Banana Nutty Bread

This is one of my favorite vices...and my mother's as well. We always laugh about how "addictive" it seems to be to our sweet-tooth. But at least it's filled with the goodness of bananas and walnuts! There is that little piece of positive news that I can pull out to justify my love of banana nut bread.

Let us begin, shall we? Start by preheating your oven to 325°F.
Prepare a 9x5x3 loaf pan with Butter (or Pam Spray for Baking) . I tend to choose the Pam Spray For Baking since it has flour in it to allow for an easier release. Grab a large bowl and hand mixer (or your trusty KitchenAid standing mixer!) and a rubber/silicon spatula. (We must make sure that ingredients don't just get stuck to the side, never really joining the party.)
Go ahead, grab your large bowl. Let's get started by adding our 1 cup of sugar and 8 tablespoons of butter to our empty vessel.
Cream sugar and butter together in a large bowl until light and fluffy.
Now, we need to get our eggs to join the party. Add 2 eggs, one by one, beating well after each addition to make sure they are well incorporated.
Add 3 beautifully ripe bananas to sugar, butter & egg mixture. Depending on the ripeness of your bananas, you may want to mash the bananas with a fork in a separate bowl before adding to the mixture. If you are like me and wait until you have dark brown to black bananas, then no mashing is necessary. If not, I would suggest mashing them to allow for a creamier texture. (In this instance, my 3 year-old insisted that Mommy only use one "yucky" black banana and two "pretty" yellow ones)

Ahhh...the smell of sweet bananas! How I love it! The batter will start becoming very creamy (or perhaps a bit watery in appearance if you choose to use overly ripe bananas as I do). This is the beginning of something very good.
And now it's time to get to the spice of it all...1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon and 1/4 teaspoon of ground nutmeg. If you have fresh nutmeg, this is the time to use it!
Right about now you will be enjoying the very welcoming aroma of the bananas mixed with the cinnamon and nutmeg. But oh no...we aren't done yet...

Here is where things could get really messy. It's time to add our 2 cups of all-purpose flour. The least catastrophic way that I have found of adding flour to my mix...1/4-1/2 cup at a time.
And then I do a little bit of folding with my spatula. Before turning on the mixer...and viola! No flying flour all over my kitchen!
Then I just repeat the process until all of the flour is incorporated.
Next we add our teaspoon of baking soda. Blend in until well incorporated.
Then a little bit, or 1 teaspoon, of baking powder. This is essential! Should you forget the baking soda & baking powder, there will be a huge hunk of not so edible bread...which would be a complete shame after all this effort.

Take a little time to scrape the sides of your bowl. Just to be sure that there isn't anything missing from the party. Then blend away for about 45-60 seconds, just to incorporate anything that needed a little help.
And now we add our 1 tablespoon of milk. If you use anything other than whole milk, then that's your choice, but there is just something going on with the whole milk that just works with this bread so nicely.
Once again, I would highly recommend that you fold in some of the milk before blending. Then have at it! (thus sparing your shirt, counter, favorite apron, etc., from splatterdom)
Now add in the 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla extract. Pure vanilla extract brings out the best flavor! I highly recommend splurging when it comes time for baking. Turn on the blender for just 10 seconds to mix in our vanilla goodness.
Just a little bit of salt really helps bring out the sweetness of the bananas. So let's toss in our 1 teaspoon of sea salt. Blend briefly (10 seconds) just to incorporate the salt.
And now, the time has come to add our partner in crime...the walnuts! So grab that 1 cup of chopped walnuts and toss them into the batter. Blend for just a few seconds (5-10 seconds) so that the walnuts are distributed nicely in the batter. Here is the point where there is a choice to be made...if you do not like walnuts, then I would suggest using some chopped pecans instead. OR just start a second batter and have one with walnuts and one with pecans! How can you say no to that suggestion?!
Time to grab the prepared loaf pan and start pouring in our batter.
Here we are...the moment just before placing all of our hard work into our toasty hot oven. Take a final look and ask yourself this question: Should I place some nuts on top? or not? The choice is up to you. (If I add them on top, then my little kiddles won't touch it.)
Goodbye sweet promise of banana nutty goodness! And now we wait as everything magical happens inside our 325°F oven...for the next 60-70 minutes. (That's 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes for those with timers that are not accommodating)
Ahhhh!!!! Can you smell that wonderful aroma?! Be sure to test this lovely golden brown loaf before pulling it from the oven. When you have inserted a toothpick into the center of the loaf, and it comes out clean, then you can celebrate!
Let the banana bread stand for approx. 10 minutes, tempting you to jump the gun and start slicing. Then carefully remove from the loaf pan, placing it onto a cooling rack for another 15 minutes. Once cooled, go ahead and move it to a cutting board...pick up your serrated knife and slice yourself a much deserved slice of this comfy, cozy slice of heaven. Enjoy!

Banana Nutty Bread
Ingredients:
1 Cup Sugar
8 Tbsp. Butter (room temperature)
2 Large Eggs
3 Ripe Bananas
1 Tsp. Ground Cinnamon
1/4 Tsp. Ground Nutmeg (freshly ground is best)
2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
1 Tsp. Baking Soda
1 Tsp. Baking Powder
1 Tbsp. Milk
1/4 Tsp. Vanilla Extract
1 Tsp. Sea Salt
1 Cup Chopped Walnuts

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325°F. Prepare a 9x5x3 loaf pan with Butter (or Pam Spray for Baking).

Cream sugar and butter together in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one by one, beating well after each addition to make sure they are well incorporated. Add bananas to sugar, butter & egg mixture. Depending on the ripeness of your bananas, you may want to mash the bananas with a fork in a separate bowl before adding to the mixture, thus creating a creamier texture.

Mix in cinnamon and nutmeg slowly. Add flour slowly. I suggest adding it in 1/2 cup increments. (I like to fold the dry ingredients into the mixture with a spatula first to avoid airborn puffs and splatter) Next add baking soda. Add baking powder.

Fold in milk before blending...again, I fold therefore I am not covered in splatter. Add vanilla extract. Pure vanilla extract brings out the best flavor! I highly recommend splurging when it comes time for baking. Now it's time for just a bit of sea salt to bring out the sweetness of our bananas.

Finally but not least, we add our walnuts. Now if you aren't a big fan of these crunchy guys, then by all means side-step this step OR replace them with pecans. Pecans & bananas are just too perfect together! But for the sake of tradition, we are calling for walnuts.

Pour your batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake for 60-70 minutes. When your loaf looks beautifully browned and a toothpick can be inserted into the middle and removed clean...You are ready to pull that goodness out of the oven! Let the banana bread stand for approx. 10 minutes, tempting you to jump the gun and start slicing. Then carefully remove from the loaf pan, placing it onto a cooling rack for another 15 minutes. If you give into temptation 10 minutes into the cooling process...no one will blame you. Slice and enjoy!