Justin has the most amazing grandparents. Like no joke. They’re from straight out of the movies that you see where the grandparents love and dote on the grandchildren and are constantly feeding them incredible food. He has those. And I love them. They sent us this old cookbook for Christmas one year (well the book itself isn’t old but the recipes inside are) and I love the simple yet flavorful recipes passed down from generation to generation. Justin, being the incredible baker he is, has made several things from this cookbook but my favorite has been the Banana Bread. When he bakes it and the smell is wafting throughout the house, I feel like I am surrounded by what happiness would smell like, if happiness had a smell.
This recipe has been adapted from Mary K. W. Langan, from Sharing Our Best, Centennial Cookbook, 1903-2003.
Grandma Pauline and Grandpa Doug Opdahl
Banana Bread
Yield 2 loaves
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups white sugar
- 1/2 cup stick butter, softened
- 2 large eggs
- 1 1/2 cups ripe bananas, mashed (3 to 4 medium bananas)
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- brown sugar to sprinkle
Instructions
- Move oven rack to low position so that the tops of the pans will be in the center of the oven.
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Grease the bottoms only of two 8 1/2″ by 4 1/2″ by 2 1/2″ loaf pans.
- Mix sugar and butter in a large bowl.
- Stir in eggs until well blended.
- Add bananas, buttermilk, and vanilla. Beat until smooth.
- Stir in flour, baking soda, and salt until just moistened.
- Pour into your pans and sprinkle the tops with brown sugar.
- Bake for about 1 hour or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool the loaves for 5 minutes in their pans before you remove them.
- Then cool them completely on a wire rack before slicing.
Notes
- This recipe makes two loaves…make someone’s day and give one away!
- We hadn't invested in loaf tins yet, so we used pie tins - which is why ours in the pictures look pie-shaped.