Buttermilk Banana Bread

What do you do with bananas that are starting to turn black? I usually make banana bread or banana cake. This is a particularly moist bread, easy to prepare, and perfect to take on a trip or send in lunch boxes. It's nutritious and satisfying, and it keeps really well at room temperature. Make several loaves, and freeze them either whole or in slices to put in your child's lunch box.

Ingredients

4 cups all-purpose flour
4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup butter
1 cup granulated sugar
4 large eggs
4 medium ripe bananas, mashed
1 cup fresh buttermilk
2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup pecans or walnuts, chopped

Oven Temp: 350° bake in upper middle of oven, 55-60 minutes

Yield: 2 loaves (8.5"x3")

Mix the flour, baking powder, soda, and salt, and put aside. It's important to mix the dry ingredients separately to avoid clumps of baking soda or baking powder and the resulting bitter taste in the finished loaf.

In the large bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar, and beat until fluffy. At low speed, add the eggs and mashed bananas. At low speed, add the buttermilk alternately with the flour mixture. After each addition, beat just until all the ingredients are fully incorporated. Add the vanilla and nuts, and mix at low speed only until all the nuts are incorporated. Don't overbeat at any time or the bread will be too dry.

Pour the batter into two greased loaf pans. Bake for 55 minutes to 1 hour until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the loaf comes out dry. Cool on a rack. These loaves keep quite well for up to 5 days at room temperature or 3 months in the freezer.

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