Monday, February 1, 2021

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!




8 comments:

  1. Tenho várias receitas preferidas! Mas, vou provar a sua... e, desde já, aviso que vou fazer algumas mudanças na original. Por exemplo, o iogurte de pêssego 🍑...vou usar o natural, obrigada, beijos 💋

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  2. This sounds delicious! Thanks for sharing the recipe.

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  3. That's certainly a unique recipe for banana bread, with some unusual ingredients!

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  4. The peach yogurt sounds intriguing. I’ll have to give this a try.

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  5. Perfect timing! I just moved the bananas that are very ripe where I would have to notice them in the morning and either make bread or freeze them!! I am now thinking bread! I love trying new recipes...thanks for sharing this yummy sounding one!! Susan in NC

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  6. That looks really delicious and moist! Yummy. This winter when I bake I go ahead and freeze things. I put baked things in small cartons and just take out what we need at a time and I love it!!

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  7. Hi Angela! I made the banana bread and it was wonderful! I didn't have peach yogurt or coconut, but I did have sour cream and chocolate chips!!!! OH MY!!! I have consumed way more than I should have already, but I only feel a little bit guilty! You are right...it is so moist and so incredibly good! Thanks for sharing both your and Monica's recipes! Susan in NC

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  8. The banana bread sounds delicious.
    And what a fun cookbook to have in your collection.

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