mom's favorite breakfast

Whenever we visit Dallas, Mom has banana bread as an option for breakfast. Consequently, I have made the assumption that she LOVES banana bread.

(Of course, it is possible that she has banana bread because she thinks WE love it. There was a period of several years when she would have a huge bowl of red apples waiting for me every single time I came to visit. I wasn't particularly fond of red apples, but Mom thought I liked them, so she made sure to always have them on hand. She's that kind of mom. I’m currently trying to impress upon her my love for cookies in hopes that there will always be a big plate of them in Dallas!)

Regardless, I think Mom likes banana bread. So, when she came to town last weekend, I had to have some banana bread ready for Saturday breakfast. BUT, for some reason, I don’t have her recipe. After looking at a couple online and trying one from a coworker, I’ve come up with a great recipe. (It got Mom’s stamp of approval.)

Banana Bread

5 ½ Tbs butter, at room temp
1 cup sugar
6 ripe bananas, mashed
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup pineapple juice
1 egg
½ tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp baking powder
1 2/3 cups flour

First, let’s talk bananas. When a banana gets too dark, throw it in the freezer (peel on). When you have 6 bananas, you’re ready for this recipe. Why freeze them? I have found that when you thaw a frozen banana, it will be so gooshy that it is almost impossible to hold. It is disgusting, but so soft. And perfect for banana bread.

Okay, preheat the oven to 350.

Cream the butter and sugar together until smooth. Mix in the bananas, vanilla, and pineapple juice. Beat in the egg.

Add the salt, baking soda, and baking powder, and mix it in.

Mix in the flour.

Grease a 4 x 8 loaf pan. If you want to be sure that your bread will come out of the pan without sticking to the bottom, here’s a trick - cut a piece of parchment paper to fit the bottom of the pan. After you grease the pan, press the paper onto the bottom, and grease the pan again. When the bread comes out of the pan, you’ll be able to peel the paper off the bottom of your bread.

Pour the batter into the pan, and bake it for about 1 hour and 15 minutes.

The bread will be done when a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean. Take the bread out of the pan, and cool it on a rack.