Recipe: Royal Banana Bread

It’s winter in Colorado which typically means snow, and where I live, lots of it! It’s snowing today and we are expecting another 10-12 inches. I am not one who enjoys driving in the snow with kids. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE driving donuts, just not with my kiddos. This means I have to plan for days ahead to ensure we have the essentials. One of those essentials: bananas. My son, Foster, eats a banana every day. He loves them! Sometimes the store has a special and I go…well…bananas and buy more than enough.

What do you do with your browning bananas? Freeze them! I have about 20 frozen bananas on hand at any given point. Frozen bananas are so versatile from making ice cream or shakes with the blender, adding a froze/thawed banana to brownie mixtures omitting oil and saving the fudgy texture, to the royal banana bread. I say Royal Banana Bread because it’s a highlight in my house. The kids’ faces light-up with smiles and twinkling eyes, and my husband knows he doesn’t have to think about snack time for at least three days, HA!

I’ve come to learn that banana bread is loved by all but not all like it the same. Take my sisters for instance. Jennifer likes it doughy, barely cooked, leaving a gooey top and with chocolate chips. Heidi likes it just cooked, not gooey but with walnuts, chocolate chips and a dash of cinnamon. I like mine slightly over-cooked with a crunchy top, extra cinnamon and maybe chocolate chips, but mostly I like plain–straight out of the oven, with butter, mmm my mouth is watering. So whatever your take on banana bread is, feel free to make it your own. After all, altering recipes to fit your flavor profile is what makes Chomp! unique.

You will need:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 3 ripened bananas, mashed
• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp cinnamon

You may also add 1/2 cup walnuts, 1/2 cup chocolate chips, or double the amount of cinnamon to make any one of the flavors listed above. 

In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Add eggs and bananas. Once wet mixture is smooth add remaining ingredients. I use my hand mixer for this to avoid over mixing, we are making bread but we want this to be cake like, not chewy, so only mix until barely coming together. Grease a 9″x 13″ pan with cooking spray or butter. You may also use this recipe for muffins or loaves without altering.

Bake at 350 for for 40-45 minutes.

Note: I am considered high altitude at 7,000 feet so if you’re cooking at sea-level, subtract 2 tbsp flour.

Banana bread is delicious as is, we rarely have any by day three, but we do have a few other things you can do with any leftover bread. Take banana bread french toast, make it the same as with regular bread but use the banana slices, so yummy! Or cube up your remaining banana bread and make bread pudding, sprinkle with powdered sugar or maple syrup…YUM! You can even freeze the bread after baking and it’ll last another 2 months for you.