eat this: banana bread

I adore autumn in New York. Fall is quite possibly my favorite season: the days darken, nubby wool sweaters are fluffed and worn, the terracotta leaves crunch underfoot. And of course, of course! autumn ushers in the cozy oven and the smells of seasoned apples, pumpkins and banana nut breads. Over the next few weeks I’ll be baking a storm. I’ll be bringing back old favorites like the chocolate chip pumpkin loaf (with some new twists!), the ginger cookies, chocolate pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin muffins, and more delish treats to come. This morning, I decided to whip up a mainstay – Martha Stewart’s banana bread. This recipe is easy-breezy and took less than a 1/2 hr to prep. Enjoy!

Martha Stewart’s Banana Bread – from the Martha Stewart Baking Handbook

Ingredients: Please note that I use all local/organic ingredients because this is how I roll.
3 cups all-purpose flour*
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
2 cups sugar**
1 1/3 cups vegetable oil
2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups ripe mashed banana (about 3 medium)
1 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
1 cups walnuts or pecans, toasted and finely chopped***
1/2 cups buttermilk
Nonstick cooking spray

*I use unbleached flour
**I use cane sugar
***Nuts are optional. I loathe nuts in bread, so I nixed the nuts. But I invite you to chop up some pecans and use them as a topping!

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Coat two 9×5 inch loaf pans with cooking spray; set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the eggs, sugar, and vegetable oil on medium-low speed until combined. Beat in the flour mixture. Add the vanilla, banana, coconut, nuts, and buttermilk, and beat just to combine.
3. Divide batter evenly between prepared pans; smooth with an offset spatula. Bake, rotating pans halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in the centers comes out clean, 60 to 65 minutes.
4. Transfer to a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes. Remove loaves from pans and let cool completely. Bread can be kept at room temperature, wrapped well in plastic, for up to 1 week, or frozen for up to 3 months.

My Notes: The batter will be lumpy! Don’t freak out. Remember, you’re mixing to just combine. However, I always fold after I mix just to ensure that all ingredients are evenly incorporated (especially if you’re using a stand mixer, like me). Over-mixing is deadly when it comes to cake loaves – the dry, gluten bread taste ensues, and no one wants that for banana bread. Seriously. Also, make sure all ingredients are at room temperature as varying temperatures will affect how quickly the cake will cook and will make for a tougher, uneven taste. Typically, I take out all my fridge ingredients (eggs, milk) and leave them out 30-45min before I hit the stand mixer running.

This entry was posted on Sunday, October 26th, 2008 at 10:04 am and is filed under foodie gal. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.