Banana Bread in 12 Steps

I love reading the New York Times. So yesterday, on the first day of Ramadan, I was ecstatic to see that the Times had posted a collection of Ramadan recipes on their homepage. They even wrote a beautiful ode to dates,  "a unifying staple" for muslims all around the world, during the month of Ramadan. But, I found their collection of Ramadan recipes, rather offensive and stereotypical. Most of the recipes are of Middle Eastern origin. So just like not all Muslims are Arabs, not all Muslims eat/cook Middle Eastern food for suhoor (pre-dawn meal), and iftar (sundown meal). As a product of South Asian diaspora growing up in Canada, I loved my South Asian food as much as the delicacies of the mainstream culture. 

So here is a recipe of  banana bread I like to eat for Suhoor. It's filling, moist and extremely delicious. I use three large bananas to make sure that the bread stays true to its namesake. Since, bananas are naturally sweet, I put a quarter cup of sugar. This way the bread is not overtly sweet. After eating a slice of this bread you are not left with sugary heaviness, but banana goodness. Give this quick recipe a try. And, prove the well-intentioned folks of the New York Times wrong. Muslims eat all sorts of food. Please do not pigeonhole our palette. It's all for a serious cause, you guys :).

Ingredients (in the order they are used):

1/4 cup of sugar
1/2 cup or 1 stick of softened butter
1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of salt
2 large eggs (preferably cage-free)
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
3 large ripe bananas
1/2 cup of whole milk yogurt
1/2 cup of chopped walnuts

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit. Spray a nonstick spray on a 9x5 inch loaf pan. Whisk together all the dry ingredients, flour, baking soda, and salt.

Step 2: Put melted butter in a stand mixer, and whisk for a minute, on a medium setting.

Step 3: Add the sugar, and cream the butter until it turns pale in color.

Step 4: In the meantime, mash the bananas with a potato masher or a fork.

Step 5: When the butter and sugar mixture has turned almost white, add the two eggs. Beat for literally a minute. You don't want to over-beat the eggs. This may cause the bread to deflate.

Step 6: While the eggs are whisking away, add one teaspoon of vanilla extract.

Step 7: Add the mashed bananas, and yogurt. Whisk for 30 seconds.

Step 8: Remove the mixing bowl from the stand-mixer.

Step 9: Gently fold in half of the flour mixture (containing salt and baking soda). Don't over-mix.

Step 10: Fold in the remaining flour mixture. Once incorporated, add in the chopped walnuts.

My toddler doesn't like walnuts, so before adding the walnuts, I decided to bake plain banana mini muffins for her.

Step 11: The final batter should look like this. Pour it into a greased loaf pan.

Step 12: Bake in a 350 degrees oven for 45 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean. The baking time may vary depending on your oven.

Voila!

The delicious Bread is ready.

The genesis of my recipe came from this recipe that a friend shared with me.