Banana Bread – Nice, Naughty, and Naughtier

-By Jessica 

Adapted from Smitten Kitten

There’s something about banana bread that makes me feel all warm and cozy inside. I have memories of eating my mom’s freshly baked banana bread as a child, and this past year I’ve been trying to find the perfect recipe. I of course went first to my mother, but oddly enough she claims to not remember making such a wonderful banana bread, but suggested one with a crumble on top (this is part of the ‘naughtier’ recipe which I’ll get to shortly). I attempted this recipe, and several others with constant frustration at the outcome. The breads were either too dry, too mushy, not banana-y enough, too sweet, too salty, you name it. That is until my friend Jacqueline suggested taking a look at the recipe on Smitten Kitten for her ‘jacked-up banana bread’, and BINGO! Banana bliss – for the most part. I wasn’t thrilled with the lingering flavor of cloves, or the consistency of the bananas (not to mention having nearly rotten bananas sitting on my counter prior to use), so I made a few tweaks here and there.  

 

Smitten Kitchen Banana Bread

Most of the time when I have a taste for banana bread I’m just looking for something kind-of sweet, but that seems like it might also be fairly healthy, hence the ‘nice’ recipe. However, Keith, Mr. Sweet-tooth, prefers something a little more decadent, so for him is the ‘naughty’ recipe. Finally, there are some people out there who simply aren’t satisfied until cavities are imminent upon consumption – you get the ‘naughtier’ recipe. I’m afraid to think about what might be included in the naughtiest, but if I had to venture a guess I imagine it could include melted chocolate in the batter, or perhaps a chocolate frosting underneath the streusel…

NICE

4 bananas (thawed), smashed
1/3 cup melted butter
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon bourbon (I actually use Wild Turkey’s American Honey which Braden gave to me as a gift and is a little too intense a syrupy to drink on it’s own – BUT it does make a great Old Fashioned!)
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 1/2 cup of all-purpose flour

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Thaw frozen bananas in the microwave using the defrost option (Some more refined bakers might be appalled by this tactic, but it is so convenient, and creates a delightfully mushy banana texture. This way I never feel bad about a banana starting to go bad – I just toss it in the freezer and know that someday it will help me make a delicious treat!). 

Throw them in your freezer, not the garbage.

With a wooden spoon (you could also use a stand-mixer here, but this recipe is easy enough on the forearms without one, and I feel even more accomplished when it’s done having churned it all up myself), mix butter into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl. Mix in the sugar, egg, vanilla and bourbon, then the spices. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in. Add the flour last, little by little, and mix. Pour mixture into a buttered 4×8 inch loaf pan. Bake for 50 minutes to one hour (depending on your oven, I tend to lean towards 55 minutes), or until a wooden skewer comes out clean (mostly clean at least – those mushy bananas will always leave a little something on the skewer). Cool on a rack. Remove from pan and slice to serve.

NAUGHTY

Just stir in some chocolate chips after you add the flower! America’s Test Kitchen suggests Ghiradelli’s, and so do I. Depending on how naughty you want to go you could add more chips, but I prefer using about 1/3 cup for this recipe.

NAUGHTIER

 Once you’ve incorporated the chocolate chips, and poured the batter into your pan, you can now add the crumble from my mom’s recipe over the top:

1/2 cup flour
4 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Combine all ingredients in a medium sized bowl, and smush together with your fingers! Sprinkle this goodness over your batter and you’re good to go.

Delicious Banana Bread Flavor in Convenient Muffin Form

Finally, I’ve recently discovered that this bread can be quite the crowd pleaser in the form of muffins, with any of the above mentioned adaptations. Just use a cupcake tin filled with liners, evenly disperse the batter, and cook for 30-40 minutes, or until a skewer comes out mostly clean.

Enjoy!

-Jessica