Blueberry Banana Bread

Do you see the face!? Totally surprised myself.

Here's the other banana bread I made from my neighbor's overripe bananas. The recipe is a slightly spiced basic banana bread with blueberries added to it. The recipe comes from one of my favorites, Giada de Laurentiis. If you didn't have blueberries or wanted to add other berries or fruit, the recipe would still work. It's a great basic recipe that would be good with or without the spices depending on your mood.

The texture of this banana bread was perfect for me. I tend to prefer the texture of quick breads made with oil rather than butter. It also wasn't too sweet and bakes up really nicely, perfect for gifting to friends and family. The banana flavor isn't super strong since there's only two bananas in it, but if you need a banana bread recipe that uses two bananas, this is a great choice. This is definitely another one to add to any banana bread collection.

Blueberry Banana Bread
Adapted from Giada de Laurentiis
Makes One 9x5 inch loaf

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp fine salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 very ripe bananas, mashed (about 3/4 cup mashed)
1 cup (4 oz) fresh blueberries

Preheat the oven to 350 deg F. Butter and flour or line a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. In a large bowl, whisk the sugar, oil, and eggs for 2-3 minutes until really well blended. With a spatula, stir in the bananas and blueberries.

Add the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Pour the batter into the loaf pan and bake for about 1 hr until a cake tester comes out clean. Let the banana bread cool for 15 minutes before removing from the pan and letting it cool completely on a wire rack.

Banana bread will keep for several days at room temp wrapped in foil or frozen, wrapped in plastic wrap and placed in a Ziploc bag, for longer.