Best-Ever Banana Bread- Han Do

Best-Ever Banana Bread

2 loaves

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Ingredients:

1 c. sugar

1/2 c. butter (cold)

2 eggs

5 bananas, mashed

1 pint buttermilk

1 t. vanilla

2 3/4 c. all purpose flour

1 t. baking soda

1 t. salt

1 c. chopped walnuts

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Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease bottoms of 2 (8x4 in) loaf pans
2. Combine flour, baking soda, salt and nuts in a bowl, evenly mix it; set aside.
3. Mash bananas until even throughout; set aside.
4. In a large bowl, cut butter into sugar. Add eggs, bananas, buttermilk, and vanilla; beat with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth.
5. Beat in flour, baking soda, salt, and nuts just until moistened. Pour batter into pans.
6. Bake loaves for 1 hour, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
7. Cool for 10 minutes. Loosen sides of loaves from pans; remove from pans to cooling rack. Cool about 1 hour before slicing.

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Preparation Method:
       The method I used in this recipe was the creaming method. The idea of the muffin method is to create tiny air bubbles in fat using sugar, because it acts as an abrasive. Once the final product is finished, it will create an even and fine texture. Like I learned in class, the goal of this method is to increase the volume of fat. The sugar in this recipe did act as an abrasive and cut tiny holes into fat, seal it over, and the creating tiny bubbles. I tried not to overmix because I did not want to develop too much gluten (DO NOT OVERMIX!!).

      I changed up this recipe a little bit, because it called for 1 1/4 cups sugar, but I didn't want it to be too sweet. I also added 1 pint of buttermilk (1/2 c. in original) and 2 3/4 cups flour (2 1/2 c. in original). I also changed up the procedure because, I wanted to do the procedure similar to how we learned in class. I also sifted the flour. The only thing I did not have was a wire rack to cool my bread. So I had to create a DIY wire rack! But, that's all I changed in the recipe!

      Overall, this recipe turned out amazing with some slight tweaks to it, to suit my family's taste!

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Critique: 

         TASTE- The banana bread tasted nutty, sweet, and fruity. It had a mixture of delicious ingredients that just melted in your mouth and filled it with flavor. I can see why the recipe is called, "Best-Ever Banana Bread."

AROMA- The banana bread smelled sweet and fruity (from the banana). You could smell it while it was baking in the oven. It also smelled nutty and buttery. It surrounded the house with an amazing scent.

APPEARANCE- The banana bread was a dark golden brown on the crust, but inside, it was a light golden brown. It was porous, and had little black specks from the banana. The walnuts gave the bread some brown color accents. It was moist and dense but also, light at the same time. The crust was cracked on top and the edges were a darker brown color than the middle of the crust. All in all, the appearance looked deliciously appealing.

TEXTURE- The banana bread had a very soft, fine, and moist texture. It felt a little dense but it was still a light feeling. It had a lot of little holes in it (it had a lot of pores). The texture made the banana bread more delicate and fantastic.
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Assessment:

        In my free time, I would absolutely make this recipe again! It was simple, and it had a great taste. I was impressed with the outcome because it was my first time making it. I learned from this experience that sifting the flour is important because my mom has made this recipe before but she has never sifted the flour so her batter had more lumps in it than mine. Because the flour had more air in it and was easier to mix into since it was sifted. All in all, I would recommend this recipe to a friend. It turned out much better than expected. While I was making the batter, I was second guessing myself about everything, but it turned out much better than anticipated.