Frugal Baking: The World’s Tastiest, Cheapest Banana Bread…Without Ever Turning on Your Stove!

Fast, cheap, and easy... 🙂

I have found THE PERFECT Banana Bread Recipe!!!

I have to admit, I was a bit skeptical about this recipe. As much as I’d like to be, I’m not a baker at heart (I long to posses the necessary flair with eggs and butter to be in one of those Cake Wars competitions on TV). In an ironic genealogical role-reversal, I never inherited my mom’s love of baking…and just as ironically, she doesn’t share my love of cooking…hence me and my sister being raised on a diet of  fish sticks and tuna noodle casserole. 🙂
But, adding insult to injury, I LOVE (and so does Mike) sweet treats and homemade muffins and breads. Enter this lovely little recipe for banana bread from one of my friends. It  just happened to come into my life when I had an overabundance of eggs from last week’s bounty of printable egg coupons,  and a hefty bag of (8) ripe bananas I found in my local Shop ‘n Save’s discount produce rack for 99 cents. (Check in the produce section for a discount rack at your local Shop ‘n Save!! In addition to the bananas, I’ve found grapes at about 1/3 of the normal price, often just because two or three grapes were crushed, and bags of romaine/leaf lettuce for 1/2 price because there were a few brown spots on the outer leaves. In the case of the bananas, they were ripe and ready to eat, instead of green and in need of a few days of sitting out on the ol’ shelf in your house…PERFECT for banana bread!

Anyway, I never considered myself someone who could bake from scratch…not even a quick bread like banana or zucchini bread. I’ve always used the overpriced mixes, or bought them from the bakery in the store. After trying this recipe, which cost me about $1 to make, I’ll never go back to my old ways again! $1 got me a nice sized loaf (6 thick slices) of banana bread, and 6 banana muffins.

Theoretically, I had a muffin for Mike’s lunch each day, plus one extra… and a loaf of bread to snack on or freeze for later (banana bread is easily frozen and enjoyed later). In reality, everything was gobbled up within 2 days, so I’d recommend baking a double batch, and secretly freezing the second loaf/muffins if you want to save something for later…it’s that good!! No preservatives, additives, or chemicals…and it only cost me around $1 to make (a double batch, obviously, would cost around $2). Enjoy!!

World’s Tastiest (and Cheapest) Banana Bread

Ingredients:

• 3 mashed bananas (use very ripe bananas)
• 1 and 2/3 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 cup plus 2 TBS sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cut vegetable oil
• 2 TBS sour cream
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

The Method:

1. Here’s the great part…if you’re baking this in hot weather, this bread will cook just as well in a toaster oven as in you regular oven, keeping the kitchen blessedly cool! Set the toaster oven to 350 degrees, and lightly grease a loaf pan with butter or margarine.
2. You’ll need three bowls: in the first bowl, mash up the peeled, ripe bananas (I like to use a potato masher…brand new Pampered Chef Masher I found at a resale shop for 99 cents! Props!). In the second bowl, stir together the flour, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg, and baking soda. In the third bowl, (and this is the hardest part, but just think of it as a great workout for your triceps!) whisk together the eggs and sugar until the texture is fluffy and light, about 5 to 10 minutes, then slowly drizzle in the vegetable oil while continuously whisking.
3. Combine bowls #1, #2, and #3, and add the sour cream and vanilla extract. Gently fold everything together until well blended. (If you have them on hand, you can now add dry nuts as well).
4. Bake banana bread in the loaf pan for 45 min to 1 hour. Loaf is done cooking when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
5. You will have some leftover batter. Line a muffin tin with muffin papers and bake a batch of muffins after the bread has finished. These should take a bit less time to cook them the bread, maybe 30-45 minutes. Again, get out your trusty toothpick if you’re unsure!!
6. Eat and enjoy!! Slice this up and freeze if you’d like (after wrapping it in protective plastic wrap, of course! Always use protection! 🙂 )

Cost Breakdown

• 3 Bananas (try to find ripe bananas on the discount rack at your local grocer) 25 cents
• 2 eggs (I used the doubled 55 cents off 2 cartons coupon to reach this price, but there were several great egg coupons available in these past weeks that could have potentially made the egg price even cheaper!) 15 cents
• Sugar 30 cents
• Four 10 cents
• Baking soda and other spices/vanilla (very small amounts of each, and I usually purchase these at an Aldi’s, Dollar General, or Big Lots to get BIG discounts on supermarket pricing) 30 cents

Total Cost: $1.10...or only around 9 CENTS per serving!!! Take that Betty Crocker and the bakery department at all my local grocery stores!!! And trust me, this recipe tastes WONDERFUL!!

Please feel free to give it a go and comment below with your thoughts/suggestions!! I’m always looking to improve on a baking recipe, especially since I’m a self-proclaimed bake-a-phobic!!

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