Banana bread is a textured, soft and juicy loaf that goes well with any warm beverage. Having a slice of banana bread is pretty much like eating a cake without packing on the extra calories. Suitably flavored with wholly ripe bananas, the tasty loaves are yet another excuse to flex your baking skills and impress your family.

It was a long journey for the confection to become a sensation in the bakers' world and what we know as banana bread today was first prepared as a cheap and filling meal for those facing financial constraints in 1930 when the U.S. was in the grip of the Great Depression. Historians suggest that creative housewives in that era started making the recipe to put the overripe bananas into good use. Turned out, the usage of bananas in the recipe made them sweet and almost moist like cakes.

The National Banana Bread Day, which falls on Feb. 23, honors the cuisine and to mark the occasion, below is a recipe as well as a few quotes that will deepen your love for it. (Courtesy: All recipes)

Ingredients:

All-purpose flour- 2 cups

Baking soda- 1 teaspoon

Salt- 1/4 teaspoon

Butter- 1/2 cup

Brown sugar- 3/4 cups

Eggs- 2, beaten

Mashed overripe bananas- 2 1/3 cups

Procedure:

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and lightly grease a 9*5 loaf pan.
  • Take a large bowl and combine flour, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, take cream butter and brown sugar. Then stir in eggs and mashed bananas until well blended. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture until it's moist. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
  • Bake in preheated oven for 60 to 65 minutes and insert a toothpick to check the status. If the toothpick comes out clean, place the pan on a wire rack to let it cool down.

Quotes about banana bread:

  • "There was a period when I was getting a lot of banana bread, because I mentioned someone cooked me banana bread, and then everyone cooked me baked stuff, and I would take it to the hotel, and it was making me fat."- Marc Maron
  • "Sister Maria Martinez whom I believe I've mentioned before has been giving me cooking classes. Today I learned how to bake mean banana bread. The secret apparently is half a cup of dark rum."- Adele Griffin
  • "I cannot go to Montreal without going to Beauty's, my favorite place for breakfast, where I have the Mish-Mash omelet with hot dogs, salami, eggs, green peppers, and onions, and the best banana bread in the world. It's legendary!"- Gail Simmons
  • "I am good at baking. I don't know if that counts as a talent, but I love to bake. Everybody says I'm good at it, so apparently I make the best banana bread."- Meaghan Jette Martin
bread-g5be6251a7_1920
Banana bread Pixabay
RELATED STORIES