Bourbon Banana Bread
I modified a standard banana bread recipe 35 years ago and this recipe is a stand out.
Ingredients
Wet Ingredients:
- 2 large ripe bananas smashed
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup sugar*
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup bourbon or dark rum
- ¼ cup plain yogurt or buttermilk
- 1 tsp vanilla
- ½ cup vegetable oil
Dry ingredients:
- ¼ tsp Cinnamon
- Pinch of cloves
- 2 cups unbleached flour**
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 cup roughly chopped walnuts or pecans
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325° with rack in lower third of oven. Grease and flour a 9” x 5” loaf pan
- Combine the dry ingredients in a small bowl and stir well with a fork
- In a large bowl mix the wet ingredients together well.
- Add the dry ingredients to the bowl and blend by hand with a spatula. When not quite blended add the nuts and just gently blend until no streaks of flour remain. Do not over-blend. You may add 1/4 cup of raisins with the nuts if you like.
- Pour into prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake until top is golden and splits slightly. To test for doneness a knife or toothpick stuck in the center of the loaf should come out clean. Bake for approximately 1 hour 20 minutes but test at 1 hour.
- Cool on a rack and then take out of pan after it cools for about 20 minutes. You can serve warm with butter or cream cheese.
Notes
* for a less sweet bread - reduce sugar to 1/4 cup.
** you may make a combination of whole wheat and white flour or use gluten-free baking mix.
** you may make a combination of whole wheat and white flour or use gluten-free baking mix.