Banana Bread…THE Best!

I have tried MANY different recipes of banana bread and this one cannot be beat.  This is my mom’s recipe so it could be that I’m biased and used to the taste, but anyone that ever tastes it, agrees.  So after tons of different recipes, here’s the one you must try. 

INGREDIENTS:
(I colored them because this is how I remember…Cream the blue, Add the purple, and then add the red.

1/2 cup milk (I use skim, but any will do)
1 tsp. vinegar
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup oil (I use canola)
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
*4 very ripe bananas, mashed really well
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups flour

*The more brown spots on your bananas, the better.  Most of the time, I use frozen bananas that I’ve put in the freezer when they’re too ripe to eat.  Just let them thaw on counter, so you can mash them.  Just fyi, I have put them in the microwave to thaw them when I have forgotten to take them out.

DIRECTIONS:

1. Mix milk with vinegar.  Let this sit while you make the bread.  You will use this later with the baking soda.
2. Cream together oil, sugar, and eggs.  I use a wooden spoon for everything.
3. Add vanilla and salt to mixture.
4. Mash bananas with a fork until very creamy.  Add bananas to above mixture.
5. Add flour to mixture and stir well.
6. Now get your milk/vinegar mixture and add 1 tsp of baking soda to it.  It should foam while you stir this together.  My mom’s foams every time, but mine has NEVER foamed.  We cannot figure out why.  I’ve tried everything and it still won’t.  It is an unsolved mystery that we can’t seem to figure out, but it still tastes the same.  So don’t worry if your milk doesn’t foam.  But stir for about 30 seconds to a minute.  It should at least get a little frothy.
7. Make sure to add the baking soda to your milk OVER the battered mixture in case it does foam.  Stir into batter. 
8. Pour into 2 greased loaf pans.  Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.  I start with 40 minutes and add to that after testing it with a toothpick.  I’ve also made these as muffins.  Just shorten your bake time (30 minutes).

I’m a visual person, so here are some of the steps in picture form below with more detail.