Banana Bread

Last week I bought bright green bananas so that they would last in my house of picky healthy food eaters. As of 8 PM tonight they were dark brown; crazy how fast those little suckers turn on you. Despite the fact that Mr. Cowboy (boyfriend and roomie #1) has been swearing that the bananas were going into a smoothie, I felt that these poor, beat up bananas needed saving.

What to do with brown bananas? Pudding? Nah, bread will go much faster in this household!

In the last post, I discussed kitchen staples and this is another great one that is really hard to mess up. Plus, it will make your house smell amazing!

A few notes:

• If you have a loaf pan, use it. I broke mine, so I used a slightly larger Pyrex.  Thus, I added the baking powder into the recipe for a little extra poofing power (to avoid naner bars). It won't really hurt you to leave it in, but feel free to leave it out if you are using smaller pans.
• I used almonds in this bread because I was feeling nutty and it was the first thing I saw on the shelf.
• If you have a certain spice you can't live without in breads, go ahead an add it - I'm just a spice simplest when it comes to bread. 
• If you want to be fancy and add a pretty touch, you can add your favorite crumble like I did... simply because it was already in the freezer. If you don't happen to have leftover crumble, simply use a sprinkling of brown sugar and/or part of a package of instant oatmeal.
• IMPORTANT: THE BIGGEST DOWNFALL OF BREADS IS TO OVER MIX THEM, ONLY MIX UNTIL COMPLETELY MOIST. OVER MIXING TURNS THEM INTO BRICKS. Sorry to yell at you there, that's just really important.

 
Nanner Bread

1/2 c. Butter, softened
3/4 c. Brown Sugar, packed
2 Eggs, beaten
2 t. Vanilla
2 1/3 c. Overripe Bananas, mashed (3-6 medium ones)
2 c. Flour
1 t. Baking Soda
1/2 t. Baking Powder
1/4 t. Salt
1 t. Cinnamon
1 c. Nuts, chopped

Preheat that baking box of yours to 350. Lightly grease a loaf pan or a small baking dish. 

Cream butter and sugar together in a large bowl. Stir in eggs, bananas, and vanilla until just mixed.


Proper Method: Sift dry ingredients into large bowl. Then stir wet into dry.

Lazy Method: Throw the remaining ingredients into the same bowl as your wet mix.

STIR ONLY UNTIL ALL MOISTENED!

Fold in the nuts.

Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 55-60 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool for 10 minutes and then turn out onto a wire rack.

Another drool worthy picture for you....