Chinese Grandma's Banana Bread Lisa

New life for old bananas, part 1

25 AUGUST 2016

This is a recipe shared by Chinese Grandma, whom I also learn to make the dried fruit scones from. Below are her instructions with my added comments.

This is my holy grail banana bread recipe – super moist with deep banana flavor; springy and not heavy. The recipe is simple and perfect – and bakes into a beautiful gift-worthy loaf. 

Here's her other banana chocolate chip muffins (from New life for old bananas, part 1) for those who like chocolate :)

Start with butter and sugar (can use a fork)

Add eggs:

Mix well:

add the 3 old bananas (from the banana mashing plate)

Add mashed bananas and vanilla to butter mixture:

Prepare sour milk and add:

Mix dry ingredients in a separate bowl:

Add in batches to the wet ingredients:

Voila, batter!

Grease pan – use the waxed paper wrapper from the butter (again, compulsive re-use!):

This is going to be a big loaf…I made it into two small loaves or can use a sqare glass tray dish instead :)

So much better than stinky decomposing bananas in the trash.

enjoy some peace, a hot slice of and a cup of tea. Luxury.

Banana bread Lisa
The best banana bread recipe – super moist with deep banana flavor; springy and not heavy.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
• 1 cup sugar (Lisa uses 1 1/2 cups, which makes for an even moister loaf)
• 2 eggs
• 3 ripe bananas
• 1/4 cup milk mixed with
• 1 teaspoon vinegar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 3/4 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt (not needed if using salted butter)
• 1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9-inch loaf pan (an 8-inch square pan also works or two small alumni loaf pans).
2. In a large bowl, mix sugar into softened butter.
3. Add eggs; mix well.
4. Mash bananas and add to batter. Add vanilla.
5. Add vinegar to milk; add sour milk to batter (I used homemade pineapple vinegar)
6. In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
7. Gradually add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients. Mix well.
8. Add nuts, if using.
9. Bake for one hour (a square pan will take less time), until toothpick comes out clean. It’s important to do the toothpick test with banana bread, as often it looks nice and brown outside but still needs a few more minutes to cook fully inside.

Note

• Her family actually likes it better when she cooked banana bread in a baking dish (an 8-inch square or 11″x7″, 2-quart Pyrex). It cooks faster (about 35-40 minutes), and the texture is softer and lighter. Her mom, a great cook but less-confident baker, also finds it much easier to know when the bread is ready in a baking dish than a loaf pan.

Here’s the link to a printable version.