Baking: Banana Nut Bread

So what do you do when you have really really ripe bananas?  You’re initial instinct is probably to just toss them but let’s consider something different.  Why not make Banana Nut Bread?  That’s what I did!

The riper the bananas, the sweeter the banana bread!

My mom got this recipe years ago when I was a kid from a lady living in our building.  My sister took it over and has been making it regularly.  Now it’s my turn.  I changed it slightly by adding nuts and using butter instead of margarine.

You’ll need 3 separate bowls for this recipe starting with 4 extra ripe bananas.

In a bowl just take a fork and start mushing them up.

Mix in the softened butter. Softened means exactly that – soft, room temperature. NOT melted!

I then added a small bag of chopped walnuts to the bananas. I think I would add more next time for more crunch. Maybe about 1 cup or so.

In a separate bowl mix together the dry ingredients:  2 1/4 cups flour, 1 1/2 cups sugar, 2 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda and 1/2 tsp salt.  In the 3rd bowl mix together 2 eggs, 1/2 cup milk and 1 tablespoon vanilla.

Now it’s time to mix everything together.  Mix the wet ingredients (eggs, milk, vanilla)  into the banana mixture.  Slowly incorporate the flour into the rest of the mixture.  I didn’t use an electric mixer for this recipe – just mixed it by hand with a spoon.

Smear a little butter onto the sides and bottom of a loaf pan and pour the batter into the pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes. Check with a skewer or knife to see if it’s done. If you notice that the top is a nice golden brown but the inside is still gooey,  loosely cover the top with foil so it won’t burn but can still have a few more minutes to bake through.  After you take it out of the oven, let it sit in the pan for about 15 minutes.

It’s time to take it out…

slice it up…

and eat!

My family loved it!  Especially my husband.  My nephew liked it as well but said “lose the nuts!”  I say add more!

This would be really good cut up into chunks and dipped into chocolate fondue!  YUM!

So before you throw out those bananas that have been sitting on the counter for days, try making this recipe and let me know how you like it.

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Banana Nut Bread Ingredients:

Bowl 1:

• 4 VERY ripe bananas
• 1/2 cup softened butter (1 stick)
• 1 cup Chopped Walnuts

Bowl 2:

• 2 Eggs
• 1 tablespoon Vanilla
•  1/2 cup Milk

Bowl 3:

• 2 1/4 cups Flour
• 1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt
• 1.5 cups sugar
• 2 1/2 teaspoons Baking Powder