… Likes Banana Walnut Bread

So, our kind neighbor gave us some fat bananas the other day … really fat bananas!

Here they are next to a Pyrex measuring cup to show off their size. Have you ever seen such fat bananas before?

Anyway, we’ve been wanting to eat banana bread, so I took this opportunity to bake some using these bananas.

Here are the bananas after mashing them using a fork & spoon (which, incidentally, are also what I would usually use to make mashed potatoes 🙂 ).

After folding them into the batter along with the walnuts, into 2 loaf pans they go … I’d used an aluminum non-stick pan as well as a silicone one which I’d just bought a couple of days ago.

And after about an hour in the oven, the loaves of banana walnut bread were done.

BTW, I’m using a recipe that a friend of mine shared with me oh so many centuries ago … recipes hardly ever go obsolete, eh? I think it came from a cookbook but I can’t recall what it’s title was. If the wording for this recipe matches one you have, drop me a message to let me know, okay?

Banana Nut Bread
Prep: 30 minutes
Oven: 350 degrees F (180 degrees C)
Bake: 1 hour
Cool: At least 1 hour or overnight
Makes: 2 loaves

Ingredients

• 3 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
• 3 Tbsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda (substituted this with an additional 1 Tbsp baking powder)
• 2 cups mashed, ripe bananas (4-6) (or 3 of the fat ones I had)
• 2 Tbsp lemon juice (didn’t need any, as I didn’t use baking soda)
• 3/4 cup shortening (didn’t have any, so I’d substituted with unsalted butter)
• 1 1/2 cup sugar
• 3 eggs
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

Method
1. Sift together flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda (I didn’t have a sifter, so I’d just use a whisk to mix the dry ingredients together).

2. Mash bananas with rotary beater or fork. Add lemon juice and mix (I didn’t used any lemons as I did not use any baking soda, which needed the acidic lemon to work).

3. Cream shortening and sugar with electric mixer at medium speed, or with spoon. Add eggs and beat thoroughly until very light and fluffy (4 minutes’ beating in all). Add sifted dry ingredients alternately with milk, fold in bananas and nuts. Beat after each addition.

4. Pour into 2 greased 8 1/2″ x 4 1/2″ x 2 1/2″ loaf pans.

5. Bake in moderate oven (350 degrees F), 1 hour or until cake tester or wooden pick inserted in center of loaf comes out clean. Wrap in foil or plastic wrap and let stand in cool place overnight before slicing, or freeze. Makes 2 loaves.