I imagine most people have or have encountered a banana bread recipe that they believe to be the alpha-banana bread, the referent from which all banana-y signifiers spring, and this is mine. I was reminded of it, actually, when Mark Bittman (that name again!) reposted the recipe on his New York Times blog recently, a testament to its greatness, I suppose. As always I tweek it a little to diversify the flours, but like most recipes for standards such as this, it’s a great template for your imagination. According to Bittman, the coconut is the key.
1 C butter, softened
1 1/2 C white flour + 1/2 C whole wheat flour (I combined whole wheat, barley and rice, as I usually do)
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 C sugar (I used brown sugar)
2 eggs
3 ripe bananas
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 C grated coconut (Bittman recommends unsweetened, but I only ever have sweetened on hand and haven’t found that it’s too much)
1/2 C chopped nuts, optional
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pulse bananas in the food processor until coarsely chopped.
Cream the butter and the sugar until fluffy, beat in the eggs and vanilla (I do this in my food processor too). Stir in eggs, then dry ingredients: flour, salt, baking soda, until just combined.
Allow little toddlers in dinosaur pajamas to taste the batter.
Pour batter into a greased 9-in loaf pan. Bake for 40-50 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out fairly clean.
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