When the bananas start to get dark in the South, it is time to make banana bread. Southerners hate to waste food, and banana bread is better made with really ripe bananas which are sweeter and mix up easier. Also, the overripe bananas at the store are often on sale at great prices. So, banana bread can end up being a quite economical baked dish.
The most traditional banana breads in the South and elsewhere feature bananas and nuts (although the nuts can be left out if anyone in the family has an issue with nuts). This banana bread recipe adds pineapple for a change of pace. It is really moist, and the pineapple gives it a new and very nice taste.
Banana Pineapple Bread Recipe
Ingredients:
- 3 cups plain flour
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cup chopped nuts (optional)
- 3 eggs lightly beaten
- 1 ½ cups vegetable oil
- 2 cups mashed ripe banana
- 1 can (8 oz) crushed pineapple drained
- 2 tsp vanilla
Directions:
- Mix together flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.
- Mix nuts in with dry ingredients. This keeps the nuts even throughout the batter. Otherwise, they tend to drop or clump up in one area.
- In a separate bowl, combine eggs, vegetable oil, banana, pineapple, and vanilla.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until just well combined, but do not over mix, or the bread will taste tough.
- Grease 2 loaf pans (9 x 5 x 3 or similar).
- Spoon half of batter in each pan.
- Cook for approximately an hour or a bit more at 350 degrees F or until toothpick comes out clean.
- Let cool for 15 minutes before removing from pan.
*Banana Pineapple Bread is great served warm with buttter but also is good cool and packs well to take to lunch or a snack for school or work.
Other Favorite Banana Recipes from the Mountains of Virginia:
For banana lovers out there, also check out Grandma's Banana Pudding. The pudding is from scratch, and, yes, that does make a difference. Anyone who has never had real banana pudding will be surprised at the difference.
Another great recipe for ripe bananas is Banana Cake with Frosting. It is a little sweeter than banana bread but still has that wonderful banana flavor. The frosting includes coffee, so this one makes an interesting breakfast or brunch selection.
If you're the outdoorsy type and enjoy grilling, then try Chocolate Bananas on the Grill. They are very tasty, fun to make, and the kids go wild for these.
Cyndi Allison - Southern born and fed, Cyndi Allison is a college lecturer and newspaper advisor as well as being a freelance writer. She writes on ...
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