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Grandma’s Banana Bread Recipe

Grandma’s Banana Bread Recipe is one of our favorite recipes that has connected our family for generations–it’s moist, sweet, and filled with memories! Gram’s banana bread recipe needs overripe bananas because that’s where the rich flavor comes from then we add butter, applesauce, eggs, flour, and sugar to create the perfect banana sweet bread! 

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Why we love Grandma’s Banana Bread Recipe

When my kiddos where little we make this recipe into banana bread muffins for them to take to school in their lunch boxes. Enjoy this banana bread recipe in a loaf or as muffins, either way it will soon be a favorite with your family too! 

 

Gram’s Banana Bread Recipe is a family favorite!

I also hope when my kids make this recipe for their children, and chat about Gram as this Banana Bread recipe continues to connect the generations. One of the most frequently used recipes of my Grandma Louise is her Banana Bread.

It’s hands down the best I have EVER tasted! It’s beautiful the way this recipe brings back memories of her, she passed away in 1996 at much too young of an age. I wish my kids could of known her maybe through my cooking and her recipes, they do a little bit.

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Ingredients for Gram’s Banana Bread Recipe

Over the years, I’ve adapted Gram’s original recipe a little bit reducing fat and cholesterol.  If you’d rather use 1/2 cup of butter and 2 whole eggs instead of my replacements than, that’s okay.  But, I promise my healthier version tastes every bit as good as Gram’s full calorie loaf!

  • Granulated Sugar- Granulated sugar is also sometimes known as white sugar, or “regular” sugar. Granulated sugar has had all of the naturally present molasses refined out of it. The fine crystals in granulated sugar don’t cake together, which makes it perfect for measuring, sprinkling onto food and dissolving into drinks.
  • Eggs- I place my eggs in a small bowl of very warm water while I’m gathering all the other ingredients and prepping to bake then when I’m ready to add them into the batter they have reached the perfect temperature! Add your eggs one at a time and cream for 2 minutes, then scape the bowl down using a rubber spatula, and add the next egg. This is the best way to be sure the eggs are incorporated evenly into the batter. Beating each egg individually is essential because eggs act as a leavener which brings the loft (height) into your baked goods. 

Grams Banana Bread on www.cookingwithruthie.com has connected our family for generations!

  • Allpurpose flour-  is a general use white flour. It is not a whole flour, and only the starchy endosperm is used, without the germ and bran portion of the kernel. It is a blend of hard and soft flours or hard flours with a protein content (gluten) of about 9 to 12 percent.
  • Leaveners- We are using baking soda (as mentioned above eggs and incorporating air are also leaveners) in our Banana Bread Recipe. Baking soda is chemical leavening agents that causes batters to rise when baked. The leavener enlarges the bubbles which are already present in the batter produced through creaming of ingredients.
  • Liquids- We have applesauce, banana’s, and lemon juice

Grams Banana Bread on www.cookingwithruthie.com has connected our family for generations!

Helpful baking tips for higher elevations

  • If you live 3,000 feet above sea level or more it is considered high elevation and may take longer to cook/bake. 
  • Adjustments are needed for 5000+ feet and above:
  • Reduce baking powder: for each teaspoon, decrease 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon.
  • Reduce sugar: for each cup, decrease 2 tablespoons.
  • Increase liquid: for each cup, add 2 to 4 tablespoons.
  • Increase oven temperature by 25 degrees F.
  • Check if it is done a little early.
  • This takes some trial and error to get it right for you.

Learn more HERE

Yield: 1

Grams Banana Bread Recipe

Grams Banana Bread on www.cookingwithruthie.com has connected our family for generations!

Gram's Banana Bread Recipe is one of very favorite recipes that has connected our family for generations, it's moist and sweet and every bite is filled with lovely memories!

Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 55 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs, room temperature (or to reduce fat/cholesterol use 1 whole egg and 2 egg whites)
  • 1/4 cup applesauce
  • 2 large overripe bananas, mashed
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1/2 cup walnuts, optional

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven 350 degrees.
  2. Coat 9x5 loaf pan with cooking spray; set aside.
  3. In standing mixer cream butter, add sugar, mix 2-3 minutes.
  4. Add eggs one at a time; beating 1 minute and scrapping with each addition.
  5. Add applesauce, lemon juice, and mashed bananas; mix to incorporate.
  6. Combine flour, baking soda, and sea salt in bowl and whisk to combine.
  7. Add all at once to wet, mix just until moistened- okay if lumpy.
  8. Evenly spread into prepared pan.
  9. Bake 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted removes clean.
  10. Remove and cool 5 minutes, turn out and complete cooling.
  11. Slice and Enjoy!

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

10

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 286Total Fat: 9gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 49mgSodium: 284mgCarbohydrates: 47gFiber: 2gSugar: 24gProtein: 5g

We hope you enjoy Gram’s Banana Bread Recipe and some of these sweet loaves too!

Grandma’s Banana Bread Recipe is sure to make you’re family just as happy as it makes ours!

One more thing before you go…

We love creating recipes and sharing our adventures with you, so if you can do us a huge favor it’d really support us! It’s easier to stay motivated to share our best with you when we hear from you! We adore our readers and it really makes our day to get comments, social tags/shares, or pins that you save for later to share with your family and friends. 

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We SEE you and we do our very best to respond to all the love! It also amps up our mo-jo so we get lots of awesome things done around here. Please reach out if you have questions or comments via our email: ruthie@cookingwithruthie.com. We’re excited to see you again soon! 

 

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Thanks for sharing in the CWR blog-love!

Love Always,

Ruthie & Madeliene 

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  1. Cailtin says:

    There’s nothing quite like Gram’s banana bread!!! Thanks for sharing, Ruthie!

    • Ruthie says:

      Hi Cailtin!! SO true… it is one of our faves too! Thanks for the fun comment 🙂 Have a beautiful day. xoxo~ Ruthie

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