Banana Nut Bread

This is the banana bread recipe we've always used (it may actually be more of a banana cake than a banana bread).

I have a sister who WILL NOT eat bananas, in fact she can't stand them. BUT, she will eat banana bread and she seems to like it very much.

If I could convince her that I left the bananas "extra chunky" when I made banana bread she refused to eat it. Ha.

Not very nice.
After convincing her of the huge pieces of banana in the bread she could not be convinced otherwise.

The best bananas for banana bread are those with brown peels, of course. Most people don't want to eat them- they're not the most appealing-looking fruits, I must admit. But, they're softer, have a stronger banana flavor, and develop more natural sugars as they age. In my opinion, they're TOO sweet and TOO banana-y to eat out of hand. As long as they're without bruises, the banana fruit will usually remain fairly spotless... unlike the peel.

Originally, it's a banana-pecan bread, however you can do many variations with it.

Walnuts, chocolate, coconut (toasted or not), chunks of crystalized ginger (with the chocolate)...

No buttermilk? Substitute some yogurt or sour cream which has been thinned a bit with a splash of milk.

One good thing to remember when baking "breads" like this is that a "clean" toothpick doesn't necessarily mean completely clean. "Completely clean" runs the risk of being completely dry. Moist crumbs sticking to the toothpick isn't a bad thing at all (and the bread will continue to bake a little as it sits to cool). The thing you really don't want is a toothpick covered in raw batter. Ok?

This time around I made two loaves, one was the regular banana-pecan and the other was banana-walnut-chocolate... both disappeared within a few days. The guy who changed the thermostat was over here right after they had been baked and seemed very happy to leave with a slice of the chocolate one. The plumber seemed pretty happy with his piece of the "plain" bread. See? The things you might leave with when you visit...

Banana Nut Bread

Makes 1 9x5 inch loaf

1 1/2 c sugar

1/2 c butter

2 eggs

1 1/2 c AP flour

1/2 t salt

1/2 c buttermilk

1 t baking soda

1 c mashed bananas (about 3)

1/2 c chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Cream sugar and butter in a large bowl. Beat in eggs. Stir in flour and salt and mix well. Mix buttermilk and baking soda together in a small bowl and add to the batter, stirring well but not overmixing. Add banana and nuts to the batter and fold them in.

Bake about 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.

Cool 15 minutes on a rack in the pan and then run a knife along the sides of the pan to release the loaf. Cool completely on a rack.

Banana bread freezes well!