Buttermilk Banana Nut Bread

Bananas. The self-sealed, not-to-sweet fruit that is a perfect part of many a smoothie. Their Archilles' heel? A rather short lifespan. Sometimes I wonder if they begin turning brown the moment I place them in my basket.

The beauty of a fading banana, though, is that I think everyone's first thought upon seeing them is, "Time for banana bread." This bread is a sweet little loaf with a lovely pale brown interior. The less dense the banana bread, the more it reminds me of cake, which my favorite.

I wasn't really setting out to make banana bread, but sometimes baking just happens. I'd gotten some buttermilk to use for my Red Velvet Cake, so there was a bit extra I needed to find a use for. Buttermilk makes for a rich and smooth cake. That combined with some anemic-looking bananas was the perfect combination for making some banana bread.

I started out with 4 bananas. I added them to a bowl and used a fork to smash them until they were mushy. Another interesting tidbit about bananas is that one banana can be substituted for one egg in baked goods. As I was looking at a recipe that called for 3 bananas, I used 4 and scaled it back by one egg. No need to make the cake too dense.

The rest was pretty simple. It was a muffin-like recipe, in that you stirred the ingredients until just combined, with lumps being no big deal. EASY! I love recipes like that. I decided not to put walnuts on top, but this is a traditional banana bread move (and sometimes mixed into the batter).

Loaves of course take longer to bake than muffins, so this baked about 50 minutes and then was a stunning golden brown.

The inside was soft and sweet. The buttermilk made the texture almost creamy.

The slices were perfect, like a pre-packaged banana bread slice. I was really happy with the result here. The key is buttermilk. A rich, dense slice of bread makes a flavorful breakfast addition or snack. It isn't too sweet but hits the spot.

Buttermilk Banana Bread Recipe

Ingredients:

1 cup white sugar

1/2 cup butter, softened

4 bananas

2 eggs

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/3 cup buttermilk

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly butter and flour a loaf pan (or spray with  non-stick baking spray). Peel bananas and place into a medium bowl, Mash with a fork or masher. In a large bowl, stir together sugar, butter, bananas, eggs, flour, baking soda, milk, salt, vanilla extract, cinnamon, and nutmeg and mix well. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan. Sprinkle with chopped pecans if desired. Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.

adapted from grandma's homemade banana bread