An Easy Recipe

If you are looking for the perfect banana bread recipe, you need to first start with the basics. If you have not already done so, invest in a simple cookbook that has all the basic recipes, as well as some general tips such as how to fold eggs properly. You want to start with a basic banana bread recipe. And then you are going to make it your own.

All banana bread recipes are going to be pretty much the same at the core. They can vary in quantities of each ingredient, but they all basically contain flour, butter, baking soda, salt, sugar (sometimes brown), eggs and bananas. I tend to like my baked goods moist, so I will pick a variation that calls for more eggs, for example.

Use the best ingredients you can, such as real butter (not margarine) and unrefined, organic sugar. Experience will teach you the proper level of ripeness for the bananas. They should be overripe, with a peel that has turned well brown.

It is a good idea to try the recipe out without any alterations first so that you are familiar with the basic flavor and the correct consistency. Then you get to have fun experimenting. Just think about what sounds good to you to add. When you have an idea, look for a recipe that includes that ingredient so you can have a guideline of how much to use.

I like chocolate chips in my quick breads, and think they are a great way to add spark to otherwise ordinary banana bread. I look for a bread recipe that calls for chocolate chips and then use that same amount in my banana bread. Be sure that the recipes you are comparing are meant to make the same amount of bread so that your amounts are not off.

But maybe you want to add walnuts too. Okay, no problem. You are just going to need to reduce the amount of chips a bit in proportion to the amount of nuts you want to add. A common mistake when baking is to alter the recipe so that the amount of batter to add-ins changes. Then the consistency of the product is going to change as well. Usually, not for the better.

Now, you are getting used to the experimenting and you are thinking that walnuts are not enough; there should be pecans as well. Again, just change the amounts so that if you were using a full cup of walnuts before, use a half cup each of walnuts and pecans. Or, you can really go crazy and add almonds as well. All you have to do is change the amount to a third cup of each and you are good to go.

Usually what happens after a period of experimentation is that you find a banana bread recipe that you and your family love so much, you stop experimenting. Before you know it, that special blend is now known as Aunt Mollys Banana Bread. And that is how a family tradition is born.

Ben Cook explains how to bake banana bread in your home kitchen and gives you lots of delicious banana bread recipes on his low sugar banana bread recipe website.