Bake Day: Magic Banana Bread

Hi there, come on inside and pull up a chair at the kitchen table! Today I'm going to share one of my favourite (and most frequently used) recipes, Magic Banana Bread. I say magic because out of all the banana bread recipes I've tried, this one is the favourite of all who live here at Fig Cottage. Sometimes I let a bunch of bananas go brown on purpose, just so I can make this loaf. Gleaned from a selection of other recipes (including an older one from my mom), and lightly spiced for extra goodness, this recipe is quick to whip up and usually disappears very quickly.
It's magic!

Ingredients

• 4 or 5 medium bananas, mashed (approx 2 cups)
• 1 large egg
• ½ cup butter, melted
• ¼ cup milk
• 1½ cups all-purpose flour + 2 Tbsp
• ¾ cup sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp ground allspice
• ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
• ¼ tsp ground cardamom
• ½ cup of chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350F and prepare a loaf pan by lightly greasing then lining it with parchment paper. Allow some overhang of the paper, for ease of removing later. 

In a large bowl, beat egg, mashed banana and melted butter until thoroughly blended, then stir in milk. (This mixture will seem fairly runny, but do not despair.)

Mash 'em good!

Add sugar, flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and the three spices to your bowl. Stir until just moistened. If using walnuts or pecans, add them now and gently stir to combine.

Empty your bowl into the prepared loaf pan and bake for 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. The top will be a rich golden colour.

Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan for about 5-10 minutes. Remove loaf from pan, peel away parchment, and let cool fully on a cooling rack.

Before...

... and after!

And that's it!

If your family is anything like mine, you'll probably find a few slices are (magically!) missing before the loaf even finishes cooling off. Enjoy! ♥