Banana Bread Review

Money Saving Mom's Favorite Banana Bread

The day got away from me, so I only made Money Saving Mom's banana bread recipe last night.  This morning I made Pioneer Woman's recipe.

Pioneer Woman's Banana Bread

I would have to say that personally, I preferred Pioneer Woman's bread, but they both are really good. 

Pioneer Woman's recipe calls for 2 sticks of butter and sour cream, so it ends up tasting rather creamy, almost like pound cake.  The banana flavor is more subtle, even though it uses basically the same amount of banana in each recipe.  There are four cups of flour compared to 2 in the other recipe, which may explain some of the difference.  This recipe is for a bundt pan, but I ended up making a single loaf pan and 12 muffins.  I strictly adhered to the cooking time and temperature, and it produced a thick, crunchy crust but a light, moist interior.  I think this recipe is great for those who tolerate banana; it is more like a cake than a quick bread, but very tasty!

Money Saving Mom's recipe was definitely heavy on the banana, so if you like banana flavor, stick with this one.  This one is the quintessential dense quick bread, but I love the fact that the middle was cooked through!  It looked a little doughy at the end of the cooking time, but it never fell!  Woo-hoo!  (I think that is a first for me!)  Next time, I think I would actually lower the oven temperature to 325 degrees, as the bread seemed a little darker than I would like.  I covered my loaves with aluminum foil after 35 minutes or so, so the top wouldn't get too brown. My results were a dark, thinner crust with a deliciously moist interior.  The banana flavor really shines through, and it is a flavor-packed, delicious quick bread recipe.  I will definitely be using this recipe again.

I hope to crunch some numbers and give you a cost analysis for both breads in the near future.  Stay tuned!