Going Nuts Banana Bread

The weather is getting cooler and the days are getting shorter. It’s time to embrace fall as it arrives. One of my favorite seasons I enjoy is fall.  Mother Nature displays a fantastic warm hue on leaves before dropping, notifying everyone that she has cast her sleeping spell on the perennials.  Our homestead has kept us hustling with the “To Do” list that seems endless at times.  Projects and dreams continue to arise.  One of the projects is to install a fire pit to roast marshmallows for smores under the star lit sky with family and friends.  As much as I’d like to start that lovely project, priorities  always come first.

Right now our priority is getting the fall/winter garden in the ground, harvest, and preserve the summer garden.  It took us a while to retrain our brain that our grocery store is in our backyard. Growing up, you look into your refrigerator and ask yourself, “okay what to eat”? If you didn’t see anything you’d like to eat, you’d head out to the grocery store or a restaurant, right?   My husband and I, now take a leisurely walk in the garden asking our selves, “what should we have for lunch, dinner” etc.  Believe me, when I say, ‘sometimes there is a lot more choices then just one’. The flavors of freshly picked, naturally ripen produce can’t be compared to anything you would find in the stores. Most produce from the stores are picked before fully ripened and therefore do not have all the benefits of naturally ripened fruits and vegetables.

I walked in the house finished with daily chores and tasks for the day and noticed a cluster of bananas had quickly ripened on our kitchen counter.  Baking banana bread is now added to the “To Do” list.  You see how the to do list is sometimes ever so endless?  You’d be finished with the to do list, thinking “yes, nailed it”! Ready to take a break, have a glass of wine or open a iced cold beer and then suddenly staring right back at you are ripe bananas.  You stare at them, wondering if you have any energy left to tap into to make bread. You ask yourself, “Can I make it tomorrow? Will the bananas last another day? Or are they going to turn jet black and rot on your counter leaving a thick watery sticky goo?”  These bananas are driving me nuts.  I took another sip and made my decision .  It’s “Banana Bread Gone Nuts” time.  Pulled out the ingredients from the cupboard and started making the bread.

I’m so glad that I took some time to make this scrumptious banana bread.  It is truly rewarding to wake up in the morning, with a cup a coffee, complemented with a slice of a nutty banana bread.  I know that what I’m eating doesn’t have any preservatives, or artificial flavors. To top it off, it’s fresh!

Banana Bread Gone Nuts

September 2, 2018

Servings: Makes one loaf

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By: arakerson@yahoo.com

Ingredients

• 3 or 4 ripe bananas, smashed
• 1/3 cup melted butter
• 1 cup bakers sugar
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 cups of pastry flour
• 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
• 1/4 cup chopped pecans
• 1/4 cup halved walnuts

Directions

• Step 1 Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
• Step 2 Mix butter and smashed bananas in a large mixing bowl until creamy.
• Step 3 Add the sugar, the egg, and vanilla extract, mix well until smooth.
• Step 4 Sprinkle and stir in baking soda.
• Step 5 Add cinnamon and flour last, mix.
• Step 6 With a spoon or spatula, fold in the pecan. Stir until the pecans are evenly coated with the banana mixture.
• Step 7 Transfer batter to a parchment paper lined 9X5X3  loaf pan. Garnish batter with walnuts.
• Step 8 Bake 45 minutes or until the inserted toothpick is clean.