Bananas aren't a fruit that typically excites the senses or moves people in a profound way, if in any way at all. Hell, fruit in general doesn't do that. Except maybe a lychee. Lychees do something quite unnatural to me that makes me feel shameful and dirty, but that’s a different blog post.
Focus. Bananas.
I don’t know anyone who actually likes bananas, anyone who actually likes to eat bananas, anyone who actually likes the taste and texture of the slimy soft, sometimes stringy fruit that leaves a strange, powdery-yet-wet residue on the tongue and teeth. But every time you’re tearing through the grocery produce section, nature’s version of elementary school bus safety yellow catches your eye and stimulates a conditioned response. You slow down. And though the words may not make their way in literal format to your mouth, “we should get bananas” stirs in your subconscious. You don’t really know why you should get bananas, you just know you should. It’s just known. Should. Supposed to.
It’s just one of those things in life that people should do.
Today, though, I’m finding myself a little less apathetic about bananas. Staring at a screen full of photos of blackened bananas and the browned, caramel glossy topped banana bread with deep, dark cracks and tiny craters spilling over with half melted mini chocolate chips that they became, I found myself…affected. I took those photos a year ago.
It was after the birthday trip up to the mountains.
On our way up to the cabin, we stopped at the market and bought, among other things, bananas. They weren’t on any grocery list, but they probably looked too perfect to pass up and hell, we’re up in the mountains! We should buy bananas for nutrition or something, right? The bananas were long, a little unnatural in how straight they were, beautiful in their own, suspiciously perfect way. They were a little green, but they would ripen in time.
With places to dine out in the small mountain town, other things to eat from the kitchen adorned with small black and white Brother labels that identified everything from cupboards with “pots and pans” to “kitchen light,” and the fact that vacations are a time to eat junk food, the bananas were left untouched. They moved from laying sprawled out bare on the table, to awkwardly nesting their curiously long, straight, hard bodies in a large mixing bowl, to the '70s formica countertop, trying to find their place.
On the last day, like the responsible vacation renters we were, we tidied up, took out the trash, checked the showers, peeked under the sofa cushions, and emptied the refrigerator. The bananas were still on the table. Bananas are cheap – quite literally, a little more than a dime a dozen. The first instinct was to throw them out with the rest of the food that just wasn't worth our effort to take back down the mountain, but I don't work that way. Whether by culture or necessity, it hurts my heart to waste. I can’t just throw things away, especially things that seem perfectly good.
The bananas came back home with us.
I put the untouched bananas on the kitchen countertop. Every day for the first few days, I saw the bananas and reminded myself to look for that banana bread recipe — that one, the one that I loved from whatyearwasthat, hm, I can't remember — but I didn't look. So many other things came up. I was making excuses. "Life stuff" was moving faster, yet in a strange way, more slowly, than I could manage. I wasn't ignoring the bananas; they were there and I saw them every day, rotting right before my eyes. I think I was trying to ignore having to do something about them. I didn't want to deal with them.
You can ignore the black, spotted bananas that are practically camouflaged against the dark granite countertop for as long as you can, but something will eventually force your hand. Maybe you pick up the bananas off the counter to make room for a bowl and the skins shred apart from the stems under the weight of decay. Maybe you find that banana bread recipe while looking for something else.
Maybe you finally find hard evidence of lies and dishonesty that confirm what was just suspicion that laid black and heavy on your heart for months.
Bananas may not actually be, but are marketed as, Quite Possibly the World’s Perfect Food. They had decomposed to just the point at which only by some act of God they could be salvaged, were stripped open, scraped from its skin, shredded, pounded and mashed into a slimy, pulpy mess, hurled into a floury fray, but finally, emerged from the heat, beautifully transformed.
This past year was one of the most uncomfortable, painful, hard, difficult, emotional, dramatic, heart-wrenching years I've lived through, but I think I've finally emerged from the heat.
*breathe*
I may not be beautifully transformed, but at least I'll get a blog post or two out of it.
Mini Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Recipe
INGREDIENTS
- 1¾ c. + 2 Tbsp. unsifted flour
- 1½ c. granulated sugar
- ½ tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ¾ tsp. salt
- 1 - 1 ½ c. mini chocolate chips
- 1 c. mashed overripe bananas
- 2 large eggs
- ⅓ c. buttermilk
- ½ c. vegetable oil
- 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Grease and flour three mini loaf pans.
Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into large bowl. Stir in mini chocolate chips.
In a separate bowl, combine mashed bananas, eggs, buttermilk, oil and vanilla. Pour liquid ingredients into flour ingredients and stir until combined.
Divide batter among loaf pans and bake for 33-35 minutes or until deeply golden brown and toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.
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You says
make please
thank you
Holly says
I love bananas...They are absolutely my favorite food (not just fav fruit). So there, one person who TRULY enjoys bananas
yaybanana says
Yeah, my dad loves em too. Buys them by the bunches (silly attempt at cheap humor).
Peter E Dant says
What is an OVERN?
Sarah J. Gim says
Peter:
an overn is a totally special oven that no one else has except me :)
Robert says
My son and I enjoy Banana's a great deal. between us, we eat at least 7-10 pounds every week.
Sarah J. Gim says
Holy Smokes, Robert! how many bananas is that? 7-10 pounds?! at least it's bananas, and not...um, potato chips :)
Zulfikar says
Yum :) Love that recipe and am gona endulge myself in a little bit of that today.
