Saturday Recipe Swap: Banana Bread

It was a Friday or Saturday evening a few weeks ago.  Dark clouds loomed overhead. In fact, the conditions were perfect for severe weather and possibly tornadoes.  I went over our plan with Brian if, God forbid, a tornado did come.  Where should we go? Experts say to go into the most central room in your house that does not touch any outside walls.  Somehow, the builders here in Florida missed that very important point, because almost all rooms touch an outside wall.  Our best bet is either the master closet or Addie's closet and neither are my favorite choices.  We also discussed grabbing Addie's mattress to throw on top of us. 

We continued what we were doing: Brian watching sports, Addie running around having the time of her life as always, and me cleaning the kitchen while checking out the window every so often.

I had just finished cleaning up the kitchen when I noticed the over ripe bananas on the counter.  I didn't want to just throw them away.  What could I make with them instead?  I pulled out my trusty Better Homes and Garden Cookbook and made following the recipe below to make a delicious bread (p.119).  The whole time, I just prayed that we didn't lose power so the bread could finish baking. 

After all was said and done, God protected us. We just had a lot of rain, thunder, and lightning (all of which I can live with) and a warm, delicious banana bread to enjoy.  Even Addie loved it and had it for breakfast a few times.

Banana Bread

Prep: 25 min.

Bake: 55 min.

Oven: 350* F

Makes: 1 loaf (16 servings)

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg

2 beaten eggs

1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (5 medium)

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup cooking oil or butter or margarine

1/4 cup chopped walnuts (I leave these out since Brian doesn't like nuts in his food)

1 recipe Streusel-Nut Topping (I also left this out...I was going for quick and simple)

1. Grease bottom and 1/2 inch up the sides of one 9x5x3-inch or two 7 1/2x 3 1/2x2- inch loaf pans; set aside.  Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and 1/4 teaspoon salt.  Make a well in center of flour mixture; set aside.
2. In a medium bowl combine eggs, bananas, sugar, and oil.  Add egg mixture all at once to flour mixture.  Stir just until moistened (batter should be lumpy) Fold in nuts.  Spoon batter into prepared pan(s).  If desired, sprinkle Streusel-Nut Topping over batter. 
3. Bake in a 350* oven for 55 to 60 minutes for 9x5x3-inch pan, or 40 to 45 minutes for 7 1/2x3 1/2x2-inch pans, or until a wooden toothpick inserted near center comes out clean (if necessary, cover loosely with foil the last 15 minutes of baking to prevent over browning). Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes.  Remove from pan.  Cool completely on a wire rack. Wrap and store overnight before slicing. (We sort of skipped that last sentence)
4. Streusel-Nut Topping: In a small bowl combine 1/4 cup packed brown sugar and 3 tbsp all-purpose flour.  Using a pastry blender, cut in 2 tbsp butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in 1/3 cup chopped walnuts.