Not much can top my grandma’s banana bread recipe so I when I adapted it for fresh ground wheat flour I didn’t change much. I did decide to make it in muffin form rather than loaf because it bakes faster and some time you just want banana bread right now.
Also since I have an 11-month old baby I didn’t want nuts baked in so I sprinkled pecans on top of some and left some plain for June Bug. Nuts are a choking hazard for little ones and a potential allergen.
This is Grandma Jone’s banana bread recipe. It is the best! I know there are a lot of banana bread recipes out there, I’ve even tried a few of them. This is the winner. Look no further for the best tasting and best crumb banana bread. (Unfortunately it is not the healthiest, but it does use real butter and a real banana!) It’s terribly rich and buttery with a crisp crust and tender moist inside. It is the right amount of sweet, just sweet enough to qualify for a dessert in my cook book.
I used the bread flour setting on the WonderMill Electric Grain Mill . The banana bread muffins had a distinctive grainy texture. I’m thinking next time I’ll try the finer “pastry” grind.
The secret to Grandma’s banana bread is buttermilk. It adds a little bit of acidity so the baking soda reacts and the bread raises well. If you don’t have buttermilk on hand, I listed some easy substitutions in the ingredient list.
The perfect banana for banana bread is when the banana has black speckles all over and the peel has turned soft and crepe-y.
Banana Bread Muffins
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups wheat flour fresh ground on “bread” setting
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup mashed ripe banana (one banana)
1/2 cup walnuts or pecans
1 tablespoon butter milk*
**If you don’t have butter milk on hand add a couple drops of lemon juice or vinegar to milk or use sour cream in the same amount.
Start by setting out the butter and eggs. Bringing them up to room temperature will make the batter better. Let them sit for at least an hour at room temperature. If you are in a hurry, microwave the butter for 10 seconds and stir it to distribute the heat. Try not to liquefy the butter. And in the end cold eggs, won’t make bad bread.
In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Add the egg, vanilla and butter milk and mix it until smooth.
In a large bowl mix together all the dry ingredients.
Add the dry mixture and the banana to the butter mixture. Add a little at a time and mix after each addition. Ideally you will mix just until all the ingredients are moist. Over mixing will react all the baking powder and soda. This makes the texture of the bread dense and heavy. So less work equals better bread. That’s the way it should be.
Pour the batter into the grease muffin tin. Sprinkle nuts on top if you like. This recipe will yield 12 muffins. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until a sharp knife poked in, comes out clean.
Remove the bread from the pan immediately to avoid soggy crust. Let the bread cool on a rack for at least five minutes before cutting. When cool, cover and store.
