Best-Ever Banana Bread (honestly!)

Submitted by evelynathens

"This was posted by nlb in epicurious. It is from Necessities & Temptations from the Junior League of Austin. I have never, EVER, had a banana bread this good."

 

• Ready In: 1hr 20mins
• Ingredients: 13
• Yields: 2 loaves

ingredients

• Topping

• 6 tablespoons butter
• 10 tablespoons dark brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 1 cup chopped pecans (or more, toasted)

• Batter

• 1 cup butter
• 1 1⁄2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 4 very ripe bananas, mashed (or 1 3/4 c, the bananas have to be so ripe that they're nearly black!)
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (I add 1 tblsp)
• 4 tablespoons buttermilk
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons baking soda (I also add 3/4 tsp baking powder)
• 1 teaspoon salt

directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Cream butter and sugar; mash bananas, beat 2 eggs and add to the bananas with vanilla and buttermilk; mix well and add to creamed butter and sugar; sift together flour, soda and salt; add to banana mixture, beat well; pour into 2 greased and floured 9x5x3-inch loaf pans; bake 45 to 50 minutes (I find this bread needs over an hour) or until bread pulls away from sides of pan; add topping.
3. To prepare Topping: Melt butter in saucepan; add sugar and milk; cook until syrupy (like honey); remove from heat and add chopped pecans; pour over bread spreading to all the corners and place under broiler until bubbly and brown.
4. Watch closely (this takes around 1 minute- maybe even less!).

Reviews

[gailanng]

You owned a banana bread recipe for 4 years. You named it Brad. You loved Brad. You two had been through everything together...2 marriages, 3 jobs. Nothing could replace Brad. Then you found this wonderful recipe and you break out into your happy dance. Ask me how I know?!!

 

[MSR5055]

Used extra thick double cream instead of buttermilk, other than that I followed the cake recipe exactly. I didn't have enough butter left to make the sauce exactly, but left it to cook a bit longer (just a bit) with more of the cream i used (instead of milk)to make caramel/praline kind of deal....it was so good. Thanks again. Made this again 3/1/10. Still fabulous. Just wanted to give all you guys a hint that I've learned over the past couple of years. If you freeze bananas when they start going ripe they will keep in the freezer for months. Here's the hint...when they thaw they thaw into MUSH! exactly what you need for banana bread and it only takes about 1/2 an hour for them to thaw. Just make a slice in the side and squeeze into a bown...no mashing and no ruined bananas. Voila!

 

[OneEyeJack]

The title really sums it up! I have never tasted a banana bread this moist and this good. The topping is awesome, but the bread could stand alone without the topping and still rate the title of this fantastic tasting banana bread.

 

[gin and frolic]

I only have one complaint concerning this banana bread recipe which is, I CAN'T STOP EATING IT! (I'm going to have some serious self-loathing issues in the coming days.) Hands down, the best banana bread I've ever eaten; very moist, very flavorful. Everyone whom I've allowed to sample, stands in absolute agreement- it is the "Best-Ever Banana Bread (honestly!)", honestly! <br/>The only thing I did differently was to use 5 bananas instead of 4 (only because I couldn't bare to throw away a perfectly good, nearly-rotten black banana), and I baked mine in 7 mini loaf pans in lieu of 2 standard, and I think 6 would have even been better. I did this for the purpose of distributing loaves to neighbors/friends, but have since decided that I never really liked them all that much to begin with so they're MINE, MINE, they're all MINE! BAHAHHAHAHA<br/>Thanks for sharing this recipe!

 

[HeatherFeather]

Thsi is an excellent & different banana bread recipe. What makes this one unique is the caramelized brown sugar & nut topping. The bread itself is moist & rich, but the topping is the part that really puts this over the edge. A real winner. Thanks.