And Don't Forget the Baking Soda

I had 10 mashed cups of overripe bananas yesterday I needed to use up. I decided to make some lovely Banana Banana Bread; a recipe I tweeked from allrecipes.com. I read the comments in the review section and used them in the recipe to give it more flavor. It's very good. Except you really shouldn't forget the baking soda.

I made two batches of the banana bread yesterday because I had way too much mashed banana for my poor Kitchen Aide mixer to handle at one time. The first batch, I realized too late that I'd not added any baking soda to. I figured it wasn't a big deal. The next batch, I remembered to add it.

After baking it was clear that I should've used the baking soda. The loaves I made sans baking soda are dull looking, heavy and not cooked all the way through. Blah! The latter mix I made using the baking soda rose beautifully, taste great and have a lovely golden hue to them. Darn it! That's quite a waste of bananas etc. just to learn the baking soda lesson. Sigh.

Anyway, here's the recipe if you want to try it for yourself. It's very good...if you remember the baking soda!

Banana Banana Bread (adapted from allrecipes.com)

Ingredients:

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup butter

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp cinnamon

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 eggs, beaten

2 1/3 cups mashed overripe bananas

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan.

2. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar. Stir in eggs and mashed bananas until well blended. Add vegetable oil, cinnamon and vanilla extract. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture; stir just to moisten. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.

3. Bake in preheated oven for 60-65 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean. Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack.

If making muffins, bake for about 25 mintues or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.