My Go-To recipe for Banana Bread

Banana Bread - made lots and lots of times

(Note: I'm traveling for work this week so no baking is coming out of my kitchen at the moment.  So I'm reverting to posting one of my oldest standby recipes.)

One of the things I've been making a lot lately is banana bread.  I haven't blogged about it because I already have the recipe up.  Every time I've tried a different recipe, no one in my extended family likes it as much as this recipe.  In my original blog post, I posted the recipe as it was given to me.  The directions are sparse but not difficult to follow.  I thought I'd resurrect it and just detail out more of what I actually do for anyone who hasn't made banana bread ad naseum.

Good banana bread takes a little planning ahead because you have to buy the bananas well in advance and give them plenty of time to ripen.  And ripen.  Then let them ripen some more.  If you like your bananas mushy-ripe and can still eat them in its natural state, your bananas aren't ripe enough for banana bread.  I let them ripen to the point where I personally can't eat them because they're overly mushy.  Then they're ready.  I also like to mash them by hand so I end up with some chunks of bananas.  If you use a food processor or mixer to mash your bananas, they'll be more finely pureed.  I like my mashed bananas for banana bread a little chunky so they'll make it that way in the baked bread itself and be like a little bit of a fried banana inside of the bread.

This recipe, doubled from the original version, makes 4 mini loaves and 1 standard size loaf.

3 3/4 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 1/2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1 cup buttermilk
2 cups mashed bananas

1. Preheat over to 350 degrees F.  Lightly spray a standard size loaf pan and 4 mini loaf pans with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together.
3. Cream butter in the large bowl of a freestanding electric mixer until smooth and creamy, about 1-2 minutes.  Add the sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, beating until incorporated with the butter.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating for 10-15 seconds after each addition until fully incorporated into the batter.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula to keep the batter even-textured.
4. Alternately add the dry ingredients in 3 additions and the buttermilk in 2 additions.  Do not overbeat.
5. Add the mashed bananas, mixing thoroughly until blended, about 30 seconds.  Finish mixing by hand.  Pour batter into prepared pans, dividing evenly.
6. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until loaves are golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.  Insert the toothpick in the "wettest" part of the top to test for doneness.
7. Let cool in pans on a wire rack for 5 minutes then loosen the loaves with a small spatula and invert onto another cooling rack.  Re-invert right side up and cool completely.