Banana Bread with walnuts

The perfect banana for banana bread is when the banana has black speckles all over and the peel has turned soft and crepe-y. I was a little impatient as I’ve been waiting all week for the bananas to be the right color, but I was sick of waiting, I wanted some banana bread. The kicker in this recipe is the buttermilk, it adds a little acidity to react to the baking soda so it raises well.

Walnut-Banana Bread

1/4 cup butter

1/2 cup sugar

1 eggs

1/1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup unbleached flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup mashed ripe banana (one banana)

1/4 cup walnuts or pecans

1/2 tablespoon butter milk

Directions

1. Start by setting out the butter and eggs. Bringing them up to room temperature will make the batter better. Let them sit for at least an hour at room temperature. If you are in a hurry, microwave the butter for 10 seconds and stir it to distribute the heat. Try not to liquefy the butter. And in the end cold eggs, won’t make bad bread.


2. In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Add the egg, vanilla and butter milk and mix it until smooth.


3. In a large bowl mix together all the dry ingredients.


4. Add the dry mixture and the banana to the butter mixture. Add a little at a time and mix after each addition. Stir in the nuts.

5. Pour the batter into a greased loaf pan (9×5x3″).

6. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until a sharp knife poked in, comes out clean.