Most things I cook are fairly average and I have been striving to be a better cook and baker (its the patience I lack). Banana Bread is one of the few things I make that I consider perfected. I confess that I am horrible at following recipes. I almost always follow it perfectly the first time, but by the second time I am altering it to how I think it would be best. I got the original version of this recipe from the Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book (1996 edition), but some ingredients have altered quite a bit from that. Here it my version:

Krista’s Banana Bread Recipe

1 1/2 cups bread flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 egg

3 1/2- 4  mashed medium bananas

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/8 teaspoon salt

First I grease a loaf pan with butter and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and  salt in a small bowl.

In a large mixing bowl, mash the bananas, leaving it a little lumpy. With a spoon or spatula, mix in the egg. Add sugar and vegetable oil and stir. Add flour mixture all at once and mix well. Spoon into loaf pan.

Bake for 50 minutes at 350 degrees. Make sure a toothpick comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack in the pan.

I actually bake it two minutes longer because my oven isn’t as good, but 50 minutes was perfect in the oven at our last house. We also often just leave it in the pan and cut out slices from there, but you can take it out of the pan after it cools if you want to.

Enjoy!

~Krista