Banana Bread

Somehow our kitchen's stock of bananas seemed to triple over the weekend. We went from having a small bunch of 3 bananas to a plateful of a dozen or more. All are past the green stage, and beginning to turn speckled brown. Time to start making food with banana!

This recipe for banana bread is one initially taken from an old version of Better Homes & Gardens Cookbook that my mother made a few changes to. If you look in the cookbook today, the original recipe has been completely revised.

Ingredients:
2 eggs (room temp)
1/3 c butter, melted
1/2 c sugar
1 3/4 c flour (1 c white, 3/4 whole wheat)
*optional 1 T flax
1 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1 c mashed banana
*optional 1/2 c chocolate chips
*optional 1/2 c walnuts, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 F. Sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl & set aside. In a smaller bowl, mix together the mashed banana, eggs, melted butter, & sugar until well blended. Make a well in the dry ingredients, pour the others into the well & mix until combined & light. Add chocolate chips & walnuts if using, and mix in a few quick strokes.

Pour into a greased loaf pan & bake 35-45 mins until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.

In a good oven (i.e. not one in a college apartment), this usually takes the full 45 minutes to bake. When the oven not as dependable, I've had to lower the temperature to 325 as the outside cooked faster than the inside. This is also true if you are baking in a glass loaf pan.