Banana Bread #Recipe by @LibbyKlein

 Libby Klein I've just done a marathon round of cooking to supply my mother with some freezer meals. I know what all her favorites are since I've been making them most of my life. As a little bonus treat, I whipped up some banana bread. She does not have gluten issues, so the recipe is not gluten free. However, all you need to do is substitute a gluten-free one-to-one flour for the all purpose and you'll have a gluten-free recipe. 

I doubled the recipe. I was also little heavy handed with the nuts, so I ended up making three loaves. I gave Mom two of them and kept one for the husband whose nose is like that of a bloodhound for baking. He could smell banana bread six months before the bananas grew on the trees. The loaf we kept is a little flat - the other two look like proper loaves - but he says the taste is fabulous. 

One thing I would not put in my banana bread is chocolate chips. However. I, myself, am not a fan of banana bread to begin with. I much prefer pumpkin bread - which I would not put chocolate chips in my pumpkin bread either. What about you? Are you TEAM BANANA BREAD or TEAM PUMPKIN BREAD? And would you include chocolate chips in either recipe? Let me know in the comments.

Banana Bread

Yield 1 loaf

Ingredients 

3 very ripe bananas, (medium/large)
½ cup unsalted butter, (8 Tbsp) at room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour *or 1-to-1 gluten-free flour blend
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
½ tsp vanilla extract
1 cup walnuts and or pecans - I used both

 

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a bread loaf pan (9.25 long x 5.25 wide x 2.75 deep). Lightly roast walnuts and or pecans on a skillet, continuously stirring so they won’t burn. Coarsely chop and cool to room temperature. 

In a mixing bowl, cream together 8 Tbsp softened butter and 3/4 cup sugar

Mash bananas with a fork until the consistency of chunky applesauce and add them to the batter along with 2 eggs, mixing until blended. 

In a separate bowl, whisk together: 1 1/2 cups of flour, 1 tsp of baking soda and 1/2 tsp of salt then add to batter.

Add 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract and mix in chopped walnuts and or pecans. Pour into prepared loaf pan. Bake at 350˚F for 55-60 min or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let banana bread rest for 10 min before transferring to a wire rack to cool.

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Libby Klein writes ridiculously funny murder mysteries from her Northern Virginia office with a very naughty calico Persian named Miss Eliza Doolittle, and a sweet black Lab named Vader. She can name that tune for 70s and 80s rock in the first few notes, and she's translated her love of classic rock into her Layla Virtue Mysteries. Libby was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease that prevents her from eating gluten without exploding. Because bread is one of her love languages, she includes the recipes for gluten free goodies in her Cape May based Poppy McAllister series. Most of her hobbies revolve around travel, and eating, and eating while traveling. She insists she can find her way to any coffee shop anywhere in the world, even while blindfolded. Follow all of her nonsense on her website www.LibbyKleinBooks.com/Newsletter/