Naturally moist and delicious, this is the LAST recipe for banana bread you will ever need! Need dairy free? No problem here! 

When my kids were younger, we ran a super tight food budget. Of course, that was also a few years ago when you could conceivably feed a family of 5 on $40 a week. This was most often accomplished by cutting coupons, wasting no food, and cooking all our food from scratch.

Breads, biscuits, cakes, pizza, snacks---all made from scratch. 

To buy a loaf of bread at the store cost me around $1.00 at the time. To make it at home myself, cost me less than $.25 a loaf. It also gave my kids and I plenty of time in the kitchen to work together with our hands, talking, laughing, and just enjoying each others' company. As a bonus, since I home schooled them, it also gave us opportunities for math, science and home ec classes while they learned how to bake or cook.

Since wasting food wasn't an option if we were going to stay on budget, we had to be resourceful with our fruit. For some reason, my kids went through cycles with fruit. Especially bananas.

I still can't figure out why, but there were weeks that they would eat every single banana we bought in the first 2 days after going to the store. Subsequent weeks, they would ignore them like they were the plague, until dark brown bananas were all over the counter. You could just hear the fruit flies to themselves, "Another day or two, and we will feast, my friends." 

Those bananas would be tucked away safely in freezer bags, skin and all, waiting for their turn to be recreated into something wonderful. Another delicious snack that could easily be made in one day, and enjoyed over the next several. 

I give you the best banana bread recipe ever. 

This is actually a tweaked version of a recipe from a church cookbook from my mother in law. You know the kind, where all the Grandmothers in the church get together and share their favorite recipes and they are compiled into one book? 

My grandmother did something similar. She wrote a recipe book for her granddaughter's. The problem was she did it from memory, and forgot measurements, ingredients and directions. We laughed at how she just did things by muscle memory in the kitchen. 

Such is this recipe. 

 

 

The original recipe called for shortening, more bananas, and more sugar. Definitely from the south, right? I took out the shortening and lessened the bananas and sugar, and still think that this banana bread recipe is amazing. It's one my kids grew up on, and still love today. 

Banana bread can be made in batches, simply double the ingredients. Then, cool completely, slice and freeze individual slices if desired. Easy snacking for later! Simply remove a slice or two when wanted and allow to thaw. 

Or you could add crumbles of this to ice cream. That idea was Frenchman approved, by the way. 

Ingredients:

• 3 ripe bananas
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 4 eggs
• 2/3 cup melted butter (or coconut oil for dairy free option)
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. In a medium sized mixing bowl, or in a stand mixer, add bananas, vanilla, eggs, and melted butter. Blend together on medium speed until smooth.
3. Using a separate bowl, combine flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and cinnamon. Whisk together.
4. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients, 1/4 cup at a time until all mixed in.
5. Pour batter into a greased loaf pan and bake for 55-60 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean.
6. Allow to cool completely.

What is your favorite snack? Do you make your own, or do you buy them? Be sure to let me know what you think of this banana bread recipe! 

Other snacks you may enjoy

Italian Parmesan Crackers Super Easy Guacamole Red Pepper Hummus     [mv_create key="52" type="recipe" title="Banana Bread" thumbnail=""]

---

Posted from my blog with SteemPress : http://www.hugforyourbelly.com/banana-bread/

---