Banana Bread
Have you ever been curious about why you can still make banana bread with bananas that are no longer good to eat? Whenever bananas started to go bad in my house growing up, that just meant that was time to make banana bread, and as soon as it was out of the oven, we were all waiting for it to cool to have a bite. This is the recipe we used to make it every time. Believe it or not, there is a lot of science and chemical reactions when it comes to banana bread, especially in this recipe. There are lots of ingredients that affect the maillard browning rates, and other factors that affect the sweetness or texture of the bread. See Science of Banana Bread to see more. As part of this project, I decided to investigate the changes that would happen if I used normal or underride bananas as compared to overripe bananas. I have always been curious as to why we have to wait until the bananas are practically rotten to make banana bread, so I decided to test what would happen if I didn't wait. See Science of Altered Recipe to see more.
  • Difficulty: Medium
Servings: 12 yield(s)
Prep Time: 30 mins
Cook Time: 60 mins
Total Time: 90 mins
Ingredients
  • 2 cup All-Purpose Flour
  • 1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
  • 1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp Salt
  • 1/4 tsp Nutmeg
  • 1/4 tsp Allspice
  • 4 Bananas (very ripe)
  • 2 tbsp Fresh Lemon Juice
  • 1/4 cup Unsalted Butter or Margarine (room temperature)
  • 2/3 cup Granulated Sugar
  • 2/3 cup Light Brown Sugar
  • 3 Eggs
  • 2 tsp Vanilla
  • 1/3 cup Low-fat Buttermilk
Instructions
  1. 1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9" x 5" x 3" loaf pan. Onto a piece of wax paper, sift the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, nutmeg and allspice. In a medium-sized bowl, using a potato masher, mash the bananas with the lemon juice (you should have about 3 cups.) 2. In a large bowl, with an electric mixer set on high, cream the butter. Add the granulated sugar, then 1/3 cup of the brown sugar, the eggs, one at a time, and the vanilla, beating until fluffy. 3. Using a wooden spoon, blend in the banana mixture. Stir in the flour mixture, alternately with the buttermilk just until the flour disappears. Spoon into the pan; sprinkle with the remaining brown sugar. Bake for 1 hour or until center is set. Cool in the pan on a rack for 5 minutes before removing. Makes 1 loaf.
Recipe Notes

Porter, Susan. “Baking Soda or Baking Powder in Banana Bread?” The Dough Academy, The Dough Academy, 10 Jan. 2023, https://thedoughacademy.com/baking-soda-or-baking-powder-in-banana-bread/ . Pellicano, Laurie Ellen. “Why Does Overmixing Matter in Baking, and How Do I Avoid It?” Epicurious, 17 Mar. 2023, https://www.epicurious.com/expert-advice/why-does-overmixing-matter-in-baking. Bridenstine, Sarah. “How to Ripen Bananas for Banana Bread (and Why You Should).” Baking Kneads, LLC, 1 Mar. 2023, https://www.bakingkneads.com/how-to-ripen-bananas-for-banana-bread/. Hermansen, K., Rasmussen, O., Gregersen, S., & Larsen, S. (1992). Influence of ripeness of banana on the blood glucose and insulin response in type 2 diabetic subjects. Diabetic Medicine, 9(8), 739-743. doi:10.1111/j.1464-5491.1992.tb01883.x Lin, L. -., Peng, C. C., Chen, K. -., Wang, H. -., Wang, C. -., Shen, K. H., & Peng, R. Y. (2020). Manufacturing technology of banana-assorted breads: The fermentative characteristics affected by different banana cultivars. Food Science and Nutrition, 8(6), 2627-2641. doi:10.1002/fsn3.1539 Gélinas, P. (2022). Gas sources in chemical leavening and other baker’s yeast substitutes: Lessons from patents and science. International Journal of Food Science and Technology, 57(2), 865-880. Doi:10.1111/ijfs.15447