Banana bread that stays moist on the second day

Use bananas that are heavily speckled or black on the skin. Yellow bananas taste starchy and the loaf comes out pale. Start with 340 g of mashed banana, about three medium ones. If you are short, make up the weight with an extra banana rather than milk. The fruit is the liquid that keeps the crumb soft.

The flour is 190 g of all-purpose flour, spooned into the cup if you are not weighing. That is about 1 1/2 cups plus a tablespoon. Scooping the cup straight from the bag can add another 30 g, and that is the usual reason banana bread dries out. The all-purpose flour grams-to-cups chart is the number to use if a recipe only gave you cups.

The bake

175°C, middle rack, 55 to 65 minutes. A glass pan runs slower than metal, so start checking at 60 minutes. The top should be deep gold and a skewer should show moist crumbs, not wet batter. If the crown is browning before the center is set, lay a piece of foil over it and keep baking.

Cool 15 minutes in the pan. Cut it hot and the slices collapse. Wrapped, it keeps four days on the counter. It also freezes, sliced, for a month.

Buttermilk, or what to use instead

Sixty grams of buttermilk (about 1/4 cup) makes the crumb a little tangier and helps the baking soda lift. Skip it and the loaf is still good. Out of buttermilk, use the ratio on the buttermilk substitutes page: milk plus lemon juice works here because the batter is baked. The butter chart covers the 113 g stick if your block is a different size.

A handful of chocolate chips or walnuts can go in with the flour. Do not add more than about 80 g or the batter will not hold them.