Adapted from The Great Food Processor Cookbook by Yvonne Young Tarr (1976). When the food processor fad hit the United States in 1977, I was an early adopter. I bought our first Cuisinart at a kitchen shop (another new concept) in University Mall and picked up the cookbook at the same time. When we got home to Cumberland Road, we made banana bread from this recipe. It may have been the first time I made real banana bread instead of using a mix.
Forty years later, our family members are still enjoying banana bread from this recipe, though we are starting on our fifth Cuisinart. You can substitute whole-wheat flour for the white flour, but you can’t decrease the sugar. Banana bread just isn’t the real thing without it.
2 tablespoons buttermilk
OR 1 ½ tablespoons milk and 1 teaspoon lemon juice (this sours the milk)
3 medium-size very ripe bananas, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 eggs
1 cup granulated sugar (do not decrease this amount)
½ cup butter (1 stick), at room temperature, cut into 8 pieces
(if butter is cold, melt in microwave for 10-20 seconds)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
(1 cup each date pieces and chopped pecans or walnuts)
(¾ cup raisins)
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Place bananas, eggs, sugar, and butter in Cuisinart bowl. Whirl for 5 seconds, adding soured milk or buttermilk through spout.
Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add to batter. Add fruit and nuts if you want them.
Process by turning machine quickly on and off 6 to 8 times, stopping once to scrape down container sides.
Spoon into well-buttered loaf pan and bake for 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out dry. Loosen edges after removing from oven and turn out on a rack to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature.