4large bananas, overripe or ripe are fine( 1 and 1/2 cup mashed bananas)
1tbspbutter
1tbspbrown sugar
Instructions
Prepare Loaf Pan and Preheat the Oven
Preheat oven to 360F. Spray loaf pan with non stick spray. I like to line the pan with a small piece of parchment paper, leaving about ½ to 1 inch overhang on each side of the loaf pan.
Caramelized Bananas
Cut up ripe bananas into rounds. Melt butter (1tbsp) in a skillet, stir in brown sugar (1tbsp). Stir in cut up bananas. Cook on low heat, stirring occasionally for about 10 minutes. Bananas will get soft and mushy. Mixture will be thick. Remove from the heat, pour contents into a bowl and mash bananas with the fork. (Measure 1 1/2 cup mashed bananas. If you have little less or little more it's fine, around 1 and 1/2 cup is what you need.)
Banana Bread
Whisk together flour (2cups), salt (1/4tsp), cinnamon (1/4tsp), baking powder (1 and 1/2tsp), baking soda ( 1/2tsp), set aside.
Into the warm banana mixture one by one stir in butter (7tbsp). Butter will melt as you stir it into warm mashed bananas. Let it cool to lukewarm while you gather rest of the ingredients.
Then stir in milk (3tbsp), then add brown sugar (1cup), in a small bowl whisk together eggs (2), vanilla extract (1tsp) and add it to the banana mixture and stir well. Lastly stir in lemon juice (1tbsp). Stir well after each addition. Why are you adding lemon juice? Lemon juice neutralizes baking soda on its bitter taste in the baked goods.
In 2 additions add flour mixture into the wet ingredients. Stir till just combined.
Bake
Pour banana batter into a prepared loaf pan.
Bake in the preheated oven at 360F for 40 minutes. Then rotate the pan and loosely cover loaf pan with a foil dome. Continue baking for 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Remove from the oven and let sit for 10 minutes. Then lift the banana bread from the pan and let cool completely.
Notes
DO I HAVE TO CARAMELIZE BANANAS?
If you don't have time for this extra step use overripe bananas without caramelizing them first. You'll need to melt the butter and add it melted to the mushed bananas. Rest of the recipe is the same.
I DON'T LIKE CINNAMON, CAN I SKIP IT?
Yes.
I DON'T HAVE BROWN SUGAR CAN I USE REGULAR GRANULATED SUGAR INSTEAD?
Yes, it's fine to use granulated sugar.
QUICK BREAD TIPS
Don't over mix the batter. Overmixing causes gluten to develop and results in a tough crumb of baked bread. It's okay to have few few flour lumps in the batter before baking.
Combine wet ingredients and dry ingredients separately. Then combine the two.
Adjust your oven racks so the baking pan sits on the middle rack, in the center of the oven.
Spray or grease a loaf pan. Line your loaf pan with a small strip of parchment, leave some parchment to overhang on each side. I use the parchment to lift the hot bread from the loaf pan after it's baked.
Bake the bread as soon as you spoon it into the baking pan. Don't let it sit on a counter. It's best to get it into the oven right after you fill the pans or the bread may not rise properly.
Use a foil dome to prevent over browning.
Rotate baking pan half way through the baking. I rotate the pan when I'm adding a foil dome.
Set the timer with 5-10 minutes less than the full baking time. This allows you to check the bread, just in case it's baked before the suggested baking time. Each oven bakes differently. If it's not done yet, continue baking for additional 5-10 minutes. Until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Let the bread cool in the baking pan for 10 minutes then transfer it onto a cooling rack to cool completely.
Use a serrated knife to slice the bread.
Store quick bread wrapped in a plastic wrap of a foil. It keeps for up to a week if stored in the fridge.
Freeze it for up to 3 months. I like to freeze it sliced so I can take out one slice at a time. Or freeze the whole loaf, then let it defrost on the counter.