Banana Bread

INGREDIENTS

• ½ Tbsp unsalted butter (for greasing the baking dish)
• 1⅔ cups all-purpose flour (plain flour)
• ½ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp baking powder
• ½ cup unsalted butter (softened)
• ½ cup sugar
• 2 large eggs (50 g each w/o shell) (at room temperature)
• 1 Tbsp neutral oil
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 4 ripe bananas (divided; a 7- to 8-inch, medium-sized banana is roughly 4 oz/113 g with peel; see Notes)
• ½ cup raisins (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS 

1. Gather all the ingredients.
2. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). For a convection oven, reduce the cooking temperature by 25ºF (15ºC). Grease the bottom and sides of an 8-inch square baking dish with ½ Tbsp unsalted butter.
3. In a bowl, combine 1⅔ cups all-purpose flour (plain flour), ½ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt, ½ tsp baking soda, and ½ tsp baking powder and whisk all together.
4. In another bowl, whisk together ½ cup unsalted butter (softened) and ½ cup sugar until well blended, fluffy, and pale yellow.
5. Add 2 large eggs (50 g each w/o shell), 1 Tbsp neutral oil, and 1 tsp pure vanilla extract. Beat with the whisk until well blended.
6. Mash 3 ripe bananas with a fork and mix into the egg mixture.
7. Add the flour mixture to the banana mixture and stir just until blended. Add ½ cup raisins, if you‘d like to include them.
8. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, spreading it evenly with the rubber spatula. Slice 1 ripe banana thinly into rounds and decorate on top of the banana bread.
9. Bake at 350°F (175°C) until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean, about 1 hour. Remove the baking dish from the oven and let cool for 20 minutes.