This banana bread recipe is another one from the 1949 Ohio State Grange Cook Book.
Like the others we’ve tried, this is much less sweet than other recipes I’ve tried, and I like it that way. You can add chocolate chips (like we did) or frosting and it won’t become overly sweet.
Ingredients
½ cup butter, melted (or at least softened)
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 over-ripe bananas
2 eggs
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
2 cups all-purpose flour
– Optional –
1 cup chocolate chips
NOTE: These photos show a double recipe.
Directions
Mix the butter and sugar until there are no lumps. (This is easier if you melt the butter first.)
Add the vanilla and bananas and mix.
Add the eggs, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and a third of the flour.
Mix on low speed — unless you like flinging flour all over the counter.
Add the rest of the flour in two more batches, scraping down the sides in between each addition.
If you’re including chocolate chips, add two-thirds of them and mix briefly.
Flour a pan — or if you’re doing a double recipe like we did, two pans. Pour the batter into the pan and top with the remaining chocolate chips.
Bake at 350° for 45 minutes, let stand in the pan for a few minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool.
And that’s it.
Want more like this? For more recipes like this, that you can hold right in your hands, and write on, take notes, tear pages out if you want (Gosh, you're tough on books, aren't you?) you might be interested in How To Cook Like Your Grandmother, 2nd edition, Illustrated. Or to learn your way around the kitchen, check out Starting From Scratch: The Owner's Manual for Your Kitchen.
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9 Comments
Wow, that looks wonderful. I’m going to make this this weekend!
Does the sugar have to be all-white? Would half white, half brown throw off the liquid balance, do you think?
Great recipe! Thanks!
I like brown bananas (the ones that you left sit on your counter about 2 weeks longer than you should have) better than yellow ones because it motivates you to make something delicious like this recipe! Looks great!
Kristina, you could go all brown sugar and I don’t think it would hurt it any.
Since we’ve started making bread and cookies from these older cookbooks, we’ve realized just how much the amount of sugar has increased in the past 50 years. If you can double the sugar in a recipe and it still comes out structurally okay, then I’m sure replacing some of it with brown sugar shouldn’t matter at all.
And Carrie, I’m sure you can see that our bananas were pretty soft. Yes, that’s why we made them into bread.
I made this last night and it is delicious! I had to bake it 10 minutes minutes longer (for a total baking time of 55 minutes).
I will be making this again. Thanks for adapting (by adding the chocolate) and sharing a great recipe.
Man, that looks awesome. Do you deliver?
Yup. Delivery costs are per-mile.
And done! Just had my first slice of this sweet loaf and it is delicious : ) I substituted half the flour for wheat flour and used ghirridelli chocolate chips. I ended up needing some extra time in the oven too, but no more than like 50-55 minutes total. The brownies were a big hit yesterday, too : )
I have so many frozen bananas in my freezer that are begging to be cooked! Perfect