Old-Fashioned Banana Bread

A popular quick bread year-round thanks to how affordable and easy it is to track down bananas, banana bread is a universal favorite. It doesn’t hurt that it also tastes best made with overripe (meaning brown and mushy) bananas, so you don’t have to feel guilty about not eating them. Admit it — you were saving them on purpose to make this easy and delicious loaf of old-fashioned banana bread!

This recipe is a favorite in the Yankee archives, and relies on a few traditional techniques that take a bit more time in the kitchen, but will leave you rewarded with a superior loaf. Whereas most quick bread recipes are “one bowl” with the wet ingredients mixed together followed by a light toss of dry ingredients before baking, ours calls for mashed (nearly whipped) bananas to be added to the batter last. This means you’ve got to be gentle with the batter, but you’ll get a much more tender loaf.

Since I recently moved and my kitchen is still “coming together” (meaning I have no idea where 85% of things are still) I tossed in a handful of dark chocolate chips instead of the traditional walnuts or pecans you’ll find in most banana bread recipes. You could also substitute blueberries or even coconut and crushed pineapple for a tropical variation. Serve banana bread warm out of the oven or at room temperature with butter, cream cheese, preserves, or even peanut butter (hey, Elvis didn’t eat peanut butter and banana sandwiches for nothing!). This recipe is so good it definitely won’t last long. GET THE RECIPE: Mother’s Secret Banana Bread Recipe This post was first published in 2013 and has been updated.

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