I’ve been gone a while and guess where I was? China. Yup…the far east, home of about 1.3 billion people! Then after getting back, I got sick as a dog and I’m just now getting back into my groove. I get why the citizens use masks, the pollution is crazy and it got me good.

Today, I’m trying a new banana bread recipe,  but I thought I would share my very simple version first.  If the new recipe today proves to be better, I’ll post it later on in the week.  This recipe is simple, moist and leaves your house smelling heavenly.  Don’t be surprised if your neighbours knock on your door asking you for random things but all the time wanting you to offer them a slice of this bread!

First things first, because this is banana bread, the BANANA is your star.  For depth of flavor, make sure your bananas are ripe and the flesh browning.  If you have nice and perfect yellow bananas, they won’t work as well!  Put them in a brown paper bag along with an apple, seal it and store at room temperature. That will quicken the ripening process to 1-2 days depending on whether you started with a green or yellow banana.  The browner the better!

Here is my ripe banana.  The brown spots show that the starch content is turning into sugar and that’s what we want!  I could have let this banana get even riper but I promised my dad that I would make him some banana bread so I went with this level of ripening.

Slice your bananas and then mash them up with a fork. I like to leave some of it chunky so that I can see the banana in the finished product.  Add the flax/chia eggs, oil and sugar to your banana mixture.

In another bowl, whisk your flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon

Dump your banana mixture into the flour at once and mix with a spatula until just combined

If using nuts, fold them lightly into the mixture

Pour the batter into your prepared loaf pan and bake.  Halfway through the baking your house will start to smell heavenly…

What a beaut! Once you have cooled your banana bread, take a nice big sniff of it because  that’s all your getting right now.  Uhm, no, you won’t be eating it right away…or you could. Who am I to tell you  to wait until the next day for maximum depth of flavor?

If you have the self control to do it, WRAP it up tightly with cling wrap overnight.  This is why I bake my banana bread in the evening, that way I’m not tempted to cut into it right away!

Next day, after all the flavors have had a chance to develop and it is nice and moist, slice it up and have it your way! Straight up or like the Mr likes it  – thick slice, 10 seconds in the microwave paired with a cup of joe!  Oh-so-good!

Recipe for: Simple Banana Bread 

Servings: 1 loaf