...make banana bread!
In honor of my brother Jonn moving this week, a couple of loaves of banana bread were in order. I am continually on the hunt for new recipes, and I found one on line that sounded slightly more decadent than my usual tried-and-true staple. It included both shortening and mayonnaise, which promised a rich and moist cake.
It was posted by a woman named Betty, and I think you can't go wrong making a recipe from a woman named Betty. That name just screams 1950's wholesome American goodness, maybe with a sassy slap on the ass.
Betty's Banana/Chocolate Chip Bread:
Ingredients:
- 1 cup shortening
- 2 cups white sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 6 very ripe bananas, mashed
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease two 9x5 inch loaf pans.
- In a large bowl, cream together the shortening and sugar until light and fluffy.
Stir in the eggs one at a time, beating well 
with each addition. Stir in the mayonnaise and bananas. Stir together the flour, salt, baking powder and baki
ng soda. Blend the flour mixture into the banana mixture; stir just enough to evenly combine. Fold in the chocolate chips and walnuts. - Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean, about 50 to 75 minutes. Cool loaf in the pan for 20 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
Yield: 20 servings
Even my poor, broken oven was able to handle this recipe - it's really easy and turned out well. It's very dense, more like cake than bread. I used mini semi-sweet chocolate chips, and fresh walnuts from the Farmer's market.
A few tips on making banana bread (from me):
- make sure your bananas are really ripe for optimum natural sweetness.
- do NOT overmix. blend wet & dry ingredients until just moist, otherwise your bread will be too dry and hard
- after cooling, wrap the bread in foil and put away overnight. the next day all of the flavors will have blended perfectly.
- for a really decadent breakfast treat, put a few slices of banana bread on the pannini maker, with a pat of butter on each one. Lightlty toast the bread. The heat caramelizes the sugar, and the butter gives it a great grilled crunch. Melts in your mouth.
