Our Family Banana Bread Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Can you put too much banana in banana bread? ›

Fight the urge to use more banana than called for in your recipe. Using too much banana could make your bread heavy and damp in the center, causing it to appear undercooked and unappealing. If you have bananas leftover, you can always freeze them for later use.

Too much baking soda or baking powder can mess up a recipe, causing it to rise uncontrollably and taste terrible.

Using too much flour makes for an extra crumbly bread.

If you're tapping your measuring cup to level out flour as you measure, or you're pushing down the piled-up powder, you'll end up using too much of it. I packed my flour for this loaf, and what I got was a crumbly cake with a dry crust all around.

Introduction: The Bread Baker's Hidden Gem

While many bakers focus on flour, yeast, and water, there's a lesser-known but equally important ingredient that can make all the difference—cream of tartar. This unassuming white powder is the secret to creating the fluffiest and most tender loaves of bread.

If they smell off, that's another good indicator that they are no longer okay to use. Rotten bananas will often have a fermented or alcohol-like smell. While it's okay if the banana peel is dark brown or even black, if the inside is too, then the fruit is beyond ripe and now on its way to rotten.

Using a lot of bananas adds excess moisture, and there are two ways to get rid of it. You could either add more flour or increase the baking time.

Actually the variance is a few ounces and could make a difference in your baking. This banana bread recipe calls for 2 cups sifted, all-purpose flour. Sifting flour lightens it and removes any lumps. This means you should sift the flour into a bowl, then measure it.

The Importance of Keeping It Cool

Once the banana bread is done, it's necessary to let it sit in the baking pan for about 15 minutes and then transfer it to a plate where it will sit for a while longer. Due to the caramelized sugar, it's best to wait for the loaf to cool properly before cutting into it.

If you're planning to eat your banana bread within three to four days, it can be left out on a counter or table overnight at room temperature. (Although some recipes with add-ins, like cream cheese banana bread, shouldn't be left out.) After that, the bread starts to stale.

According to the FDA, L-Cysteine is generally regarded as safe for consumption. This amino acid is commonly used as a dough conditioner in bread-making, as it helps to improve the texture and shelf-life of bread. L-Cysteine can be derived from a variety of sources, including human hair, duck feathers, and hog hair.

What ingredient makes bread fluffy? ›

Adding sugar weakens the gluten structure, absorbs water, and eventually makes the bread lighter and softer. As a result, sugar improves the bread's taste, structure and texture. Yeast also eats up sugar to produce carbon dioxide, which raises the dough and makes bread fluffy.

1 Calcium propionate helps keep baked goods fresh by preventing mold and bacterial growth that would otherwise cause them to go bad. Calcium propionate also occurs naturally in butter and some types of cheese.

Cut them in half and brulee them with raw sugar. Muffins/banana bread. Cut them up and freeze for smoothies. I don't like bananas either but that's my suggestion.

You may find banana bread delicious, but conventional banana breads tend to be high in added sugar, refined carbs, and calories. Thus, it's best to enjoy banana bread occasionally as part of a balanced, nutrient-dense diet.

Too much liquid can lead to banana bread that sinks in the middle. Of course, an excess amount of dry ingredients can also lead to trouble.