There’s a moment right before the banana bread goes in the oven, when you have to trust it. You’ve mashed the bananas, stirred in the sugar, sprinkled the top with a little sparkle, and now? You wait. The oven does its work and the air slowly fills with something warm and sweet. But you don’t get to micromanage the rise. You can’t poke or prod it into perfection. You just have to let go.

For most of my life, I’ve been the kind of person who clutches tight to the recipe, to the plan, to the way I think things should be. I set the table not just with plates and forks, but with expectations, detailed instructions, and a few silent rules about how the day should go. I bring that same energy into my work, my parenting, even my writing. I want to know the outcome before I begin. I want to control the variables and guarantee the results. But lately, the more I try to grip things into place, the more I feel the cracks in my own fingers.

I need to let go.

Let go of the pressure to make everything beautiful and seamless. Let go of the way I thought this chapter of my life would read. Let go of trying to be both the author and the editor, the chef and the oven. So I baked a small batch of banana bread. Just enough for one ramekin. No big commitment. No full loaf. Just the quiet practice of letting go, one stir at a time. It turns out, letting go isn’t about giving up. It’s about releasing the illusion that I can control all of it. It’s about breathing deep, setting the timer, and walking away while the magic happens without my hand in it. Somewhere in that small ramekin loaf, I found grace. In the simplicity. In the act of doing something just for me. In the pause.

Small Batch Banana Bread

What You Will Need:

• 3 tablespoons salted butter, melted and cooled
• 1⁄3 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 1⁄2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1–2 very ripe bananas, mashed (leave slightly chunky if preferred)
• 1⁄2 cup + 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1⁄4 teaspoon baking soda
• Pinch of kosher salt
• 3 tablespoons chopped walnuts
• 1 teaspoon granulated sugar (for topping)

What You Will Need To Do:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Melt 3 tablespoons salted butter and let it cool. Line a small baking ramekin with dampened parchment paper.
   
2. In a mixing bowl, beat together the 3 tablespoons melted butter, 1⁄3 cup packed light brown sugar, 1 large beaten egg, and 1⁄2 teaspoon vanilla extract. Add 1–2 mashed ripe bananas and stir until combined.
   
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together 1⁄2 cup + 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, 1⁄4 teaspoon baking soda, and a pinch of kosher salt. Add dry ingredients to the wet mixture, stirring just until combined.
   
4. Fold in 3 tablespoons chopped walnuts.
   
5. Pour the batter into the prepared ramekin and sprinkle the top with 1 teaspoon granulated sugar.
   
6. Bake for 40–50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool slightly.
   
7. Serve warm with butter and a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar if desired.

Maybe you’ve been carrying something too tightly lately too. A relationship, a job, a version of yourself that feels more like an expectation than an identity. Maybe what you need isn’t a big declaration or dramatic ending. Maybe it’s just a small act of release. A quiet yes to rest. A warm bite of banana bread at the end of a long day. This isn’t just a recipe. It’s a practice. A reminder that small is sacred. Letting go can look like banana bread in a ramekin. And grace can smell like vanilla and brown sugar on a weekday afternoon.

Gracefully yours,

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Reference
Niequist, S. (2024). Celebrate Every Day. Zondervan.