Banana and raisin bread recipe

Homemade banana and raisin bread. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

The end of winter can be so dreary, can’t it? I find myself chomping at the bit with anticipation for the warmer weather that seems like it’s taking its good old time getting here! I’m craving the warmth of the upcoming spring. Maybe something warm and home-baked will help… ​

Every week, we buy a bunch of bananas, and some weeks they get eaten, but many times, I end up with a few bananas that have gone brown…and who wants to eat that?! I feel so wasteful throwing them out! So, sometimes, I dig through my cabinets to find something to compliment the bananas in a bread recipe. Sometimes I find chopped nuts, or coconut, or chocolate chips…This time around, it was raisins. And so the oven was turned on, and the baking began.

Three ripe bananas. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

Raisins. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

Banana bread is not a hard thing to make, and it’s a great way to limit waste and make a special treat for the family…better than store-bought, in my opinion! 

So here’s today’s version of banana bread with raisins…

Ingredients:

2-3 ripe bananas
2 eggs
1/2 stick butter, softened
1/2 cup milk
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
Nuts, raisins, or chocolate chips (optional)

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.

Grease the pan. (I used a Bundt pan and a muffin pan for this recipe.)

Bundt cake pan greased. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

Mix the sugars and butter, and stir in eggs. Mix until moist and crumbly.

Cup of sugar in a bowl. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

1/4 cup brown sugar. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

1/2 stick butter melted. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

Add bananas, milk, and vanilla. Beat until smooth.

Mashed bananas. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

1/2 cup milk. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

Two teaspoons vanilla. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

Stir in flour, baking soda, and salt until moistened.

All purpose flour. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

Baking soda. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

Salt. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

Stir in nuts, chocolate chips, or raisins.

Bake for 1-1 1/4 hours, or until toothpick comes out clean.

Banana bread batter in bowl. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

Banana bread batter poured into Bundt pan. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

I have a round cake pan that I love to use for banana bread, but I also have a muffin tray for the excess…because there is ALWAYS excess! Sometimes, I take the time to make a creamy buttery icing to glaze the tops for a little extra “sweet” on my treats! (I think I’ll save that for another blog, but let me know in the comments below if you’d like me to post some options for icing.)

Banana bread finished baking and cooling on the counter. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

Banana and raisin bread on a plate, ready to be eaten! Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

Bon Appetit! 



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Potato soup recipe
Tuna noodle casserole recipe
Chicken vegetable pot pie recipe

This article may contain a few items or commercial mentions, but I only used them for demonstration purposes only. I am not endorsing any particular product or receiving any monetary gain for this blog.