Deanna, it's probably just her standard recipe and she likes those things and adds them.
My mom always "boiled" raisins to plump before putting them in anything. I love them that way. Put the amount of raisins you want or recipe calls for into water to cover. Bring to a boil on stove, turn off and let steep while getting every thing else together. Strain raisins quickly and toss in. (She'd use the raisin "water" if a recipe called for liquid too.)

Toss in a handful of chocolate chips and call it good.

Here is a link that might be useful: This recipe looks good..and calls for 4 bananas

I thought about that too Terri. I'm wondering if she uses molasses. The bread was very dark. We all thought it was zucchini or gingerbread (until we tasted it).
I'm pretty sure the raisin water is in there too which would contribute to both the flavor and color.

I wonder if I could use my zucchini recipe (which produces a dark bread) and sub the bananas and cooked raisins for the zuke. Hmmm...

I'll wait a bit to see if someone else has a T&T recipe, but I have a feeling you're probably right. No 'real' recipe is written down. From a generation that prepared awesome, wholesome meals with what was on hand.

Deanna

terri pacnw - thanks for sharing your recipe which sounds delicious! A 101 question: what is your feeling about soaking dried cherries and/or dried cranberries before adding? Do you think they would also improve in flavor?

pink, it's not my recipe..but I found it and the finished picture looked more like what Deanna was looking for. But I certainly should try it myself too. And I think it wouldn't hurt at all to "soften" the other dried fruits up. Why not?

Deanna, I've gotten darker bread because I've used extra dark bananas. I'm kinda guessing that the difference in color between a zucchini bread and banana is the sugar ratio? Maybe? Molasses..maybe, but maybe she used more brown sugar than white? Most banana bread recipes call for white sugar don't they? I don't care for zucchini bread, so I've never even looked at a recipe. LOL So I really shouldn't be commenting. ~but I will anyway..tee hee

If you are going to soak dried cherries, I would recommend Kirschwasser, which might work for cranberries also. I used to make Vineyard raisin drop cookies, which had dark raisins that were simmered in red wine (Burgundy). Rum or Bourbon would be good for the banana bread - I think I would prefer rum.

Molasses might make the bread dark, but cocoa would make it darker.

Lars

Great idea Lars!! Cocoa in the batter!

Terri, my favorite zucchini bread uses just white sugar too, and still comes out pretty dark. Hmmm.... sometime I use 'skins on' and sometimes peeled, so it's not that. I'll have to dig them both out and compare. Now I'm wondering. Even that recipe you linked to was lighter than this stuff. It was DARK!
And rich...and yummy...
OTOH, I DO have one pretty dark one. LOL Maybe I just need to wait a few more days.

I make this WWI-era raisin spice cake where the raisins are boiled for with the sugar and shortening. The raisin juice and spices make the cake very dark and moist. I only use 1/4 tsp. of cloves. Maybe someone could figure out where the bananas could be added.

POOR MANÂS CAKE

2 cups sugar
2 cups water
1 box raisins (1 lb.)
2 heaping Tbs. shortening
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
3 cups flour
1 tsp. vanilla

Boil sugar, water, raisins and shortening together for 5 minutes. Let cool to room temperature. (Important  do not refrigerate mixture and do not continue with recipe if mixture is still warm.) Sift dry ingredients together and add to cooled mixture. Stir in vanilla. Grease bottom only of tube pan and add cake batter. Bake in preheated 350 degree over for about an hour or until it tests done. If top is getting too dark after about 45 minutes, loosely cover with a piece of foil. Cool on a rack for about 10 minutes; then slide a knife around the sides of the pan and the tube and remove cake onto the rack to cool. Store in a bag in the refrigerator.

I'm thinking why not call the woman up and ask her. She might enjoy the compliment, and it would give her something positive to think about.

Besides, if you do that, you can share her recipe with us! ;-)

I'm not a banana fan, but for some reason, I do like banana bread.

Sally

Here's a recipe that I have...it's from here, a couple of years ago. A couple less bananas, won't make any difference and you can always add plumped raisins.

Chocolate Chunk Banana Bread

trailrunner--CF

1 cup butter, softened
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
6 bananas, mashed
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup lite sour cream
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease two 9x5 inch loaf pans.
In a large bowl, cream together margarine, sugar and eggs. Stir in bananas and vanilla. Sift in flour, baking soda and cocoa; mix well. Blend in sour cream and chocolate chips. Pour batter into prepared pans.
Bake in preheated oven for 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center of a loaf comes out clean.

Nancy

I make banana loaves every couple of months. I freeze any bananas that are starting to overripen and I find that these make a darker loaf than non-frozen bananas.