Coronavirus: Banana bread enjoying a resurgence

Getting creative in the kitchen is one positive outcome of the coronavirus pandemic. Millions of people have been confined to their homes because of stay-at-home orders, and when they do venture out to grocery stores, social distancing is rigorously enforced.

Making comfort food from scratch has become an appealing pastime, and according to Google Trends, searching for the word “recipe” has reached an all-time high.

What tops the list of homemade recipes? Banana bread.

The Wall Street Journal reported that a Google search over the past month revealed banana bread topped pancakes, brownies and pizza dough as the No. 1 searched-for recipe in the United States

According to Julie Ohana, a culinary art therapist, baking can "bring comfort" in times of crisis and uncertainty.

"When times are turned on its head we look for ways to cope," Ohana said on CNBC Make It. "Baking a loaf of bread, some cookies, etc. is so basic but fills such a void."

The moist (if baked properly), loaves are getting plenty of love on social media, particularly on Instagram and Twitter. "Is COVID-19 sponsored by banana bread?" one tweet said.

“The isolation stages of grief,” another Twitter user wrote, are “denial, anger, bargaining, depression, (and) banana bread.”

In March, Chrissy Teigen traded a loaf of her signature banana bread for a bag of romaine lettuce after learning that Los Angeles grocery stores were sold out, CNN reported.

Why is banana bread so popular? It is simple to bake. Basic recipes only require bananas, flour, eggs, butter and baking soda, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Celebrity New York chef Dominique Ansel calls banana bread “foolproof” and an ideal recipe for quarantined cooks, the newspaper reported.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the earliest printed banana bread recipe in the United States was introduced by Pillsbury in 1933.

According to Google Trends, banana bread has been the most-searched recipe worldwide since March 1, followed by pancakes, chicken, pizza dough and brownies, Rounding out the top 10 are “recette crepe,' meatloaf, French toast, lasagna and cheesecake.