This is now my favorite banana bread recipe:

Hawaiian Pineapple Banana Bread

3 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 t. baking soda
1 t. cinnamon
3/4 t. salt
1 cup chopped pecans
3 eggs, beaten
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups mashed bananas (about 5)
2 t. vanilla extract
1 8 oz. can crushed pineapple, drained

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl. Stir in nuts. Combine wet ingredients in another bowl. Mix wet ingredients into the bowl of the dry ingredients. Mix just until all is moistened. Put into two greased and floured regular (8.5") loaf pans.

Bake for 1 1/2 hours at 350 degrees. Cool in the pans for 10-15 minutes then turn out onto a rack and cool completely. Makes two loaves.

Source: my friend Belinda Grady

Teresa

Add some butterscotch chips to it.

LATIN BANANA BREAD

Serves 8

Ingredients

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 large eggs
2 large ripe bananas, mashed
1/4 cup Crema Mexicana
1/4 cup Crema Agria
2 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup chopped nuts (I like toasted unsalted cashews)
1/2 cup chopped dried mango

Directions

Cream butter with sugar, beat in eggs and mix until fluffy.

Sift flour with baking soda and salt. Stir in flour mixture.

Stir in mashed bananas, both Crema and vanilla.

Stir in nuts and mango pieces.

Spoon into greased and floured 9"x5" loaf pan or 2 small loaf pans. Let stand 10 minutes.

Bake at 350°F for 30 to 45 minutes.

If you can't find the Mexican Cremas, sub sour cream for both. If you don't have dried mangoes, sub raisins or any dried fruit.

Joe

How about zucchini and banana? This is my niece's recipe and it's very good. I don't use banana extract...don't miss it at all. I just read about roasting bananas in the skin to make them sweeter, and will give it a try the next time I make this. I might also try some whole wheat flour and reduce the amount of oil a bit.

ZU-NANA BREAD

Combine and set aside:
3 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Beat well in large bowl:
1 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 Tbs vanilla
1 tsp banana extract (optional)

Stir into wet ingredients:
2 cups bananas mashed
2 cups zucchini unpeeled and grated/shredded

Add dry ingredients to wet mixture, stir until just moistened. Pour into well greased bundt pan or 2 loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

I've been waiting for a rhubarb crop to make some rhubarb bread, and was thinking last winter that some rhubarb might go quite nicely in banana bread. Haven't had a chance to try it but I think I'd like it.

lpink - I sometimes chop up some maraschino cherries and throw in mine.

Also toffee bits work well too.

Chocolate-Banana?
(Sub a little of the flour for unsweetened cocoa (1/4 c. maybe).
Banana-Strawberry?
Peanut Butter-Banana?
Almond-Banana Bread?

Deanna

I love banana bread because it's one of those things you can play with quite a bit. I love adding fresh cranberries (I usually cut them in half), or dried cranberries either as they are or plumped in brandy or rum. Dried apricots are a good addition too. Apple chunks. Dried cherries. I've added chopped banana chips too, that was fun. Orange or lemon zest. A variety of nuts or seeds. Roast some raw peanuts in a pan, chop them coarsely and add those, reserving some to sprinkle on the top. Chopped Heath bars.

I make a lemon bread that calls for soaking it with a lemon-sugar syrup after it's baked. I used that idea with banana bread once, soaking it with an orange-sugar syrup...ooh, that was good. They syrup is simple, just one cup of sugar with a half cup of juice, heated until the sugar melts. Then you put the loaf on a rimmed plate or pan, pour the syrup over it, and spoon up what drips off to pour back over the loaf until it's all soaked up. With the orange syrup, I added some zest, because I was afraid that orange wouldn't be as robustly flavored as the lemon was.

Then, to add insult to injury, I make citrus flavored powdered sugar by putting the sugar into a blender and dripping in lemon or orange extract and zest to dust the top of the loaf with.

I have made this one--delicious and quite different from your usual banana bread. I think I left out the rum. It is from Cooking Light magazine.

COCONUT BANANA BREAD WITH LIME GLAZE

2 cups AP flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana (about 3 bananas)
1/4 cup plain low-fat yogurt
3 tablespoons dark rum
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup flaked sweetened coconut
Cooking spray
1 tablespoon flaked sweetened coconut
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lime or lemon juice
Preparation
Preheat oven to 350°.

Lightly spoon the flour into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt, stirring with a whisk to combine.

Place granulated sugar and butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended (about 1 minute). Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add banana, yogurt, rum, and vanilla; beat until blended. Add flour mixture; beat at low speed just until moist. Stir in 1/2 cup coconut. Spoon batter into a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray; sprinkle with 1 tablespoon coconut. Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack; remove from pan. Combine powdered sugar and juice, stirring with a whisk; drizzle over warm bread. Cool bread completely on wire rack.

Thanks folks! I'm going to save this thread because I make banana bread a lot. Maybe some day I'll even learn to spell banana!

Here's what I made this weekend, my banana coconut muffin recipe except I used WAY less coconut and added chopped maraschino cherries, 'cause I had some in the fridge.

