Tuesday, March 3, 2015

My Favorite Chocolate Chip Banana Bread


Everyone has what they dub the "best" banana bread.  Of course, I believe mine is the best, too, and I was tempted to say so with this post, but I don't want to be a B-bread snob. All banana breads are beautiful. There's no banana bread I'd say no to.

Let's be more accepting, people. We don't want other banana breads feeling left out.


I love this banana bread because it's been the only banana bread I know. It's my mom's recipe (and I believe it was her mom's recipe) and we grew up with it. My entire family loves it and whenever we made it, it never lasted long. Oh man did we all go nuts when Mom made banana bread!

I swear sometimes we'd buy a plethora of bananas solely to make banana bread...

"Oops! My bananas are too ripe. Oh darn. Guess I'll just have to make a banana bread. That's too bad..." SAID NO ONE EVER!


My sisters and I especially love my mom's banana bread. So much so that when we went off to college, my mom would make multiple banana breads, wrap them up good in cling wrap, and send them off to us in our care packages.

IT WAS LIKE WINNING THE CARE PACKAGE LOTTERY!

An entire banana bread loaf to myself? No sharing? YES! I should be so lucky!


So what makes my childhood banana bread so addictive? I don't know. It seems to be a pretty typical recipe, nothing much to it at all, really. Maybe it's the shit ton of chocolate chips we always add. In my house, we never measure chocolate chips. We've always been more dumpers than measurers.

Or maybe it's the looooooooove it's made with. Oh it's definitely made with that. Has anyone proved whether or not making things with love actually makes a difference? Scientifically speaking? Hmm.


Well, I think it does. It certainly seemed to when I'd eat half of my designated loaf in my tiny dorm room in one sitting, chuckling maniacally as I shoveled slice after slice into my mouth as if someone was going to walk in any second to take it back.

What can I say? Don't mess with me and my mom's banana bread, folks. Just don't.


My Favorite Banana Bread
Cook time: 45-55 minutes

Ingredients
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup Crisco
  • 2-3 very ripe bananas
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 cup chocolate chips (or as much as you want because it's a free country)

Cooking Directions
  1. Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.
  2. Grease your chosen pan liberally - loaf pan, muffin pan, 8x8, etc. Use your imagination!
  3. In a medium bowl, mash your bananas with a fork until they form a big mushy pile. Set aside.
  4. In another separate bowl, whisk together your flour and baking soda. Set aside.
  5. Cream the sugar and Crisco.
  6. Add in the 2 eggs and mix until combined.
  7. Add the mashed bananas to the mixture and mix until combined.
  8. Working one cup at a time, slowly add your flour to your banana mixture.
  9. Once thoroughly mixed, toss in all the chocolate chips you want.
  10. Pour batter into your desired pan and spread evenly.
  11. Bake for 45-55 minutes. Depending on what pan you use, the cooking time may vary. I would suggest starting with 45 minutes and then adding time from there, depending how cooked the bread is at that point.