Happy Thursday!
I had so much fun making a 1963 banana bread yesterday! I purchased a vintage Better Homes & Gardens cookbook at the Gibson Mill last summer and finally decided to make one of the recipes. It’s crazy that this book was published when my mom was a baby. Some of these recipes are similar to the ones my grandma made us when we were kids. Veggies in jello? It’s in the cookbook! I grew up eating that.
Some recipes are a little questionable, but I have many marked from the cookbook that I can’t wait to try out. I ordered a collection on eBay yesterday to make this a fun series on my TikTok! And yes, this recipe video is on my Tiktok, too. I haven’t quit the app yet. It’s a fun spot to document my dinners and recipes in real-time, so I love that! Many of my dinners from the recap posts will be on TikTok so that you can try them out, too! 
I started with an easy recipe for my first attempt at the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook.
The banana bread couldn’t have been any more simple, and it was in their island-style section. Whenever you have breakfast in Hawaii, they almost always serve banana bread with your fruit. It’s so delicious, and I was excited to try a new recipe. The ingredients were minimal, and it’s the perfect recipe for using up bananas before they go bad.
Now that we have the porch looking cozy and cute (almost finished), I love sitting outside with coffee or tea in the evenings. I can’t wait to serve some coffee and this banana bread all spring and summer while sitting on the front porch. It’s the little things in life that I look forward to. 
1963 Better Homes & Gardens Banana Bread
Ingredients
- 1/3 Cup Shortening I used butter
- 1/2 Cup Sugar
- 2 Large Eggs
- 1 3/4 Cups All-Purpose Flour
- 1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
- 1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
- 3 Medium Extra Ripe Bananas
- 1/2 Cup Chopped Walnuts
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350-degrees.
- Cream butter and sugar together in an electric mixer.
- Mix in the eggs.
- Sift the all-purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together.
- Mash bananas with a fork.
- Add the dry ingredients to the electric mixer alternately with the banana. Blend well.
- Fold in the walnuts.
- Pour mixture into a well-greased (or lined with parchment paper) loaf pan.
- Bake for 45-55 minutes. You'll know when it's done when the toothpick comes out clean.
- Allow the loaf to cool for about fifteen minutes before slicing!
The banana bread came out so delicious! I’m used to adding in brown sugar, more butter, cinnamon, and vanilla, but this was equally good without all of those ingredients. I ended up topping the bread with a bit of cinnamon sugar to sweeten it up a bit more. I think it could have used more sugar, or the bananas could have been a bit riper to add extra sweetness. If you don’t like overly sweet banana bread, you will certainly like this recipe. It was light and fluffy! I swapped the shortening for butter.
I hope you enjoyed this little vintage recipe from the 1963 cookbook! I’m excited to try more. Now that it’s 70 degrees outside, I’m going to head out on my walk and then plant a few more bulbs. 😊
Questions for you!
- Have you ever made anything from a vintage cookbook?
- Should I try one of the strangest recipes from the book?
- What is a dish you grew up eating that others may think is weird?
OMG I have a very old cookbook at home that I need to check out! I think its from the 50’s or prior! And yes, definitely try something unusual!
Something I grew up eating was fish and chips (french fries) with malt vinegar. I was born in CA as was my mom, and my dad was born in MA- this is a common food in both states so naturally being in FL where seafood is a major food group, I grew up eating this at least once every other week. People think vinegar on anything is gross but I love it!!
That sounds like it could be fun to go through!
I am SOOOO team vinegar on chips 😋 i made homemade sweet potato salt and vinegar chips once! I had fish n chips a while back in Florida and YUM!!!
Yummm, now I’m craving banana bread! I need to make this! ❤️✨
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog
http://charmainenyw.com
Yes! 😃
This post warmed my heart as I too have a vintage cookbook. Many years ago my mom gave me her Betty Crocker cookbook she bought in the 70’s. It’s been well loved and used, so it currently lives in a binder since the cover of the original book fell apart. I really only use the gingersnap recipe in it (my FAVORITE cookies) but perhaps I need to take a peek at some other recipes in there!
Love that ♥️ I’d love to know about this gingersnap recipe! It’s one of my favorite cookies! 😋
I LOVE the photos in this post. You always inspire me with your beautiful photography. Can’t wait to make this recipe! I’ve got some ripe bananas calling my name on the counter right now 🙂
Thank you, Anastasia!!
I recently used a sazon packet in my chicken wing marinade….they were SO good…I was like what is in this stuff? I flipped the package over and #1 ingredient was MSG…so 70’s, it was the first time American’s
started making Chinese food and was always an ingredient….I love a good, vintage cookbook….when hot dogs was a protein option!
Yum!
I lost this page from my old 3 ring version because it has been used so much. I use 5 overly ripe bananas which will probably give you the extra sweetness you want. Thank you for posting.
This is my go to banana bread recipe, I’ve been making it for over 40 years. Just a little FYI, it doesn’t need more sugar, but your bananas weren’t anywhere close to being ripe enough, which was why it didn’t taste that sweet to you.
I have been using this recipe for banana bread for over 50 years. it’s still the go to one for me and the next generation..