Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Not My Mama's Banana Bread

My mom made the best banana bread when I was a kid. It was crusty on the outside and moist and buttery on the inside. I cannot remember the recipe except that it came from a beaten and battered Better Homes and Gardens cookbook, the paperback variety, and it used shortening. It is the only recipe I know of that uses shortening. Given how good that cake was, I always assumed it was the shortening that made it magic.

Since I don't have that pictureless cookbook filled with the spots and stains of banana breads past, I am stuck with what I can find on the internet. Only problem is I can't find that recipe on the internet. The book my mom used is at least 25 years old. 25 years ago, shortening wasn't considered the son of Beezlebub. The only recipes I could find online used butter or margarine. That's not the banana bread from my childhood! So I thought I'd sub out the half cup of butter with a half cup of smuggled shortening (trans fat free, thank you) and I thought I'd punch it up with a cup of chocolate chips.

The final result was ok. Not bad, but certainly not the banana bread from the rosy memories of my childhood. I've already called home begging my mom to find the old book and send me that old recipe. She swears she's found a better recipe on the new and hip foodnetwork.com and promised to send me that one as well. I will make that trip down memory lane.

Mom usually waited until the bananas were almost black before she mashed up the bananas for the cake/bread. It adds great sweetness and a wonderful aroma that fills the house. I couldn't wait that long this time and the final product reflected it. Bananas ripen a lot slower when it's near-freezing outside. However, the chocolate chips were a new and nice touch that I will be repeating.
Recipe coming soon...



1 comment:

  1. mmmmmmmmm! Love, LOVE banana bread! Can you save me a slice? Please, please, pretty please!!

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