Banana Nut Bread

Not long ago, a teacher at our school made some banana nut bread that she shared with us.  It was so yummy, so moist. I sought her out and asked her what recipe she used. She had used the Betty Crocker recipe (from the old "red" cookbook).  So about a week later, I tried it.  And it was good.  But it was not as moist as hers.

Well, yesterday, I had a few very ripe bananas (which are rare around here because they get eaten so quickly) and wanted to try again.  This time I checked my pins on Pinterest and found a recipe I had pinned for cream cheese banana bread.  Um, cream cheese??? Seriously, how could you go wrong with that?

So last night I threw it in the oven and started smelling it immediately.

But then I had to wait until this morning to try it.

Can you say torture?

Hopped out of bed this morning to try it.  Warmed it just a bit in the microwave and sat down to eat.

It was delicious.

And moist.

Everything I wanted in a banana bread.

I will definitely be using this recipe again.

Sorry, Betty.

Note:   The original recipe makes two loaves.  And IF a certain child in my house hadn't been greedy and eaten more than his fair share of bananas yesterday, I could have made two; we could have eaten one and frozen one. But instead I was left with THREE bananas, not the FOUR I needed. So I halved the recipe which is what I am sharing here...

Ingredients:
6 Tbsp butter (I used unsalted), softened

1/2 package (4 oz) cream cheese, softened

1 cup sugar

1 large egg

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour (I think next time I will do half all purpose, half whole wheat...I wasn't ready to try it yet since this was my first time to make this recipe)

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

2 mashed bananas (I just mashed with a fork)

1/2 cup toasted pecans (just toasted them while I was working on the rest...throw the pecans on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 for just a few minutes)

1/2 tsp vanilla

Cinnamon to taste

A few extra pecans finely chopped

Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 350.  Go ahead and toast the pecans for a few minutes.

Beat cream cheese and butter until creamy.

Gradually add sugar, beating until fluffy.

Add eggs, beating until just blended.

Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a separate bowl.

Gradually add to the mixture, beating at a low speed until well blended.

Add in bananas, pecans, and vanilla.

Spoon into a greased 8 x 4 inch loaf pan.

Sprinkle cinnamon and finely chopped pecans on top (optional, but a nice touch).

Bake for 1 hour at 350(when a toothpick comes out clean).  If the bread starts to get too brown, cover with aluminum foil the last 15 minutes. That didn't happen to mine at all but my oven rack was right in the middle.

Several people in the comments section mentioned making muffins; they would only bake for about 25 minutes.

After about 10 minutes, remove from pan to cool on a cooling rack. 

 Enjoy!

Banana Nut Muffins

 I have mentioned that we have been "cleaning" up the way we eat.  A little more organic, less preservatives.  And in doing that, a lot of "mixes" are out.

So yesterday I glanced in our fruit bowl and noticed that we had a couple of bananas that were nearing the end of their life.

I hated to see bananas go to waste (though I NEVER eat them by themselves), so I decided we really needed some banana bread or muffins.  I decided muffins would be a good (and easy) way to go.  Even better, I had already planned a "breakfast for dinner" kind of night so this would be a perfect addition.

I immediately googled and fell upon a recipe that is supposed to be very kid-friendly.  Perfect for me. :)

I didn't really have any kids around at the time so I just made the recipe myself.

And they were yummy.

I don't think I have ever made homemade banana bread before.

Now that I have, I don't think I will ever be able to go back to a mix again.

And honestly, it didn't take me but a few more minutes than a mix would...and these were so much better.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3 large bananas, mashed
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1/3 cup butter, melted (I used unsalted)
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
Nuts (to taste...I used about half a cup of chopped pecans)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Spray muffin pan OR use fun muffin/cupcake liners. That is the way I went.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, soda, and salt.  Set aside.

In a separate bowl, mix together bananas, sugar, egg, butter, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and nuts.  I just hand mixed.  I also made sure not to overmix after reading comments by others on the original recipe's site.

Fold in the flour mixture.

Again, don't overmix (but make sure ALL of the flour is mixed in).

Scoop into muffin tins (I used my cookie dough scooper).

Bake for 10-15 minutes for mini muffins and 25-30 minutes for regular size muffins (mine made 12 regular size muffins).

Enjoy!

Reba