Is everyone ready? We are in full Holiday Season mode. Thanksgiving is just around the corner and then the Christmas season begins. Our houses will be full of lots of hungry family and friends. I’m a planner…a crazy, obsessed kind of planner. Sometimes, I know I make life more complicated and difficult than it needs to be, but the planning and organizing keeps me feeling calm. Knowing details are taken care of…that’s when I can relax and enjoy myself. I always start with the beginning of the day, breakfast. It doesn’t always have to be fancy, complicated, or take a lot of time to prepare. Pre-making and pre-baking are always my advice to help make feeding guests easier. One of my favorite foods to have ready is Banana Nut Bread…
Banana Nut Bread is a family favorite in our house. Everyone gets so excited when they smell or see that I made it. I do have to admit that I made it several times since moving up to 7300 ft and each time it was a disappointment. It was the same recipe that I have been making for about 20 years, but high altitude and baking can be tricky. At this altitude leaveners tend to work faster than your bread has time to “set” and you end up with a deflated or fallen product. It can be really frustrating! Sometimes you have to adjust baking times, temperatures, liquids, or the amount of eggs, sugar, or flour used in a recipe. Thankfully, most of my recipes turn work without any major changes. Before I figured it out the adjustments, I would make these Banana Nut Pancakes.
To help make this recipe a little healthier, I use whole white wheat flour. It is a whole grain and has a very mild flavor and light texture that makes it an easy substitution for all-purpose flour. I also use Smart Balance butter blend to make this instead of using butter. I that it has less calories, less fat, and cholesterol compared to butter.
- ½ cup blended butter such as Smart Balance, softened
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 3 large bananas, ripe and mashed
- 1 tsp fresh lemon juice
- 2 cups whole white wheat flour
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 cup chopped walnuts
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray a 9 x 5 loaf pan with non-stick spray.
- Mash bananas with a fork in a small bowl. Stir in lemon juice, set aside.
- Combine in a large bowl the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In a mixer, cream butter and sugar together until fluffy.
- Add the mashed bananas to creamed butter/sugar mixture, mix to combine.
- Add in the eggs and beat until combined.
- Slowly add the flour mixture and blend until incorporated.
- With the mixer on low, add the walnuts until combined.
- Pour batter into pan and bake for 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes. Insert a toothpick to check for doneness. When it comes out clean take bread out of the oven and cool on a rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and cool.
I love the aroma of this Banana Walnut Bread baking in the oven. The best part comes when you get to eat a slice of this moist bread and taste the delicious banana flavor mixed with crunchy walnuts. You will love how easy it is to make this bread is and your guests will be happy to have a slice of this Banana Walnut Bread in the morning with a hot cup of coffee. I know mine are 😀
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