Best Ever Banana Bread

For the month of November I was lucky enough to get the chance to do some recipe testing for I Can't Believe It's Not Butter - and am so glad I did! If you check my recipe index, you will find no shortage of banana bread recipes. But like most good things, I believe in more is better! I love banana bread, but love trying new recipes to see if one is better than my last favorite.

The ICBINB spread works well in this recipe - it blends easily into the batter. I let mine sit on the counter for about 30 minutes before making the recipe and it just whipped right into the wet mixture in no time. I also didn't pre-mash my bananas, but let the Kitchen Aid mix all the wet ingredients together into a banana mush at one time.

This recipe did not disappoint, and the timing was perfect. My sister and I are both still living in and out of the hospital with Kent (see here if you didn't catch the news as to why), and because of that the food we buy and keep at home is not getting eaten the same way it normally would. We go through a fair amount of bananas in a normal week, mainly for the fruit / veggie smoothies we make for Lindsey and Kent, and because Lindsey likes them for breakfast or snack, Kent has one every morning in his smoothies, and I like them for breakfast or snack sometimes too. However - with Kent in the hospital and us not home as often we're not going through bananas at our normal rate and so there were quite a few VERY ripe bananas sitting on their hanger looking forlorn.

Thanks to this recipe, three of them were made very good use of, and I was able to bring a couple thick slices with me to the hospital for Kent to enjoy as well! Kent had surgery yesterday afternoon to have his skull defect replaced (from when they did the initial hemi-craniectomy to relieve pressure from all the swelling). He's been asking for homemade food, and banana bread is one of his favorites. So, everything aligned for this delicious bread to make an appearance in my kitchen.

I love how moist and tender this bread came out. It is packed full of tender bites of banana, and holds together very well. I like the texture a lot. I really like banana nut muffins, and happened to have a canister of "nut topping" we'd bought for sundaes a little while ago - so I decided to toss a good sprinkling of the chopped peanuts atop the batter before baking and it adds a nice texture contrast and a touch of extra flavor. I did find the flavor a little on the mild side, so I wouldn't be opposed to a touch more salt and cinnamon next time, just to play around with the flavor profile a little.

My fantastic kitchen assistant had to come see what all the fuss was about as soon as she realized I was taking pictures of something food related. Lindsey wasn't a huge fan of the bread, but ate a few bites of it. Who knows what her opinion will be the next day she tries it - since her mind changes about every 5 seconds when it comes to food... at least so it seems!

Best Ever Banana Bread from I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!(R) on AllRecipes

Ingredients

3 large ripe bananas, mashed
1 cup I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!(R) Spread
3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
optional: 1/4 cup chopped nuts

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Brush 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with additional I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!(R) Spread; set aside.
2. Combine mashed banana, I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!(R) Spread, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla in large bowl with wooden spoon. Stir in remaining ingredients until blended. Spoon into prepared pan. (If desired sprinkle batter with chopped nuts.)
3. Bake 60-70 minutes until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 20 minutes on wire rack; remove from pan and cool completely. 

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