This Old Fashioned Banana Bread is light, tender and moist. The lemon zest gives it a bright, citrus flavor that is a wonderful departure from the usual cinnamon!
Pre-heat oven to 350°F. Grease and lightly flour a regular loaf pan. I rub a generous amount of butter around every inch of the pan and then spoon approximately a tablespoon of flour into the pan. I then tip the pan and tap to distribute the flour. Rotate pan and tap. Continue until there is a light coating of flour on every surface.
Whisk together flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder in a small bowl. Set aside. Mash bananas in a small bowl and set aside. Grate the peel of half a lemon. Be extremely careful not to get any of the bitter white pith. It will ruin the taste of your bread and we don’t want that! I am probably overly cautious and would rather use more of the lemon than risk bitter bread.
Grate the peel of half a lemon. Be extremely careful not to get any of the bitter white pith. Combine with the sugar to allow the oils to begin to infuse the sugar.
AHC instructs us to “work butter until soft, then work in sugar, a little at a time, until smooth.” I took this to mean mash the butter around the bowl with the back of a wooden spoon until malleable and then gradually add in sugar while continuing to mash it into the butter with the back of a wooden spoon.
Beat in eggs (by hand with your wooden spoon), one at a time, add the vanilla, grated lemon rind, and mashed bananas.
Stir in flour mixture alternately with sour cream. I did my usual three additions ending with sour cream. Mix in nuts being careful not to over mix.
Pour into a large prepared loaf pan or two mini pans and bake in preheated oven until toothpick inserted into the center comes out with only a few clinging crumbs. The large loaf should take 45 minutes to 1 hour, while the little ones will take 25 – 35 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes in pans and then remove to cool completely on a rack.
Honey Ricotta Spread:
Whisk together honey and ricotta. For a completely smooth spread, you will need to pulse in a food processor or using a hand held immersion blender. I didn't for the photos and it is just as delicious.
Notes
American Heritage CookbookI have made this bread with a hand mixer and the batter had a tendency to curdle. It is best to mix it by hand and also very fast!