Meals Matter

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Contributed By: protective1
AllRecipes.com / America's Test Kitchen

AllRecipes.com: "Why compromise the banana flavor? This banana bread is moist and delicious with loads of banana flavor! Friends and family love my recipe and say it's by far the best! It's wonderful toasted!! Enjoy!" America's Test Kitchen: "Properly ripened bananas, a bit of yogurt, and the right mixing method create a flavorful bread with a smooth, hearty crumb."

Ingredients

2 cups All-purpose flour

1 teaspoon Baking soda

1/4-1/2 teaspoon Salt

1/2 cup Butter (6-8 tablespoons)

1/2 cup Brown sugar

2 Eggs, beaten lightly

3 Very ripe, soft, darkly speckled large bananas, mashed well (about 1 1/2 cups)

1/4 cup Plain yogurt

1 teaspoon Vanilla extract

Preparation

1. Adjust oven rack to lower middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease bottom only of regular loaf pan, or grease and flour bottom and sides of nonstick 9-by-5-by-3-inch loaf pan; set aside.

2. Combine flour, baking soda, salt together in large bowl; set aside.

3. In a medium bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar. Mix in mashed bananas, yogurt, eggs, and vanilla until well-blended.

4. Lightly fold banana mixture into dry ingredients with rubber spatula until just combined and batter looks thick and chunky. Scrape batter into prepared loaf pan.

5. Bake until loaf is golden brown and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 55 minutes.

6. Cool in pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Cook's Notes

America's Test Kitchen:
"The Best Banana Bread
The Problem: Too many banana bread recipes turn out bland, flat, heavy, dry, and/or gritty loaves.
The Goal: A basic banana bread with deep banana flavor, plenty of moisture, and a nice, light texture.
The Solution: Use older, darkly speckled bananas, which are both sweeter and more moist than younger bananas; add yogurt for a nice tang and even more moisture; and use the 'muffin method' to mix the wet and dry ingredients for a delicate, golden brown loaf of decent height.
Greasing and flouring only the bottom of a regular loaf pan causes the bread to cling to the sides and rise higher. If using a nonstick loaf pan, on which the sides are very slick, grease and flour sides as well as the bottom."

AllRecipes.com:"If the bread seems dry and dense, chances are you stirred it too much, which is easy to do without even thinking about it. With sweet breads and muffins, you should always just stir to moisten. Never over-do it or else you will end up with a drier and denser bread or muffin."

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