Banana Nut Bread

Ok guys, I think I may have outdone myself this time...

So, you know how some smells remind you of past memories of your childhood? Banana Nut Bread does that for me. It reminds me of my grandma's kitchen. So, I thought it would be appropriate to try my hand at baking homemade Banana Nut Bread.

The first step to making a homemade banana nut bread recipe is to make it your own. I didn't want to use my grandma's recipe alone (because its a family secret) and I didn't necessarily want to use a recipe from a professional baker (that's stealing). So I took a few recipes I found online, from old-school church cookbooks, and threw in a few personal touches of my own. What we have below is a nice amalgamation of a recipe that combines the best recipes into one. Enjoy =)

Recipe:            Banana Nut Bread

Frosting:          A slice of butter will do the trick

Music:            Glee Soundtrack.

Ingredients Needed:

• 2 cups sugar
  
• 2 sticks of unsalted butter, room temperature
• 4 medium eggs
• 6 ripe bananas
• 2 tablespoon milk (Vanilla Soy Milk, anyone?)
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 4 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup walnuts

**This makes two loaves, soooo if you only want one loaf, just cut the recipe in half =)**

Directions:

• Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F.

• Butter a loaf pan, or two.

• Cream the sugar and butter together - I would recommend using an electric mixer. I didn't have one.

• Add the eggs, beating well into the blend after you add each one.

• Add the milk, cinnamon, and vanilla.

• In a separate bowl, mash the bananas with a fork. WARNING: it gets messy, but the riper the bananas, the better. Set aside.

• Add the flour, baking powder, baking powder, and salt to the mixture and mix well. This time, mix this with your hands....Remember, it's always better to bake with love =)

• Add the banana mixture to the creamed mixture and stir until combined. Add dry ingredients, mixing just until flour disappears. 

• Add walnuts, if you so desire. I made one loaf with them and one without them.

• Then, just pour batter into your pans and bake for about an hour. With my stove, it took about an hour and 15 minutes until the toothpick I inserted in the center came out clean. 

My little beauties baking in the oven =)

• Set aside to cool. Or just eat it while it's warm, straight from the pan. 

Like I said before, I may have outdone myself with this recipe. The loaves turned out perfectly and were just the right density. Because I made so much, I sent some home with friends and took some to our County Fair to enjoy with my family.

Variations? Next time, I might try banana nut bread muffins. Or using banana chunks instead of mashed bananas.

I'm not gonna lie, my grandma may have been jealous if she tried it...

Hasta luego Camaradas =)

Meg <3