The Best Banana Bread — really!

Do you have some go-to recipes in your files? I do. I have a brownie recipe I love, a lasagna recipe that never fails, and of course, the basic scone recipe I have always favored. But as I looked through past blog posts, I can't find where I've ever shared the source of my favorite banana bread recipe. It comes from a 1987 cookbook published by a local woman, Monica Norred.

She had self-published it at the request of friends and family, and as a young newspaper reporter, I was assigned to write a story about the book, and Monica thoughtfully gave me a copy. As I recall, she used laminated wallpaper for her cover, which I thought was quite clever.

Her banana bread recipe is the best, most reliable one I've ever used, and the splatters across the pages would seem to indicate that I've made it a time or two. Last year, when eggs and butter were hard to find at the beginning of the pandemic, I made some substitute banana bread that was entirely edible, but as soon as I could, I went right back to this recipe. I've made several tweaks/substitutions over the years depending on what ingredients were on hand (omitting the pecans and adding chocolate chips, for instance), but my most recent version is my favorite yet, and I made it in one pan (one large loaf) rather than the two pans stated in the original recipe.

If you like a banana bread that's exceptionally moist and is good hot or cold, and absolutely perfect for teatime, this is it. 

Banana-Coconut Bread

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup mashed ripe bananas (2 large; I use old ripened bananas saved in the freezer)

1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut

1 (6-ounce) container low-fat peach yogurt

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine ingredients in order listed and mix well after each addition. Pour batter into a 9 x 5 x 3-inch loaf pan prepared with cooking spray and bake for an 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Refrigerate any leftovers. YUM!