Celebrating Our National Banana Bread Day
February 23rd is officially the day that we celebrate one of the most delicious Banana bread of all time: Banana Bread. If you’re a fan of the myriad banana breads sold in supermarkets, cafes, and eateries of all types, this will be a special day for you. It’s definitely one of the tastiest holidays in our year! Our family loves banana bread!
History of Banana Bread
We thought we would give you a little history of Banana Bread. Bananas come from Southeast Asia, and they quickly spread throughout India, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, and the many islands of the Pacific. Records show that they were grown as far back as 2,000 B.C., but the places where they were grown weren’t conducive to the cultivation of wheat.
Bread has been around for thousands of years, with the first fermented wheat dough breads being made around 4,000 B.C. by the Egyptians. 23rd of February is a “quick bread”, which means that baking powder is added in order to leaven the bread. Quick breads were developed in the 18th century, when pearlash was discovered in America.
The first quick bread recipes were published in a 1792 book, and bananas first arrived in the United States 80 years later in the 1870s. It quickly became a popular fruit, and many people purchased bananas as an excellent source of nutrients. They began to be used in desserts, but no record of banana bread recipes exist from that time.
The first banana bread recipe comes from the Great Depression, when every scrap of food was used by economizing housewives that couldn’t let anything go to waste. It is believed that the recipe was created by a housewife who didn’t want to let her overripe bananas get thrown into the garbage, so she mashed them and added the sweet fruit to her bread. The result is a quick bread that has become one of the most popular desserts in the United States.
It became a standard part of American cookbooks in the 1930s, which is when baking powder and baking soda became popular. The Pillsbury Balanced Recipes cook book released in 1933 features an early banana bread recipe, and the Banana Recipe Book released in 1950 rocketed the dessert to national acclaim. The 1960s saw the dessert becoming one of the most popular in the country, and this was thanks to the fact that the various recipes included the addition of raisins, nuts, and other fruits. Within a few years, dozens of banana bread recipes were popularized, and today hundreds of varieties of the delicious baked treat exist.
February 23rd as National Banana Day
February 23rd is the day that we celebrate the arrival of this delicious dessert, and it’s a good day to whip up some banana bread using your favorite recipes. You can bake the traditional banana bread, or toss in some chocolate chips, nuts, coconut slivers, raisins, or other dried fruits to make your own unique variation on the traditional dessert. YUM!
For those with celiac sensitivity, why not try the gluten-free banana bread? Diabetics can enjoy the sugar-free banana bread varieties, and those with banana allergies can use banana flavoring to make their banana bread taste authentic without exacerbating their allergies.
Banana bread is one of the most versatile desserts, and it is definitely a treat worthy of its own national holiday. On this 23rd of February, what banana bread recipe are you going to cook up? It’s a tasty holiday that you can celebrate with your friends and family, so it’s worth making your own delicious banana breads at home to enjoy with a cream cheese topping, ice cream a la mode, or on its own.
Will you be celebrating with us?
*Guest Post by Becky W.
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