Banana Bread Showdown

My house is very, very cold right now. So, as the snow day progressed I decided I would need to do something to keep me from freezing to death. 

Slaving away over a hot stove was just the ticket.

It just so happened that I had all the ingredients I needed to make banana bread. I've been saving some very ...um... *ripe* bananas in the freezer and they were starting to look a little freaky. I have never frozen bananas before- it is not a pretty sight!

I feel like banana bread is one of those items that you prefer the way your mother made it. Well, I have no memory of my mother ever making banana bread so I was going to have to look elsewhere for a recipe.

Skimming through rows and rows of cookbooks, I landed on a recipe from a church cookbook. Surely the contributing woman was someone's mother so it should be great! Since I'm new to making banana bread, I thought I might as well try out an alternative recipe so I looked to a classic- Joy of Cooking.

This leads me to the main event...

Irma vs Myrtle: A Banana Bread Showdown

Who will come out on top? Myrtle the parishioner who uses butter and a splash of milk? Or Irma Rombauer who opts for silky shortening?

The ingredients for each recipe were very similar otherwise: flour , sugar, a fat, a leavening agent,  eggs, and nuts. I whipped up a batch of each and sent them to battle.

On my left, we have Myrtle...

And to my right, Irma...

And now judgment time!

While both loaves were pretty tasty, I'm going to have to go with Irma's recipe from Joy of Cooking as my winner. It was light and moist in comparison to Myrtle's. Sorry, Myrtle, better luck next time!

I do have to admit I may have toasted them up a bit too much. Both loaves lacked that moist, stick-to-your-finger goodness that I see when other people have made banana bread. Next time, I don't think that I will wait until the hour cook time is up to check their doneness!

Sounds like banana bread and I have some unfinished business. I will refrain from posting a recipe until I reach loaf perfection.

Do YOU have a delicious banana bread recipe you would like to share? Leave a comment!