Do you know how to make banana bread? I just learned, and I’ll let you in on my new secret recipe.

I’m a shy baker.

I want to be a talented treat maker. I’d love to make homemade cookies and pies and bread, but the idea of it all makes me nervous. There is so much I don’t know about baking, so most of the time instead of learning, I just buy my baked goods. But that isn’t the Erin I want to be. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I have no problem purchasing yummy deliciousness, but I want enjoy baking when I have the time.

A few months ago an acquaintance posted on Facebook about the banana bread she was making that afternoon. I hadn’t eaten banana bread in years, and because I had a few too-ripe bananas on my kitchen counter, I decided I wanted to make some as well.

Now, I didn’t know how to make banana bread, so I did what I do best – I asked Google. Have you ever googled, “how to make banana bread?” There are tons of recipes out there, and there are so many variations of what to include. I picked what seemed to be the most simple banana bread recipe, and it turned out great. Since then I’ve made banana bread quite a few times. What can I say? I tend to buy bananas and forget to eat them. Every time I’ve baked banana bread I’ve tweaked the recipe a bit, and I think I’m finally happy with the results.

I hope you enjoy!

How to make banana bread: The ingredients

• 3 ripe (or slightly over-ripe) bananas (sometimes I go crazy and use 4!)
• 1 egg
• 1 cup of sugar
• 1/4 cup of butter (melted)
• 1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

How to make banana bread: The instructions

1. Grease a 9×5 loaf pan and set aside. It’s going to be important in just a little bit.
2. Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Let it warm up while you combine all the ingredients.
3. While the oven is heating up, mix the flour, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon together in a bowl.
4. In a separate bowl, beat the bananas, egg, sugar, and butter together.
5. Next, stir the dry mix into the new gooey mixture until everything is combined.
6. Pour the batter into the greased pan and pop it in the oven. It’s time to cook this banana bread!
7. This next part depends on your own oven. It took my oven about 45 minutes to cook the banana bread, but it took a friend an hour in her oven. Do you know how to tell if your banana bread is ready? Use a toothpick to test the center of the bread. If it comes out clean, it’s ready!

I’m dying add to this simple banana bread recipe. The next one I make will either be a chocolate chip banana bread or an apple and peanut butter banana bread.

Do you know how to make banana bread? What variations have you made from the standard recipe? Let me know in the comments!