Buttery Banana Bread

I am not a baker per se, but every now and then I like to give it a go.  I was inspired the other night to make banana bread after my wife had made a loaf using a Better Homes and Garden recipe.  We were low on white flour so she had to augment the flour with wheat flour, making more dense bread-I liked it, but the rest of the family scored the bread high for flavor and lower for its heavier density.  I would have happily devoured the entire loaf and moreover, I thought that the denseness allows for toasting of the bread in the rare chance that some may be left over.  Sure it is yummy on its own, but who can resist the melting butter on the hot banana bread? 

The next night I pulled out my mom’s banana bread recipe to give it a whirl.  I modified her recipe-sorry mom- to make it richer and ensure a nice buttery crustiness to the top and edges of the bread-no need to butter this bread, but hey I am not here to tell you how to eat your banana bread!

My mom’s recipe, which to be sure is amazing, calls for 1/3 cup of shortening.  I don’t have any shortening on hand ever, so I substituted butter for the shortening.  I could fill an entire page on why all butters are not created equal, but that will be for another post.  However, to make a truly remarkable loaf or banana bread that is rich and buttery with a nice butter crust, choosing butter other than Land-O-Lakes is in order.  I used President Butter-a mix of salted and unsalted, though unsalted only would have been fine I am sure.  President butter is my favorite and can be found in most major super markets…sometimes it is shelved along with the various gourmet cheeses as I have found in stores like Giant and Harris Teeter so if you don’t find it where the Land-O-Lakes is shelved, look there.   I figure any butter that is alongside a wheel of creamy brie must be great!

Below is the recipe that has wowed all tasters for years with a new twist.

Buttery Banana Bread (one loaf)

9x5 Loaf Pan

Pre-Heat oven to 350 degrees

1 cup  Pureed very ripe bananas-about three  (best to use bananas that are about a day away from throwing out)

2/3 stick of Butter (President or other high quality butter), unsalted

2 Eggs (well beaten)

2/3 Cup of Sugar

1 tsp. of Vanilla

1 ¼ Cup of Flour

1 tsp. Baking Soda

1 tsp. Cream of Tartar

1 tsp. Salt

1.      Combine dry ingredients in a small bowl and set aside

2.      Add eggs to mixer and beat well for approximately two minutes to add volume to the eggs.

3.      Add sugar, vanilla, and butter and continue to beat at medium speed for another two minutes

4.      Gradually mix in dry ingredients

5.      Pour into a greased loaf pan and bake for 50 minutes.

6.      After taking the bread out of the oven turn the loaf pan onto a wire rack to allow the bread to cool, but only some as it is best eaten warm!