BANANA BREAD WITH TOASTED WALNUTS

Ever wonder what to do with those overripe bananas? Make bread!! I had a few bananas going to the dark side today, so I thought I'd make some bread. The sour cream is added to make this bread extra moist. This is a recipe that can be modified in  many ways. Omit the cinnamon and add allspice or omit all together. Use sour cream instead of yogurt. I've also thought about cream cheese instead of yogurt. Add almonds instead of walnuts... You get the idea. The one thing you probably don't want to change though is the bananas!

Everything you'll need to make your yummy banana bread.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and lightly butter the inside of a 5x9 loaf pan. You can also use a 13x9 rectangle if you like.

The walnuts I had on hand were halves, so I had to chop them into bits.

Put them on the stove in a nonstick pan without anything else in the pan. Turn up the heat to med/high and roast for a few minutes. You don't want to brown them, just make them nice and toasty. It really brings out the "nutty" flavor. I'm kind of nutty, so I like lots of nuts in the bread. My family, not so much. So I stick to just a cup. If it was just for me, I'd add 2 cups!

Measure out dry ingredients into a separate bowl.

Mix all the dry ingredients well.

Cream the butter until smooth. Mind is pretty cold here, so I'll have to wait a little while until it softens more.

Add the remaining wet ingredients. Mix until all combined.

Add the banana and mix well. Then add 1/2 the dry ingredients. Mix again until well combined.

Add the remaining dry ingredients. I'm taking this picture with one hand and dumping the flour with the other. Pretty talented huh?

This is how it should look after it's all mixed. All nice and creamy.

Add the nuts last and mix until just combined.

Pour into the loaf pan.

Smooth the batter around to get into the corners, etc.

Center of the oven. Bake for about an hour.

When it's nice and brown and pulling away from the edges, remove it from the oven. Allow to cool in the pan for about 10 minutes.

Invert the pan and remove the loaf. Let cool completely and slice away! I could hardly wait, so this is steaming hot! I burned my tongue tasting it. I also like to enjoy banana bread with some cream cheese spread on it. Enjoy!! Time got away from me and my loaf came out a little overdone. Oops. Even though I cooked it a little too long, it was still moist!

Banana Bread with Toasted Walnuts

Print version 

Ingredients

1 ½ sticks of butter at room temperature

1 cup mashed, overripe bananas (about 2 large)

¼ cup of plain yogurt

2 large eggs

1 ½ tsp vanilla 

2 cups flour

1 ½ cups sugar

1 tsp baking soda

¾ tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

1 cup toasted walnut bits

½ tsp cinnamon

Directions

Preheat oven to 350

Grease a 9x5 loaf or 13x9 rectangular pan.

Lightly toast the walnuts in a sauté pan over med/high heat.

Measure out the dry ingredients into a separate bowl and mix or sift until well combined.

Puree the butter until smooth, then add the yogurt, eggs and vanilla. Blend well. Scraping down the sides of the bowl.

Add the bananas and mix well.

Add ½ dry ingredients and mix until combined.

Add remaining dry ingredients.

Add nuts.

Pour batter into baking pan and smooth into corners.

Bake for an hour in a 5x9 loaf pan and 30-35 minutes in a 13x9 pan. Test for doneness when bread springs back when pressed and is starting to pull away from sides of the pan.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes.

Invert onto cooling rack and cool completely.

Slice and enjoy!