Recently, I’ve been craving the banana bread I grew up making with my dad.

After being inspired by the “Great British Bake Off” and many failed recipes found online, I reached out to my dad. He was able to find and send me my great aunt’s incredible recipe after some digging, and I loved it so much I thought I would share it here with all of you! You can thank me later.

Ingredients

• 1 cup of granulated sugar

• ½ cup of room temperature butter

• 2 eggs

• ½ cup of milk

• 1 tsp. of vanilla extract

• 1 cup of ripe bananas, mashed

• 2 cups flour

• 1 tsp. baking powder

• 1 tsp. baking soda

• 1 tsp. salt

Instructions

1. Cream the sugar and butter together in a large bowl.

2. Add eggs, milk, vanilla, and bananas to the sugar and butter, mixing by hand after each addition.

3. In a separate bowl, sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

4. Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture in batches until combined. Remember over mixing changes the texture of the bread, so be careful!

5. Pour the mixture into a greased loaf pan, and run a butter knife down the middle of the batter after it is smoothed out. This will keep the bread from mounding in the middle and allow it to bake evenly.

6. Bake the loaf at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for 50-60 minutes.

That’s it! This is my go-to banana bread recipe because, as you can tell, it’s super easy to make. Not only that, its ingredients are usually always somewhere in my kitchen. I’ve made this bread twice in the last month, and it has yet to last longer than a couple of days. All my friends love it too, and it makes for a great gift. So, the next time you have too many overripe bananas, don’t throw them out. Grab an apron, and make some banana bread!

Hope you enjoy, and as always…

Be well, Auburn.

Photography: Morgan G.