Had a few over-ripe bananas laying around so I decided to give Martha Stewart’s Banana Bread recipe a try. I changed it up a little — the type of butter, the type and amount of sugar and flour, added a tiny bit more of the mashed bananas, and made mini loaves instead of a big loaf or muffins.
Here’s the Stephanie Staples version of Martha’s fabulous recipe:
Ingredients:
1/2 cup (1 stick) Smart Balance 50/50 butter (do NOT use the tubs, only stick butter), at room temperature.
3/4 cup of brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup unbleached flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt (optional—not necessary when using 50/50 olive oil butter blend stick)
1 tsp organic cinnamon
1 cup mashed very ripe bananas (Plus 1/4… this is a matter of preference. I used less sugar so opted to use a bit more banana)
1/2 cup sour cream (I used reduced fat instead of fat free – I’m guessing fat free would make the batter a bit runnier so if you want to lighten it up you might want to use a little less sour cream so the batter will not be too moist.)
1 teaspoon vanilla (I always, always, always try to use Madagascar bourbon vanilla)
You can add 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans but I didn’t have any.
Directions
It is SO important to follow directions when baking breads – if you just throw all of the ingredients in a bowl and use an electric mixer your bread will not rise and it just won’t be as good. 🙂
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter (or olive oil spray) pan(s); set aside. In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (I just used my regular beaters with a hand mixer), cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, and beat to incorporate.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to the butter mixture, and mix (with a wooden spoon or spatula spoon – I did not use the electric mixer) until just combined. Add bananas, sour cream, and vanilla; mix (with spoon) to combine. Stir in nuts (if desired), and pour into prepared pan.
3. Bake until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, (it says a bread takes about 1 hour 10 minutes – mini loaves took about 30-35). I did not do this part: Let rest in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack to cool. Oops! 🙂
Erik gave the loaves two thumbs up so it must be good! 🙂
Enjoy!
