The first thing you want to do when you are ready to start baking banana bread is to look for a basic recipe. It is a good idea to purchase an introductory cookbook, if you do not already have one. Find one that has simple, no frills recipes, as well as instructions on how to simple things properly, such as folding eggs. You are going to start with a basic recipe. But then you are going to add your own flair to it and make it your unique banana bread recipe.
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.
Beyond that, you want to make sure that you use the highest quality ingredients, such as organic unrefined sugar and real butter as opposed to margarine. Having bananas at just the right level of ripeness is one of the keys to a great banana bread. This is may be the only time that you want your bananas to have a completely brown peel.
Go ahead and try out the recipe in its basic form so you know what the consistency and the flavor are supposed to be like. Now comes the fun part. You get to experiment. The key to experimentation is to think about what you would like to add, what you think would taste good in the banana bread, and then find another recipe that has that ingredient to get an idea of how to much add.
For example, I like to add chocolate chips to whatever I can. So, I look for a quick bread recipe that calls for chocolate chips. First, make sure that the recipe is meant to make the same amount of bread as your banana bread recipe. Then you can use the same amount of chips for your bread. If the recipe you find makes half as much bread as yours, simply double the amount of chips.
You might be thinking that chocolate chips sound great, but you need to have walnuts with those chips. Sounds good to me! But you will need to put in a little less of the chips to accommodate the nuts you are adding. A mistake that many people make is to change the recipe so there is no longer the same proportion of add-ins to batter. This will alter the consistency of your bread, and often not to your liking.
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.
After you play around with your banana bread recipe a bit, you will find a variation that your family will not let you change. Pretty soon, the recipe is referred to as Emilys banana bread. It is the birth of a new family tradition.
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.
Beyond that, you want to make sure that you use the highest quality ingredients, such as organic unrefined sugar and real butter as opposed to margarine. Having bananas at just the right level of ripeness is one of the keys to a great banana bread. This is may be the only time that you want your bananas to have a completely brown peel.
Go ahead and try out the recipe in its basic form so you know what the consistency and the flavor are supposed to be like. Now comes the fun part. You get to experiment. The key to experimentation is to think about what you would like to add, what you think would taste good in the banana bread, and then find another recipe that has that ingredient to get an idea of how to much add.
For example, I like to add chocolate chips to whatever I can. So, I look for a quick bread recipe that calls for chocolate chips. First, make sure that the recipe is meant to make the same amount of bread as your banana bread recipe. Then you can use the same amount of chips for your bread. If the recipe you find makes half as much bread as yours, simply double the amount of chips.
You might be thinking that chocolate chips sound great, but you need to have walnuts with those chips. Sounds good to me! But you will need to put in a little less of the chips to accommodate the nuts you are adding. A mistake that many people make is to change the recipe so there is no longer the same proportion of add-ins to batter. This will alter the consistency of your bread, and often not to your liking.
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.
After you play around with your banana bread recipe a bit, you will find a variation that your family will not let you change. Pretty soon, the recipe is referred to as Emilys banana bread. It is the birth of a new family tradition.
About the Author:
Ben Cook tells you how to make banana bread in your home kitchen and gives you lots of simple and quick banana bread recipes on his low sugar banana bread recipe website.
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