Grandma's Buttermilk Banana Bread

Each sigh inducing bite of this quick bread is moist and ripe with flavor. Sweet, but not too sweet - it's bound to bring up some wonderful memories for you. If not - well, now is a great time to make wonderful memories for your family and friends.

If you've got leftover buttermilk check out these recipes!

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Made this today - it's the best banana bread/muffins we've ever had!  ~Robin

Shopping list

This might just be the best banana bread recipe in the known universe. The buttermilk, oil, and brown sugar keep it moist and the super ripe bananas give it all the flavor.

Here's the grocery list of ingredients you'll need -

• Oil is used instead of butter - it keeps the bread more moist. Use a light oil - I prefer peanut but walnut, light vegetable oil, or sunflower oil will work.
• Butter adds more moisture and that flavor we all love.
• Buttermilk keeps baked goods tender. I use a full fat buttermilk but you can use what you have. Here's how to make an infinite amount of buttermilk using milk and a little starter.
• Bananas should be as ripe as possible. I will wait until mine are almost liquidy.
• Lemon juice keeps the bananas from getting dark and it helps balance the sweetness of the ripe banana.
• Eggs used are pasture raised, organic, large eggs.
• Sugar helps the bread brown and sweetens it.
• Brown sugar is added for another layer of flavor plus brown sugar keeps baked goods moist.
• Vanilla is one of those things I use in almost everything. You can omit it if you like. I like the additional cozy flavor vanilla lends to this quick bread.
• All- purpose flour is my flour of choice here. I prefer unbleached.
• Baking soda is the leavening. It reacts with the buttermilk and the lemon juice to help the bread rise.
• Salt used is kosher salt. If you are using table salt please use about ¼ less.
• Pecans are optional. I like them in banana bread but you could use walnuts or leave them out completely. Toasting them makes the flavor stand out.
• Chocolate chips are also optional but they're a nice addition for something a little different.

Instructions

This buttermilk banana bread recipe is simple to make - you'll just need to make sure you don't over-mix the batter because it will make it tough. Make sure all your ingredients are at room temperature.

1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
2. Grease and lightly flour 2 loaf pans.
3. Beat the oil, melted butter, eggs, vanilla, both sugars and buttermilk until well blended.
4. Beat in the banana and lemon juice.
5. Mix the flour, baking soda and salt then stir into the banana mixture until well blended.
6. Add the chopped  pecans (and chocolate chips if using) and gently fold into the batter by hand.
7. Spoon into the two greased loaf pans and bake at 350f for 1 hour or until a toothpick stuck into the center of a loaf comes out clean. *IMPORTANT oven times vary from place to place and oven to oven... Start checking at the 50 minute point!
8. Cool in pans for 15 minutes then gently turn out and finish cooling.
9. Dust cooled loaves with Confectioner's sugar or glaze as desired.

FAQs

This recipe is Easy - it's a good recipe for a beginner.

Here are the most commonly asked questions about this recipe. If you don't find the answer to yours here leave a comment below or email me - I'll get back to you as soon as I can!

How do you make it moist?

The secret is twofold - 1). Use super ripe bananas - they should be black and almost pour out of the peels but not be molded. 2). I use half oil and half melted butter. Oil keeps the banana nut bread moist while the butter gives it flavor - best of both worlds!

Do you have to use baking soda in buttermilk banana bread?

Yes. The baking soda helps to neutralize natural acids in the bananas and buttermilk. Please don't try to substitute baking powder for the baking soda in this recipe.

How do I make bananas ripen faster?

Put them in a brown bag and twist it closed. Ethylene, a natural gas produced by fruit, will build up speeding up the ripening process.

How many bananas do I need?

Figure on about ½ banana puree from every large banana, or  ⅓ cup for every medium one. This measurement doesn't have to be precise... a little over or under isn't a problem.

Can bananas be too ripe to use?

If the bananas are bubbling or moldy they're too ripe - other than that use your own judgement.

Why didn't my banana loaf rise? Why did it sink in the middle?

It could be one of several reasons:

• Your leavening was out of date or had weakened for some other reason (baking soda or baking powder weakens with age or moisture).
• You may have mis-measured.
• You may have over mixed.
• The batter was too wet - the consistency of the batter can change depending on how ripe the banana is. If it's too wet it will weigh the bread down and it won't rise.
• If it sunk in the middle it wasn't cooked through.

Tips

If you need to use up some brown, overripe bananas that the family won't touch this is your new favorite recipe!!!! It's so easy to make and freezes well.

• Measure your flour by lightly spooning it into the measuring cup then leveling it off with the back of a knife.
• Be sure to mash the bananas really well. I will usually pulse them in the blender a little to get them really smooth. I don't like biting into chunks of banana in my banana bread.
• Don't over stir the batter. It will be thick and a little lumpy.
• Always let the loaf cool completely before slicing or it may crumble.
• Substitute walnuts, macadamias, or other favorite nuts for the pecans.
• Add ½ cup of chocolate chips for chocolate chip banana bread.
• I like just a dusting of powdered sugar but you can also make a thin Confectioner's glaze to go over it by mixing confectioner's sugar with enough melted butter to give it the right consistency for a glaze.
• You can store most quick breads, wrapped well, on the counter for up to 2 days. After that you risk mold so freeze for longer storage.
• Omit the nuts if you want to!

Related recipes

If you need some help coming up with ideas on how to use up overripe bananas you've come to the right spot! Here are some of my favorites from here on Restless Chipotle.

Bananas Foster Cheesecake is a rich, special occasion cheesecake with banana and rum flavors. It’s absolutely delicious. If you love this recipe please give it 5 stars.

Banana Bread with Oreos is a tender, rich banana bread with chopped Oreos in each bite. It's decadently moist with lots of ripe banana flavor. It's the perfect grab and go breakfast, afternoon snack, or late night munchie. Make it in mini loaf pans to give as gifts.

Savannah Bread is an old family favorite — one that I grew up with. I don’t know where my mom found the recipe. It's banana bread made with peanut butter and I’ve never seen, nor tasted, anything quite like it. It’s just right for breakfast or brunch – out of this world with a layer of Nutella swirled across a slice.

Kaffeeklatch

I love finding great deals on bananas at the grocery store. Our store will have one of the big grocery bags of bananas marked $2.00 every couple of weeks and I snatch them up.

Of course, that means that within a couple of days I have gooey, overripe bananas, oozing banana gunk all over the counter. No one wants to eat them except the fruit flies that seem to appear out of nowhere.

Anyone else?

If there's a lot of them (bananas, not fruit flies) I'll blend them and freeze in 1 cup measurements to use later on.

Just add a little lemon juice so they don't get too dark.

My favorite way to use up bananas is either this banana walnut  layer cake or banana bread, though.

My grandma's buttermilk banana bread is rich, moist, and buttery - almost like a pound cake. It tastes like my childhood!

Also, if you toast the pecans the flavor is so much better! Just put the chopped pecans on a cookie sheet and bake at 350F, stirring often until they become fragrant. So easy.

Quick breads are the perfect addition to brunch or a weekend breakfast and, of all of the varieties, banana bread recipes seem to be perennial favorites!

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