Kona Inn Banana Bread is dense, moist and delicious! While it does take a while to bake, I use a simple trick to make mix the batter quickly and easily. Nuts are optional, but very good in this recipe!
I’m kind of a ‘seeker’ when it comes to recipes. I must have tried a dozen (or two) different banana bread recipes before I found this one in my cherished Fannie Farmer Baking Book. The other recipes I’ve tried were all lacking in some way. Too light, not enough banana flavor, too dry, etc., etc. Not this one. It’s definitely not diet food, due to the vegetable shortening, sugar, and eggs. But it’s so very satisfying served warm with a little butter or whipped cream cheese.
The Kona Inn, I’ve heard, was once a hotel that now operates as a restaurant on the Big Island of Hawaii. It’s famous for this banana bread, and there are multiple variations of this recipe on the internet if you’re interested. Some use cake flour in the batter; some use butter instead of shortening. I’ve thought about trying one of the others, but frankly, this recipe is just too good!
How to Make Kona Inn Banana Bread
The most important step is to let your bananas fully ripen, until there are little “freckles” and brown spots all over the peels, as you’ll see in the images below. Usually, I’ll buy bananas on a weekly shopping trip, and plan for them to ripen on my countertop for at least two weeks. This is if the bananas still show traces of green in their peels. If they’re already golden yellow all over, it will take less time before they’re fully ripe. It’s important not to rush this step; using less-than-ripe bananas won’t give a good flavor to this bread.
Like many quick breads, you start by creaming the shortening and sugar. Since I’ll be using my potato masher in step 2, I use it to roughly incorporate the sugar and shortening. (It takes far less time this way.) Then I scrape off the masher, and finish creaming the shortening and sugar with a spoon until the mixture is light and fluffy.
Then, using the potato masher again, I mash the bananas right into the sugar/shortening mixture two or three at a time, as you see above. Now, many quick bread recipes call for stirring the flour, salt, and leavenings together in a separate bowl, then adding them to the batter. To me, this is just one more bowl to wash, which I try to avoid. Instead, I measure them directly into the bowl with the banana mixture. Then I stir really well to make sure there’s no dry flour remaining.
Below I’m using my Danish whisk, which I’ve written about before. It does a great job of incorporating the wet and dry ingredients with just a few stirs. If you’re using a spoon for this job, don’t overbeat the batter. But do be sure you don’t have pockets of dry flour. (Yup, it’s happened to me before – it’s not fun to cut into a loaf and see a glob of flour that you really can’t eat.)
Then you divide the batter into two greased 8½x4½x2½ inch loaf pans and bake for around 65 to 70 minutes. The loaves should be pulling slightly away from the pan sides, and a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf should come out mostly clean. (A few moist crumbs clinging to the toothpick are fine.) Then cool the loaves in their pans for about 5 minutes before running a butter knife around the sides. Tip them out and let them cool completely before slicing. (I know, it’s tempting to cut right into them. But please don’t.) Behold the finished loaves!
Kona Inn Banana Bread
Kona Inn Banana Bread is dense, moist and delicious! While it does take a while to bake, I use a simple trick to mix the batter quickly and easily. Nuts are optional, but very good in this recipe!
- Prep Time: 20
- Cook Time: 70
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Yield: 2 loaves 1x
- Category: breads
- Method: baking
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
1 cup solid vegetable shortening (like Crisco)
2 cups sugar
4 to 6 medium, very ripe bananas, about 1½ to 2 cups (see note)
4 large eggs
2½ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 cup walnuts, chopped (optional but delicious)
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350° and spray two 8½x4½x2½ loaf pans with cooking spray. Set aside.
In a large bowl, add the shortening and sugar. Use a potato masher to roughly combine them, then cream the mixture well with a spoon.
Peel and add the bananas 2 or 3 at a time to the mixture and use the potato masher to mash them. The banana should be a bit chunky.
Add the eggs and beat to combine. Then add the flour, salt and baking soda and stir well with a spoon or Danish whisk, until no dry flour remains. Divide the batter evenly among the two prepared loaf pans.
Bake at 350° on the middle rack of the oven for 65 to 70 minutes. The loaves should be pulling slightly away from the sides of the pans, and a toothpick or straw inserted in the center should come out with just a few moist crumbs clinging to it.
Let the loaves cool in their pans for about 5 minutes, then run a butter knife around the sides of the pans and invert the loaves onto a cooling rack. Let cool completely before slicing. Store in the refrigerator up to several days, and reheat in the microwave about 10 seconds on High before serving.
Notes
Using only 4 bananas will yield loaves that are lighter in color with a mild banana bread taste. Using 6 bananas will yield darker colored loaves with an intense banana flavor.
Keywords: banana bread, kona inn banana bread, quick bread