Banana Coconut Muffins
adapted from Bon Appetit, March 1999

3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
3/4 cup unbleached all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
3-4 med. very ripe bananas (I used 2.5 large ones)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. almond extract (these are fine without this)
1 large egg
1 stick unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup 1% milk (I used 2% because that's what I had)
3/4 cup shredded coconut (I used 1/4 cup because that's what I had)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Oil 12 muffin cups or line with paper liners.
Combine wet ingredients and the shredded coconut.
Combine dry ingredients, breaking up any lumps of baking powder, etc.
Make a well in the dry ing. and add the wet. Stir gently until just combined, don't overmix. Fold in chopped maraschinos if you like. Divide the mix evenly into the 12 prepared muffin cups.
Bake at 250 for 25-30 min., or until a tester comes out clean. Let cool in the tin after you take them out for at least 5 min. Eat warm or at room temp.

Lpink's notes: I have made these without the almond extract, they are good this way. You can use less coconut if you want to shave some calories. I find the almond taste a little overpowering so next time I make these I'm going to use about half the extract. These would probably be good with other add ins like chopped almonds or choc. chips for a dessert type muffin. Next time I make them I'm going to try lowering the fat a little by using just two egg whites, and subbing out some of the butter with applesauce or plain yogurt. I may sub orange juice for the milk too. None of this is tried and true, but the above recipe is, and they are very good!

L, it's not banana bread or muffins, but this is absolutely the best banana cake I've ever encountered. I don't even like bananas and I can eat this and Ashley says it's her favorite cake ever. It was posted here a couple of years ago, and is a Rose Levy Birnbaum recipe. I leave out the lemon, I've made it with a hand mixer instead of a stand mixer and I always grease and flour the pan because I bake it in a 9x13 pan and don't turn it out.

Banana Cake (Rose Levy BerenbaumÂs Cordon Rose Cake)
Jgarner-Cooking Forum

(good as layer cake, elegant, delicate texture)
mix together:
sifted cake flour 2 cups (200 g)
sugar 3/4 c + 2 Tbs (170g)
baking soda 1 tsp
baking powder 3/4 tsp
salt 1/2 tsp
puree together:
2 large ripe bananas 1 c (227 g)
sour cream 2 Tbs or up to 1/2 c (30 g to 121 g)
2 large eggs 2 (100 g)
grated lemon zest 2 tsp
(I left this out since I don't like the flavor of lemon with banana)
vanilla 1-1/2 tsp
soften:
Butter 10 Tbs (5 oz) (142 g)
Add butter and half of pureed mixture to dry ingredients in stand mixer and mix at medium with paddle for 1-1/2 minutes. Scrape bowl and add rest of banana mixture in two batches, mixing 20 seconds after each addition. Pour into 9"x2" round pan (I just lined the bottom with parchment, no spray or butter) and bake at 350 F for 30 to 40 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes in pan and then turn out onto rack to cool completely.
Hint: Use smallest amount of sour cream and 3 bananas for more pronounced banana flavor
Cream Cheese Icing
Cream cheese, softened 8 oz.
Butter, softened 5 TBS (2.5 oz)
Sour cream 1 Tbs
Vanilla extract 1/2 tsp.
Rum 1 Tbs
Powdered sugar 1 1/4 C (5 oz)
Process (yeah, the food processor) or beat cream cheese, butter, sour cream, and vanilla until smooth. Add powdered sugar and pulse until smooth. Makes enough to frost the top of a 9x13 sheet cake.

Teresa, I've used that recipe and subbed macadamia nuts for the pecans, I probably got the recipe from you, LOL, I have had it long enough that it was back when I first started and didn't know enough to put the name of the poster on a recipe.

houscrzy, yours looks good too and very different.

Annie

Hey, L, look what came in my email from Self Magazine!

LIFE Blueberry Banana Muffins
Joy Bauer answers our early morning prayers with a recipe to satisfy every sweet tooth. From her book Joy's LIFE Diet, these muffins are as simple to prepare as they are scrumptious.
Makes 6 muffins

Ingredients
Vegetable oil cooking spray
1 large egg
2 tablespoons fat-free sour cream
2 tablespoons lowfat buttermilk
1/2 cup oat bran
1/3 cup whole-wheat flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups mashed banana (about 3 medium)
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen, unsweetened
1/2 teaspoon grated orange zest (optional)
Preparation
Heat oven to 375 degrees. Coat a standard muffin pan with cooking spray. Whisk egg, sour cream and buttermilk in a bowl. Mix oat bran, flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a second bowl. Combine banana and sugar in a third bowl. Stir in buttermilk mixture. Sprinkle in flour mixture and stir gently. Fold in blueberries and zest, if desired. Fill muffin cups 3/4 full with batter. Bake until an inserted toothpick comes out clean, 15 to 20 minutes.

I haven't tried this, of course, I got it by email about 5 minutes ago, LOL, but it sounds good and healthier than most muffins.

Annie