Two weekends ago, I was enjoying some rest and relaxation and watching way too many PBS specials. I learned about travel patterns of wolves in Yellowstone, how to scorch eggplant directly on grill coals, and best of all, how to make Ultimate Banana Bread on America's Test Kitchen. Since I don't have cable but have a wicked, silver, spaceship-shaped TV antenna that gets every PBS station known to man, I have grown to love America's Test Kitchen. This has been my summer fling. I don't have time for much TV during the study season, so I'm taking in as much summer-lovin', recipe-learnin' as I can!
This banana bread looked amazing on the show & it just so happened that I had amassed a half-dozen black bananas in my freezer over the course of the year. You may be thinking, "you can make two or three loaves with 6 bananas!". Au contraire mon frere! This delectable loaf takes 6 bananas. It's so packed with banana flavor that you don't want to stop eating it!
I'm sure you're dying to know how to make it. Well, here is the recipe, my friends (from America's Test Kitchen http://www.americastestkitchen.com/recipes/detail.php?docid=25349&extcode=M**ASCA00):
Ingredients:
1 3/4 cups (8 3/4 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon table salt
6 large very ripe bananas (about 2 1/4 pounds), peeled (see note)
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter , melted and cooled slightly
2 large eggs
3/4 cup (5 1/4 ounces) packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup walnuts , toasted and coarsely chopped (optional)
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
So, if your bananas are frozen, let them thaw and they will release their luscious juice. If they're not frozen then you have to nuke them in the microwave.
I'm getting ahead of myself.
1. First turn on your oven to 350F, spray a loaf pan (9"x5" or 8 1/2" x 4 1/2").
2. Whisk flour, salt & baking soda in large bowl (first time I made it I mistakenly put in baking powder, which causes you to have a much denser loaf. Still delicious, you just won't have as much rising action).
3. Here's the fun part! You get to microwave your bananas (skip if your bananas were frozen and already surrended their juice)! So, place FIVE (save the sixth - it's for decoration) bananas in a micro-safe bowl, cover with plastic wrap, poke holes, & microwave for 5 minutes. Make sure you keep an eye on it because the first time I did it, it boiled over and I had banana goo all over the turntable in my microwave.
4. Once they've juiced themselves, place them in a strainer, which I like to place directly over a [cold] saucepan on the stove. Leave them for ~15 min and stir occasionally. This gets all the juice into the pan.
5. Then place the bananas into another bowl where you will be mixing in more ingredients. Reduce the banana juice on the stove for ~5 min. It smells AMAZING at this point & you'll want to drink it. At least, I did.
6. When reduced, pour back into bowl of bananas and mash! Then whisk in butter [MELTED], eggs, brown sugar, and vanilla.
7. Gently fold this into the dry ingredients mix. It's okay if there are streaks of flour because they will go away when you add walnuts (if you choose) next!
8. So gently mix in your walnuts. Don't go nuts (hah)! You don't want to over-mix!
9. Pour into your loaf pan, cut up a banana on the diagonal and shingle along the edges. You may have the urge to cover the entire loaf with bananas, but it will not rise if you do that, so contain yourself! :-)
8. Lastly, sprinkle the top with 2 Tb of granulated sugar. This gives it a nice crust on the top.
10. Pop it into the oven for an hour or so (55-75 min. for the 8 1/2" pan and 50-70 min. for the 9" pan).
11. Let it cool in the pan on a wire rack for 15 min, then remove and let it continue cooling for as long as you can stand without cutting into it & trying it! It won't be very long, I can assure you.
I took this to work for a birthday celebration and everyone went crazy. It's also been known to woo men. As we all know, the route to a man's heart is through their stomach! ;-) Enjoy ULTIMATE Banana Bread!
Love,
Whitney
This banana bread looked amazing on the show & it just so happened that I had amassed a half-dozen black bananas in my freezer over the course of the year. You may be thinking, "you can make two or three loaves with 6 bananas!". Au contraire mon frere! This delectable loaf takes 6 bananas. It's so packed with banana flavor that you don't want to stop eating it!
I'm sure you're dying to know how to make it. Well, here is the recipe, my friends (from America's Test Kitchen http://www.americastestkitchen.com/recipes/detail.php?docid=25349&extcode=M**ASCA00):
Ingredients:
1 3/4 cups (8 3/4 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon table salt
6 large very ripe bananas (about 2 1/4 pounds), peeled (see note)
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter , melted and cooled slightly
2 large eggs
3/4 cup (5 1/4 ounces) packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup walnuts , toasted and coarsely chopped (optional)
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
So, if your bananas are frozen, let them thaw and they will release their luscious juice. If they're not frozen then you have to nuke them in the microwave.
I'm getting ahead of myself.
1. First turn on your oven to 350F, spray a loaf pan (9"x5" or 8 1/2" x 4 1/2").
2. Whisk flour, salt & baking soda in large bowl (first time I made it I mistakenly put in baking powder, which causes you to have a much denser loaf. Still delicious, you just won't have as much rising action).
3. Here's the fun part! You get to microwave your bananas (skip if your bananas were frozen and already surrended their juice)! So, place FIVE (save the sixth - it's for decoration) bananas in a micro-safe bowl, cover with plastic wrap, poke holes, & microwave for 5 minutes. Make sure you keep an eye on it because the first time I did it, it boiled over and I had banana goo all over the turntable in my microwave.
4. Once they've juiced themselves, place them in a strainer, which I like to place directly over a [cold] saucepan on the stove. Leave them for ~15 min and stir occasionally. This gets all the juice into the pan.
5. Then place the bananas into another bowl where you will be mixing in more ingredients. Reduce the banana juice on the stove for ~5 min. It smells AMAZING at this point & you'll want to drink it. At least, I did.
6. When reduced, pour back into bowl of bananas and mash! Then whisk in butter [MELTED], eggs, brown sugar, and vanilla.
7. Gently fold this into the dry ingredients mix. It's okay if there are streaks of flour because they will go away when you add walnuts (if you choose) next!
8. So gently mix in your walnuts. Don't go nuts (hah)! You don't want to over-mix!
9. Pour into your loaf pan, cut up a banana on the diagonal and shingle along the edges. You may have the urge to cover the entire loaf with bananas, but it will not rise if you do that, so contain yourself! :-)
8. Lastly, sprinkle the top with 2 Tb of granulated sugar. This gives it a nice crust on the top.
10. Pop it into the oven for an hour or so (55-75 min. for the 8 1/2" pan and 50-70 min. for the 9" pan).
11. Let it cool in the pan on a wire rack for 15 min, then remove and let it continue cooling for as long as you can stand without cutting into it & trying it! It won't be very long, I can assure you.
I took this to work for a birthday celebration and everyone went crazy. It's also been known to woo men. As we all know, the route to a man's heart is through their stomach! ;-) Enjoy ULTIMATE Banana Bread!
Love,
Whitney
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