Banana Bread

A great recipe from cooksillustrated.  This is the best banana bread you will ever eat.


The only slightly annoying part of this recipe is waiting for the bananas to ripen.  You can only use very dark speckled bananas, even completely black ones, but do not use slightly speckled bananas.  I let fresh bananas sit in my room for 1 week before they were ready.

These were my bananas when I made the bread.  This is the minimum I would allow them to ripen.  I could have given them another day or two.  The difference between this and almost black is minimal, but the difference between heavily speckled and lightly speckled is pretty substantial.  Be patient and let them ripen.


ingredients:
1.  8.75 oz of all purpose flour (approx. 1 3/4 cups)
2.  1 tsp baking soda
3.  1/2 tsp salt
4.  6 large bananas, very heavily speckled (or even black)
5.  8 TBL (1 stick) of butter, melted and slightly cooled
6.  2 large eggs
7.  5.25 oz light brown sugar (approx. packed 3/4 cup)
8.  1 tsp vanilla extract
9.  1/2 cup walnuts or pecans, coarsely chopped and lightly toasted
10.  2 tsp granulated sugar

recipe:
1.  Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray 8 1/2" x 4 1/2" loaf pan or 9" x 5" loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray.
2.  Whisk flour, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl.
3.  Coarsely chop either walnuts or pecans, then put over medium heat in a pan to lightly toast for a few minutes, flipping the nuts a few times.
4.  Peel then place 5 bananas (6th banana on the side for garnish later) in a microwave-safe bowl.  Cover with microwave safe plastic wrap, poke a few holes in it to vent, then microwave on high for 5 minutes.
5.  Transfer bananas to a fine mesh strainer over a medium bowl and allow to drain for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.  You should have around 1/2 - 3/4 cup of liquid.
6.  Transfer liquid to a small saucepan and cook over medium heat until it is reduced to 1/4 cup.  Measure this!
note: - Controlling the amount of liquid in this bread is one of the keys to preventing it from being too dense.  Measure the liquid in a measuring cup and make sure it is 1/4 cup.
7.  Add 1/4 cup liquid to the bananas and mash with a potato masher until smooth and no large chunks remain.  You can also use a fork, but you will have to mash a lot more.
note: - Mash until completely smooth.  The first time I made this I only casually mashed the bananas and the resulting bread had chunks of wet banana that I felt were slightly unappetizing textually.  Be thorough and fully mash all the bananas until smooth and there are no large chunks.
8.  Add in melted butter, eggs, brown sugar, and vanilla and whisk until fully combined.
9.  Pour banana mixture into flour mixture (or vice versa), add in the toasted nuts, and stir until just combined and a few specks of flour remain.
10.  Pour and scrape batter into prepared pan.
11.  Slice remaining banana, diagonally, into 1/4" thick slices.  Shingle the banana slices down both sides of the top of the loaf, leaving a 1/4" gap between the banana slices and the sides and top of the loaf pan.  There should be around a 1 1/2" wide space down the center between the banana slices.
12.  Evenly sprinkle 2 tsp granulated sugar over the top of the loaf.
13.  Bake for 60-75 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
14.  Cool bread in pan for 15 minutes.  Drop pan onto counter a few times to loosen, then invert onto a cutting board and gently let it slide out.  Gently flip the loaf right side up and allow to cool at least another 20 minutes before slicing.  Eating it fresh is best, but it keeps for a few days wrapped in plastic wrap.