Every time I decide to bake a new loaf of banana bread, I wonder if it’ll be as good and sweet and moist as I remember; if this batch will be better than any I’ve made before; if one day I’ll grow tired of waiting for yellow bananas to turn speckled and brown. My trusty, rusted loaf pan has made so many banana-themed quickbreads over the past few years, I sometimes think I should move on from banana bread.
And then I realize, of course, that this is a ridiculous notion. No one should ever, ever move on from banana bread. Banana bread is like an old, favorite book — it draws you in with its familiarity and comfort and feelings of home. I recently reread The Witch of Blackbird Pond, and I was worried that the words I loved so much as a middle schooler would now seem childish and unimportant. They weren’t. They were as delicious as ever, and I got so invested in the story that I left an empty oven preheating for two hours (whoops!)
Sometimes it’s good for me to return to old things, to remember how and why I fell in love with baking and with books. I’ll always love The Witch of Blackbird Pond — the thatched roof and the boy named Nat that turned me into a young romantic, the witty heroine and silk dresses that led me to Jane Austen and BBC dramas. And I’ll always love banana bread. Best served warm with a side of children’s literature.
Honey Banana Poppyseed Bread
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 large very ripe bananas, mashed
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup honey
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons poppyseeds
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter or spray a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan.
2. Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.
3. Whisk the bananas, oil, milk, honey, and eggs together in a separate bowl.
4. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients into the well. Fold together gently, until just combined. Fold in the poppy seeds.
5. Pour into your prepared pan and bake for approximately 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for 15 minutes, and enjoy!
Adapted from here.
