Banana bread - The quick bread

Bananas come pre-packaged in their own yellow jackets and are available throughout the year, thought to have originated in Malaysia around 4,000 years ago.It is wonderfully sweet with firm and creamy flesh which makes us to be fond of it.No need to say it has uncountable benefits on human health.

The ageing causes the skin to brown and its flesh to become very soft and sweet. At this stage some people throw these bananas in the garbage thinking they have gone bad, not realizing how delicious they will be when mashed and baked in a bread or cake. Instead of throwing them away simply one can slip them into a plastic bag and place them into the freezer till baking. 

Banana bread starts with a thick sweet batter that is full of mashed bananas, ground cinnamon and toasted nuts. It is, as the name "Quick" Bread implies, quick to make. The dry ingredients are mixed together in one bowl, the wet ingredients are mixed together in another bowl. The two are combined and you are done. 

So, here is the recipe ....

Ingredients:

• 3/4  cup caster sugar (or make your own by grinding sugar in your food processor)
• 8 tablespoons unsalted butter(Melted)
• 2 large eggs
• 4 ripe bananas(mashed)
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
• Raisin (optional)
• Nuts- cashewnuts/walnuts/peanut (optional)

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. 
• Butter a loaf pan or the pan you are using for baking .

MIXING THE DRY INGREDIENTS TOGETHER :

• At first sieve together the flour, baking powder and baking soda in a bowl.
• Then add the powdered or caster sugar and salt into it.
• Now add the cinnamon powder and mix well.

MIXING THE WET INGREDIENTS TOGETHER :

• In a separate bowl break two eggs and mix well with the vanilla essence, melted butter and mashed banana.

• With a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, lightly fold the wet ingredients (banana mixture) into the dry ingredients just until combined and the batter is thick and little chunky. (The important thing is not to over mix the batter.Over mixing the batter will yield tough, rubbery bread.)
• Pour batter into prepared pan and bake 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes (or till it is golden brown), until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Set aside to cool on a rack for 15 minutes. Remove bread from pan, invert onto rack and cool completely before slicing.

Note: This bread taste even better the next day when you  take it out from the refrigerator.