If you come over to my apartment, chances are you will score a slice of just-out-of-the-oven banana bread; it’s one of those things that I’m constantly making, because it’s so easy, and everybody adores it. And as a bonus, it makes your apartment smell fantastically cozy. There’s just one little issue: see the enormous bowlful of batter up there? I am having palpitations about how badly I want to dive into it face-first, and raw batter is on the List Of Things One Must Not Eat When With Child. Mayjah BS, I say – depriving a pregnant lady of any part of a baked good, uncooked or no. But what can you do?
My basic recipe is what I make most often, but it’s so fun to play with: you can add chocolate chips, nuts, coconut, cinnamon, nutella (ooh)…anything you like, really.
(See how the center is a bit collapsed? That’s because I like my banana bread a little underdone and fudgy in the middle, but if you don’t just use the toothpick test to make sure it’s cooked all the way through.)
CHOCOLATE CHIP BANANA NUT BREAD
What you need:
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
Dash of cinnamon
3 very ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/3 cup chopped walnuts
What you do:
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour a loaf pan.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Mix in the eggs, one at a time.
3. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
4. Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter/sugar mixture until fully blended.
5. Gently fold in the bananas, then add the chocolate chips and walnuts.
6. Bake at 350F for 1 hr (or until a toothpick comes out clean).
If You Like This, Try These:
Lemon Bread; Chocolate-Covered Salted Strawberries; Nanny Ruth’s Peanut Butter Cookies
