Banana Bread

Today I thought I'd show you how to make banana bread. The recipe doesn't have many complicated steps and doesn't have too many ingredients, so it's pretty easy to make (though it also doesn't give me many opportunities for pictures, so I didn't take many).

Ingredients

Here are the ingrdients; I've provided American units as well as mL for the rest of the world:

• Flour: 1.5 cups / 350 mL
• Sugar: 0.75 cups / 175 mL
• Cooking Oil: 0.25 cups / 60 mL
• Water: 2 tbsp / 30 mL
• Baking powder: 3.5 tsp / 15 mL
• Baking soda: 0.25 tsp / 1 mL
• 3 bananas
• Chopped nuts

The recipe calls for no dairy products, meat, or eggs, so it's safe for vegetarians and vegans. I tend to use bananas that are ripe, but brown enough that you wouldn't want to eat them plain. It's a good way to use those bananas if you have some.

Aside from the ingredients, you'll need a bowl in which to mix them and a loaf pan in which to bake them.

Making It

So take your bowl and dump all of the ingredients into it:

Mmm, yummy. Now you have to mix them all together. You can use an electric mixer or just mush it all up with your hands. Using your hands can be convenient, because it's easier to find and break nut pieces that you think are too large, and to smush any banana bits that are too solid. The mixture should look dry at first, but keep mixing and it'll become a yellowish pasty liquid:

Make sure you've mixed in any flour that might be sticking to the sides of the bowl. If you've been mixing with your hands, you can wash them off now. You can also set the cooking temperature, which should be 350° F / 175° C. Now you're ready to put the batter in your loaf pan. You'll probably want to use non-stick spray on the pan, because this bread does tend to stick after it's cooked. Anyway, just pour the mixture into the pan. You'll probably have to scrape out the bowl:

Now just put it in the oven and start cooking. Cooking times vary depending on the size and shape of your pan (it can take from forty-five minutes to just over an hour), so check the bread after about half an hour. It shouldn't be done by then, but you can get an idea of how far along it is. When the top starts cracking and turning brown, it's almost done. Do the standard knife or toothpick test to tell when it's ready. (It's okay if the middle is still a bit sticky when you take it out of the oven.) After removing it from the oven, you might want to run a knife or a thin spatula around the edges to make sure it isn't stuck. Then just carefully slide it out:

Your banana bread is complete! You can eat it while it's warm, but I think it tastes better after it's been sitting for a few hours. In any case, slice it up like regular bread and eat.