The Great Depression Era Dessert That's Still Wildly Popular Today

We think of banana bread now as a comfort food, something to indulge in, but it didn't start out that way. It was actually invented as a way to avoid waste. Back in the 1930s, during the Great Depression, people had an entirely different relationship with food, where throwing it out wasn't really an option. And so overripe bananas, ones that are slightly brown and too soft, that now might may go straight into compost, were instead repackaged into something sweet, delicious, and filling in the form of ultra-moist banana bread.

It's also interesting to note that the emergence of banana bread in culture came at the same time that baking soda and baking powder were becoming more available. This meant that to make bread, people no longer needed yeast or long proofing times. As a result, quick breads like banana bread were starting to become very popular. Early versions of banana bread, however, weren't the exact same as how we know them today. They were much lower in fat and sugar and a lot more practical, often bulked out with ingredients like bran to stretch them even further. The resulting loaves were smaller and more coarse in texture than the soft, moist breads we know today. But what is similar between modern loaves of today and those of the 1930s is that a really good, bakery-worthy banana bread recipe is easy to follow and easy to customize too.

When we think about the fact that banana bread first started appearing nearly one hundred years ago, it really hits home how much its popularity has never really faded. In fact, the fruit bread had another cultural resurgence during the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. What has changed is not banana bread's popularity, but the way in which we approach it. Wartime versions were much simpler, whereas today it isn't uncommon to see banana bread packed out with spices, nuts, chocolate, whole wheat flour ... it basically works with anything. And while the use of overripe bananas was a necessity during the hardships of the Great Depression era, today it's a much more intentional choice (whilst also enjoying its low-waste appeal, of course). After all, the riper the bananas, the better the banana bread, because ripe bananas are full of sugar which only works to improve the loaf's texture. 

It isn't quite a cake, it isn't quite bread, it's its own delicious thing, which is possibly why it has never disappeared from kitchens and cafes around the world. The original premise was to use what you already have and turn it into something better, which is a timeless concept, and unlike other recipes tied to the past, it has never really needed reinventing in order for us to keep enjoying it.