You'll get rave reviews with this moist buttermilk banana bread! It's the perfect back to school breakfast or weekend brunch - everyone loves it. Makes great muffins, too!
2cupsbananamashed, very ripe - should almost be a liquid
½tablespoonlemon juice
4large eggsroom temperature
1 ¾cupswhite sugar
¾cupbrown sugar
½teaspoonvanilla extract
3 ½cupsall-purpose flourall-purpose
2teaspoonsbaking soda
½teaspoonkosher saltkosher salt - if you use regular table salt use ¼ less
⅔cuppecansoptional... toasted and coarsely chopped
½cupchocolate chipsoptional
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350F.
Grease and lightly flour 2 loaf pans.
Beat the oil, butter, eggs, vanilla, both sugars and buttermilk until well blended.
Beat in the banana and lemon juice.
Mix the flour, baking soda and salt and stir into the banana mixture until well blended.
Add the chopped pecans (and chocolate chips if using) and gently stir into the batter by hand.
Spoon into 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!
Cool in pans for 15 minutes then gently turn out and finish cooling.
Dust cooled loaves with Confectioner's sugar.
Notes
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.
If you'd like the bread to be a lighter golden brown use all regular sugar instead of part brown sugar.
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.
You can store most quick breads, wrapped well, on the counter for up to 2 days.
These loaves freeze well. Wrap cooled loaves snugly in plastic wrap and place in a freezer container. Freeze for up to 3 months.