We have a constant supply of bananas in the house, and despite the fact that my kids are part fruit bat, we often end up with some getting overripe. Depending on the time of year, this happens once in a great while or every week (I’m looking at you, summer). I’d swear bananas are going from being green to overripe in one night right now, and somehow I never learn. I still buy several bunches every time I go to the grocery store. Which means I am inundated with overripe bananas at this very moment. (This is probably where I should admit that fully ripe bananas—when all hint of green is gone and they’re super sweet—are already overripe as far as I’m concerned. I like my bananas to have a little green when I’m eating them straight.)

Since I’m not a fan of the taste of ripe bananas, but also don’t like wasting perfectly good food, I might throw them in the blender with frozen berries for smoothies. But most of the time I bake this banana bread. It’s a serious staple in my house.

I lucked into this recipe from my friend Anita, who’d gifted me a little loaf a loooooong time ago. It was different from any banana bread I’d ever had and I asked for the recipe at first bite. While I’ve tried different recipes a couple of times in the twenty-some-odd years I’ve been making this, they’re never as good. Not even close.

You see, this bread is buttery, dense, moist, and perfectly sweet. It bakes up dark and intensely flavored—it’s nothing like the light tan banana bread/muffins you see at the store or in cookbooks. It is so much better.

My neighbor once asked why my banana bread was so dark because it was different from hers, and I’m honestly not sure why it bakes up this way. My best guess is it’s the chemical reaction between the lemon juice and baking soda that affects the coloring, because lemon juice isn’t used in any of the other recipes I’ve ever seen.

Full disclosure here: I make mine in my stand mixer, and I kinda beat the hell out of it. I know, I know. That’s breaking the big quick-bread/muffin rule of “gently folding in the dry ingredients until just barely moistened.” But I’ve made it both ways—gently folding and well beaten—and if there’s a difference in the outcome, it’s negligible. I’ve honestly never noticed one. And I like shortcuts (and breaking the rules). Bonus shortcut when you use the stand mixer: you don’t have to mash the bananas before you add them. You can just toss them in with the butter and sugar, and let the mixer mash them for you.

This bread is amazing plain (my favorite way to eat it is with a smear of natural peanut butter on my slice) and it’s pretty spectacular with chocolate chips thrown in (though my mom, whose most favorite baked good in all the world is banana bread, would totally say I’d ruined it). Just fyi: the addition of chocolate chips requires a tad more flour so they don’t all sink to the bottom of the bread.

Both versions freeze beautifully. Simply let them cool completely, then seal in a zip-top bag, pressing out as much air as you can. When you’re ready to use it, let it sit on your counter until it’s completely thawed before you slice it up.

Looking for a knockout brunch lineup? Want to impress your friends/family/neighbors with your breakfast baking prowess? (I mean, come on, who doesn’t?) Bake this up with Blueberry Muffins, Currant Scones, Granola, Irish Soda Bread Muffins, Rhubarb Cake or our Gargantuan Cinnamon Roll. You’ll be the most popular baker on the block!

Banana Bread

A rich, buttery, melt-in-your-mouth delicious banana bread.

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Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour hour

Total Time: 1 hour hour 15 minutes minutes

Course: Bread, Breakfast, Dessert, Snack

Servings: 1 loaf

Ingredients

Volume - Weight

• 2 ripe bananas
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour (can substitute all purpose)
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup milk
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 1/2 cup ground walnuts* (optional, but adds good nutrition and flavor)
• 1/4 cup ground flaxmeal (optional, but adds good nutrition and flavor)

Optional Additions for the Chocolate Chip Version

• 1 cup chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour (ONLY add the extra flour if you're adding chocolate chips!)

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 F /177 C. Grease and flour a bread pan. (In my experience, these breads tend to release quicker and easier from glass pans than metal. Metal pans work, but you may have to be more patient with them.)
  
• If you're not using a stand mixer, mash the bananas before mixing them with the butter and sugar. If you are using a stand mixer, cream butter and sugar, then add chunks of bananas. Beat well until bananas are well mashed. Beat in eggs.
  
• Add salt, baking soda and part of the flour. Pour in milk and lemon juice, then add remaining flour. Mix well. Add ground walnuts and flaxmeal. If making the chocolate chip version (try it--it's so good you'll wonder why you haven't been putting chocolate chips in your banana bread until now!), add in chocolate chips and extra flour (unless you already included it--I often make a double batch because I have one kid who prefers it sans chocolate, so I mix it all up, pour one loaf's worth of batter into a pan, then add the chocolate chips and extra flour to the remaining batter. If you're just making the chocolate chip version, simply put in the total 1 3/4 cups of flour when you add your flour in).
  
• Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake at 350 F/ 177 C for 60-65 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
  
• Allow bread to cool in the pan for at least 10 minutes. Then loosen the bread around the edge of the pan with a knife. Give the pan a couple of shakes to loosen the bread completely, then sit it on a cooling rack or cutting board to cool. If your bread does not fully loosen with a couple of good shakes of the pan, put it down and back away from the bread. Give it more time to rest and come back to try again in 10-15 minutes. It will come loose if you've greased and floured your pan, but sometimes it likes to hold on tight to the bottom for a while. If you force it by banging on the sides of the pan to loosen it, you'll likely be tearing it, leaving chunks of the bread bottom stuck to the pan when you tip it out. (I speak from frustrated experience.) Metal and ceramic pans tend to do this more than glass ones, in my experience, but no matter what your pan is made of, have patience, Grasshopper.
  
• Let bread cool completely before slicing or freezing. This bread freezes beautifully sealed in a zip-top bag. When you take it out of the freezer, simply let it thaw before slicing and enjoying.
  

Notes

Recipe adapted from my friend Anita Anderson Cooper.

*Ground walnuts are walnuts chopped up incredibly tiny by running them through a food processor. It's a sneaky/clever way to get these healthy nuts into your baked goods without big chunks of nut meat (which I personally don't appreciate). You'll never even know they're there because they don't change the texture, not even in this soft, buttery quick bread.