Once, back in my college days, when I was living away from home, I was visiting over a weekend. I grabbed a banana off the counter, and about that time, my sister came around the corner.
She gave me a horrified look.
“What are you doing?” she demanded.
“Eating a banana?” I told her, confused.
“Dad and I were leaving those so Mom would make banana bread,” she said.
I’d ruined the plan.
I don’t think they’ve fully forgiven me yet, even though Mom has blessed us with plenty of loaves in the many years since then.
I was thinking about that story recently when I whipped up a couple loaves for an event we were having at the office. I had a couple brown bananas in my freezer that I didn’t have time to bake with when they turned, and I figured it was a good time to put them to good use.
My recipe for banana bread comes from my mom. I’m sure there’s an origin story for it, but my only copy is a well-worn, handwritten version from her.
Banana Bread
Ingredients
- 3 eggs
- 3 3/4 cup flour
- 1 1/2 cup sugar
- 3/4 cup shortening
- 2/3 cup cold water
- 4 mashed overripe bananas
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons ginger
- 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cloves
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two loaf pans, and set them aside.
- In a mixing bowl, start by beating the eggs, and then beat in the rest of the ingredients until the batter is smooth.
- Distribute the batter evenly between the two prepared loaf pans, and bake for 50 minutes to an hour.
- Once a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, remove the pans from the oven, and let them cool to a temperature where you can handle them comfortably. Carefully invert the pans to remove the loaves, and let them cool the rest of the way before slicing them. Store the slices in an airtight container.
You can absolutely add some chopped walnuts to this bread, too, if you like them. I actually love banana nut bread, but since that’s not how we normally ate it when I was growing up, my nostalgia leads me to continue to leave them out.
I love this recipe because it has more spices in it than a lot of traditional banana bread recipes do. There is nothing better than plenty of warm spices along with the flavor of overripe bananas.
And to add insult to injury, both of these loaves were eaten by all of us at the office, and my sister was left out once again. I mean, she’s an adult now, so I’m sure it’s my niece and brother-in-law conspiring to let bananas brown on her counter these days.
I know one thing: if I go for a visit, I’ll leave any fruit in her kitchen alone.
This piece first appeared in print on June 13, 2024.
Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.
