The BEST Banana Bread … Ever

Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Lightly spray a loaf pan (9×5 inches) with cooking spray. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, spices and salt. Whisk it all together and set aside.

Now, this next part is fun. We are going to get all the liquid out of the bananas. This will make our bread moist, but not soggy.

Put 3 bananas in a microwave safe bowl and cover it tightly with plastic wrap (make sure to put a few slits in it so that the steam can come out!). Microwave on high until the bananas are super soft and lots of the liquid has come out; this should take about 5 minutes. Put the bananas in a mesh strainer that’s on top of a medium bowl and let it drain for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Take the banana liquid (about ½ cup) and cook it in a saucepan over medium heat until it’s reduced to ¼ cup. This should take 5–10 minutes. After taking the pan off the heat, let it cool for a few minutes and then pour the reserved banana liquid back into the bananas and mash it up.

Melt the butter in the microwave and then whisk it into the banana mixture. Then add in the eggs, both sugars, buttermilk, vanilla, and yoghurt, and whisk it some more! (If you have no buttermilk, it is SO easy to make! Take just under a cup of milk and add a tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice to bring the liquid up to a whole cup. Let it stand for 5 minutes. Then use as much as you need.) Finally, add the dry ingredients into the bowl with the banana mixture and fold it together VERY GENTLY, just enough to get all the dry ingredients incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth it all with a spatula.

Then you can slice the last banana and layer those slices along both the sides on top of the batter. Be sure to leave a few inches of space in the middle so that it can rise properly. Last of all, just for kicks, sprinkle turbinado sugar over the whole thing.

Bake until a toothpick or knife in the center comes out clean. This can be anywhere from 55–75 minutes. After baking, let it cool in its pan for about 20 minutes and then you can remove it and put it on a plate or whatever tickles your fancy.