Skillet Banana Bread

Bananas are good for you. I eat them every day, however the one challenge I have, is keeping them fresh. I buy them a little green so they will last longer in the kitchen, but, they seem to turn brown too quickly. Now some will extol the virtues of brown bananas, they’re sweeter etc., unfortunately I don’t like them. There is a solution, skillet banana bread, and it is delicious.

High in potassium (which is good for your heart), fiber (keeps you regular), prebiotics (these promote a healthy gut by supporting the probiotics in your gut), vitamins B6 and C. As with all fresh fruits and vegetables, the list does go on. However, this post is not so much about how good bananas are for you. It’s about how to turn those over ripe brown bananas into warm, moist sweet skillet banana bread

Banana bread is comfort food, and there are a lot recipes out there, but I like this one. It has the warmth of cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger. The caramel of brown sugar, and, a little dark rum to round everything out. The dark rum is optional, but is preferred. When making a cake there are two components: the wet, and, the dry. They each get mixed separately then mixed together. This ensures a smooth, light, fluffy cake

Starting with the wet. Allow the butter to come to room temp for 1/2hr or so. There is a hack to stick it in the microwave for a few seconds, But I just prefer old school. Cut up the stick into pieces and just let sit a bit. The bananas, they have to be completely brown and mushy, stick them in a bowl and break them up as much a possible with a fork. Eggs. Minced ginger. For this, about 1″ fresh ginger, grated as fine as possible. Then, chopped up as fine as possible with a sharp knife. If you have an alternate way, have at it, just as long as it’s minced as fine as possible, I hate lumps of ginger. And finally vanilla extract and the rum. Mix all the ingredients well.

Now for the dry component. Dark brown sugar, this will give the bread some good flavor and color. Now for the warming spices, Nutmeg, Cinnamon and Ginger. Flour and baking soda and salt. The baking soda and salt will help the bread to rise. Mix all that well. Now mix the wet and the dry. I do this by hand with a spoon, but if you have a fancy kitchen mixer, well, firstly I’m jealous, but feel free to use it.

Preheat a skillet over a medium heat and coat the inside with butter. Now pour in the cake mixture, make sure it’s spread evenly. Place in a preheated 350 degree oven for 22 mins. What comes out is a moist fluffy delicious skillet banana bread. Give the bread about 10 mins to settle from cooking, remove and place on a rack to cool, or, eat it warm, it’s so damn good. As a garnish, sprinkle with powdered sugar and enjoy