The best banana bread?

Banana Bread recipes are a dime a dozen and doing a search brings up a plethora of results. I never followed one in particular but for the sake of consistency I wanted to find a good one as my "go to" recipe. In the process, I found a good recipe as well as a great book recommendation. 

As I compared recipes on the internet, one kept popping up over and over again. As always, I read people's comments. This one always had glowing reviews with the proclamation "This is the best banana bread recipe!".

The book is Flour by Joanna Chang, who owns and operates a well-known bakery in Boston by the same name. I purchased the book for my Kindle when I got a great price on it through BookBub, an awesome service that sends you daily book deals. I loved the book and every recipe I tried was wonderful. However, using an online cookbook is the pits so I ended up buying a print copy. 

Banana Bread is far from my favorite dessert (I will happily choose anything with chocolate first) but the guys I work with love this and it is a frequent request. Is it the best recipe? That would be open to interpretation and personal preference. It is very moist and has a nice banana flavor. I do want to try the King Arthur recipe which also gets rave reviews and uses butter instead of oil. I will have to do a comparison test.

The ingredients for this particular recipe are pretty common but a few techniques are a bit different. First of all, when beating the sugar and eggs, you use the whip attachment (I normally used the paddle) and you whip it for 5 minutes - that is a long time. Then, when adding the oil, you do it slowly, in a very light drizzle, taking an entire minute to get it incorporated. 

• 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 3 1/2 very ripe bananas, peeled and mashed (about 1 1/2 cups mashed bananas)
• 2 tablespoons sour cream or creme fraiche
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped

Heat the oven to 325 degrees and position rack to middle of oven. Butter or spray a 9 x 5 loaf pan.

Sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.

Beat the sugar and eggs on medium speed for 5 minutes, using the whip attachment on a stand mixer. (If you are using a handheld mixer, mix for about 8 minutes).

On low speed, slowly drizzle in the oil (this should take about 1 minute).

Add the bananas, sour cream and vanilla until combined.

Fold in the flour mixture with a rubber spatula until combined and no flour streaks are visible. Fold in the nuts.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.

Bake for 1 to 1 1/4 hours or until golden brown on top. Remove from the oven and allow it to cool in the pan on a wire rack for 30 minutes.

Remove from the pan and allow to cool completely. It can be kept in plastic wrap for 3 days at room temperature or frozen for up to 2 weeks.

Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy