Add 2 eggs to a separate bowl, making sure to have no shells fall in, before adding them to the other ingredients. Now mash together 3 or 4 bananas and add them to the mix. The better they are mashed, the better they will mix. 

Now, add a ½ cup of buttermilk, measure this by looking eye level to the ½ cup line on the measuring cup.  Add 1 teaspoon vanilla, we usually over fill the vanilla a little and then dump the vanilla into the bowl. Be sure not to add too much extra vanilla. After that is all mixed in, beat the ingredients with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth.

Almost done, then, we will add the final ingredients. Stir in 2 ½ cups of all purpose flour, leveling the extra flour off with a butter knife. Having too much flour will cause the batter to become too thick. Add 1 teaspoon baking soda, level this also, but don't add too much or too little. Now, add 1 teaspoon of salt, again, don't add too much. Now, if wanted, add nuts and/or chocolate chips. 

Lastly, you will pour the batter into the pan. Try to get all of the batter out of the bowl and into the pan. When the oven is ready, put the baked loaf in the oven for 1 hour and 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Keep an eye on it, so it does not burn.  Once it comes out clean, put the banana bread on the cooling rack and let sit for about an hour. Once cooled, slice and enjoy.