And oh ya, the overn is the special place to cook a perfect Mini Chocolate Chip Banana Bread ;)
Harleysmom says
My mother in law cannot make her banana bread without it falling in the middle. I think she's over mixing it or...not using baking powder? any ideas?
Anonymous says
It isn't completely baked. If edge is getting finished first, maybe the oven temperature needs to be lowered. Use a tester in the center to see if it is ready to remove from the oven.
Vivian Boroff says
If the edge is browned and the center is still mushy turn the oven off but leave it in for an additional 15 minutes then re-test with a toothpick. Also it would help to use an inexpensive oven thermometer to make sure that your oven is hitting the right temperature.
Sarah J. Gim says
Hey Harley's Mom:
a comment from Hannah/Bittersweet on twitter:
"Usually has to do with using too much leavening and/or too much liquid"
Kristina says
I love bananas. There. I've admitted it. That said, I get why you wonder. But they are satisfying in a starchy way that an apple never is and excellent for blending into a smoothie.
Regarding the falling banana bread, my best guess would be not enough or expired baking powder.
Azra says
I cannot wait to try this out. My dad loves banana bread, I'd like to see what he'd think of the change in the level deliciousness. :D
james says
what the fuck are you talking about, bananas are the shit
Sarah J. Gim says
oh good, then if we ever go on a camping trip together, i never have to worry about eating them.
Angela says
Bananas are the ONLY fruit I like. I am not a fruit person... much more of a veggie person, but ohhhh man do I love bananas.
Sarah J. Gim says
Angela: How strange that you only like bananas! What about sweet, tart berries? Or just straight up tart citrus? But I do agree, I love vegetables, too. :) Next up for us, zucchini bread
tammi says
you are a great writer - glad to have stumbled across you
Xylene2301 says
I know a raw-food-only vegan who eats 8 bananas at a sitting...
BananaLovers says
We love bananas, in fact there is not a day that can go by that a bit of sunshine comes into our lives in the form of a beautiful-bright-elongated self-contained vitamin-full fruit. A bunch goes through this house every 2 days.
Over-ripe??? ... thanks for the photo ... we always wondered what that would look like. No offence, but what a terrible thing to do to bananas ... in a cake ... no thank you. pass.
Here in Europe (Belgium and UK) some small markets and "corner" shops now are offering "bananas-by-the-piece" at the till/check-out in place of candy and gum. The idea has become quite popular very quickly. Europe loves bananas.
Dusty Lee says
Well obviously you don't eat a banana when it's brown like you would a yellow banana. However in order to make banana bread properly, the bananas must be over ripe to impart the proper sweetness and flavor into the bread. If you suggest to any baker that they use yellow bananas in their bread, they'll laugh in your face, whether in the USA or Europe. The USA "loves bananas too:,,,, smug guy.
StrangerKiss says
I love bananas...always have. I did a raw food thing (with the Raw Divas) and ate LOTS of bananas. More bananas than I would have thought possible to eat at one sitting. I would have thought I'd be turned off but now, even though I'm not doing raw anymore, I love them more than ever. I usually eat 2-3 a day!
Thanks for the lovely recipe...can't wait to try it. Always need ways to use those overripe bananas.
Anonymous says
fuck you i love bananas
Anonymous says
wow, couldn't you of just posted the recipe and not wasted my time by posting your life story before hand?
I like bananas.
Anonymous says
Congratulations on being completely rude about it as well. If you don't want to read it, then don't, but don't be an arse.
Rod Francis says
Coooooooool bananas ..... they are the TOPS !!!
You can do anything and everything with bananas, as simple as wrapping them up in thin bread wraps - those with sweet teeth - with honey, to hot chocolate banana muffins, to fruit salads, raw - cooked ...
U name it - U
Can't beat BANANAS !!!
Cheers very delightful piece ...
rod f
Jackie says
I stumbled upon your recipe while searching for banana bread, we are about to embark on a lengthy road trip and I though it would be a lovely thing to have. I've read your blog several times since finding it last night and I've got to say, I'm so glad you made it through!
I'll be making the bread but it's only because the way you presented it speaks to me so deeply. Thank you.
Libby says
Oh I LOVE bananas! I buy them every time I grocery shop. <3
I also love chocolate chip banana bread, so I'll have to try this.
Gabrielaskitchen says
Uzbeki foreign exchange students loooove bananas- at least the girl who stayed with my family loved'em. She ate three a day. Apparently they're still a luxury food item in parts of Uzbekistan. Also- you're recipe sounds great....my bananas always turn into bread or muffins or milk shakes. I have to sneek them into my diet.
Mexicana says
Made the recipe in Torreon, MX. Used milk & vinegar as substitute for buttermilk. Only have one regular sized pan. Gas oven. The bottom stuck to bottom of pan and top was not fully baked. Tastes good, but not aesthetically pleasing.
Tanya says
This recipe looks delicious. I love chocolate chip banana bread. Can't wait to make this recipe.
Sarah J. Gim says
Tanya: Please do soon, and make sure to let us know how it turns out!
Nicole says
Your description of buying bananas at the grocery store made me laugh so hard! That is EXACTLY what happens to me and I feel the same way about them.
Christine says
I am smiling for several reasons as I post this. A- I'm happy that I found your fun food blog! B- I found your blog after googling "banana bread" because of the guilt I felt at holding 3 mushy blackened bananas over the trash can... I didn't have the heart to throw them away and C- My husband and I just fought over the last slice of banana bread and I won! Super delish, I baked it about 4 hours ago and now it's GONE! :)