Banana Nut Bread Recipe
When I first started baking in law school, I liked to make things that could easily be served at school for my classmates. While quick breads are easy to transport, they are not so easy to serve; you need a knife, plates, etc. This was too bad, because quick breads, like brownies, are so easy to make: add ingredients, mix, pour, bake, done. Once I started bringing food to my office, however, it was easy enough to have a stockpile of paper plates and plastic knives handy. And last Christmas, when I decided I would give gift baskets of baked goods to my co-workers, quick breads were a godsend. I could double recipes, fill multiple mini loaf pans, and mass produce deliciousness.
My wife has an adorable habit of getting really excited about buying bananas at the grocery store, and then casually forgetting them as they hang on the banana tree in our kitchen. Since she refuses to eat them once they have the slightest shade of brown, I have become accustomed to having orphaned overripe bananas in desperate need of a culinary home. I realized long ago that a decent banana bread would be a staple of my baking arsenal.
As usual, I started by searching Allrecipes for their most popular recipe and found this Banana Banana Bread. Based on several of the reviews, I made a few alterations to the basic recipe, adding cinnamon, pecans, and a brown sugar coating on top:
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs, beaten
5 mashed bananas
1 cup pecan pieces
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon water
Preheat your oven to 350F. Cream the butter and brown sugar, and then stir in the eggs, bananas, and pecans. For what it's worth, I have found no better tool for mashing bananas then a pair of freshly washed hands. Add the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon, and stir just until blended. Be careful not to over stir, or the bread may end up too dry.
Pour the dough into a greased 9x5 inch loaf pan. Mix the 3 tbsp. of brown sugar and the water, then brush the mixture over the top of the dough. Bake for 60 minutes, then cool completely on a wire rack.
The brown sugar/water mixture will give a nice, crisp coating to the top. The pecans are optional, so those with nut allergies can opt out, but I think they perfectly balance the sweetness of the bananas. For those whose wives don't mind walnuts, they would also work well. I have made this at least half a dozen times and it is always popular. Dense, moist, delightful. Enjoy!
