Banana Bread

I was moving my hanging fruit basket today and squished some bananas. This calls for banana bread.

This is my recipe I adapted from the Epicurious recipe. It's healthier (less oil, less sugar), tastier (more nutmeg) and less time-consuming (less relentless mixing.)

Combine:

3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

dash of nutmeg

dash of ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon salt
Set aside.

Mix with beaters on high for 5 minutes:

4 large eggs

1 3/4 cups sugar

1/3 cup applesauce or brown rice syrup (or a few tablespoons of honey if you have neither)

Preheat oven to 350. Grease 2 bread loaf pans.

Then add to egg mixture:

3/4 cup vegetable oil

5 or 6 very ripe bananas (make sure they get all mashed up)

1/4 cup crème fraîche, or yogurt, or sour cream, cream cheese or... leftover cream cheese frosting

2 teaspoons vanilla

 Combine with dry ingredients, then stir in:

1 1/3 cups walnuts (or however much you want to put in, if you choose to at all),

Pour into pans. Bake for 50 minutes, then test with knife. When it comes out clean or with crumbs, take out. Let sit for 10 minutes, then flip and allow bread to slide out of pan. 

I always stick one loaf in the freezer for a later date, in case I'm running to a party and don't have time to make a dish. Or just so it doesn't go to waste.

One of my favorite things about banana bread are the many things you can enjoy on top of it. I particularly enjoy toasting a slice and spreading some cream cheese on it. But you can also enjoy it with butter, jam, honey butter, Nutella... the possibilities go on.