Banana Bread

You load to see banana bread!

There is something so comforting about banana bread! If you are like me, it might just be tied to the satisfaction of finally using all the frozen bananas you have accumulated in your freezer. I will not tell anyone if you add more than 1 cup of mashed bananas (it will still turn out but will be a bit fudgier). I added walnuts which you can omit or replace with another nut or chocolate chips. You can definitely adjust the bake time and make these as muffins; personally, I prefer it as a loaf. It freezes very well either in loaf form or cut into slices and individually wrapped for banana bread emergencies. I hope you try it!

Banana Bread

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 tsp baking soda

• 1 tsp baking powder

• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

• 1 tsp kosher salt

• 1/ cup chopped walnuts, reserve some for sprinkling on top. (the nuts are optional!)

• 1/2 cup butter, room temperature

• 3/4 cup granulated sugar

• 2 large eggs

• 1 tbsp vanilla

• 1 cup mashed bananas, about 3 medium bananas

• 1/2 cup milk

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9 inch loaf pan with parchment paper, leaving some parchment hanging over the edges. This will help you lift the loaf out when it is finished baking.

2. In a small bowl, add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices, salt and chopped walnuts. Whisk together until combine. Set aside.

3. In a large bowl, add the butter and sugar. Whisk until fluffy. Add in one egg at a time, whisking to incorporate fully before adding the next one. Whisk in the vanilla.

4. Mix one-third of the flour mixture into the wet ingredients with a silicone spatula. Add in half of the bananas and milk. Stir and repeat these steps ending on mixing in the last of the flour mixture. Be careful not to overmix the batter!

5. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Sprinkle with some of the reserved chopped walnuts. Bake for an hour to an hour and 15 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking. You’ll know it’s done baking when a cake tester comes out clean with a few moist crumbs on it. If you notice the top getting a little too dark, you can tent a piece of tin foil over it for the remainder of the baking.

6. Let it rest in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Then remove from the pan and cool the rest of the way on the wire rack. Wrap the loaf in tin foil or cling film to keep it fresh. Or you can slice and freeze it.

   Enjoy!

Did I add 6 bananas to this particular batch? Oui.