Banana Bread

We had some dear friends over for dinner (wait until you see what I made for dessert on my next post!) and they brought over a big bag full of bananas. They were on sale at the local fruit monger, probably because some of them were getting a little over-ripe. After puzzling for a day as to what to do with them, I took my friend's suggestion and decided I should try banana bread. I scoured my Grammie's cookbook and found this recipe I thought I'd try. I got it right on the first try with very little effort, so I knew it would be a great one to share. I'm also sharing it now because I know those same friends are living in banana heaven too, but they don't have 2 hungry toddlers anxious to eat them up. So, dear you friend, you know who you are, this one's for you!

1/2 cup butter at room temperature

1 cup sugar

2 beaten eggs

2 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 cup bananas mashed with 1/2 cup cold water

1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Cream together butter, sugar and eggs. I actually did this with my little hand-mixer because my butter wasn't soft enough to cream properly. Normally I'd just do it by hand with my trusty wooden spoon. Sift together remaining dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Alternate adding flour mixture and banana mix in three parts each to butter mixture, stirring at each step smoothly mixed. Bake in 2 greased loaf pans for about an hour in a 350 degree oven. Let cool on wire racks. Once they're cool, I find they taste perfect at room temperature or heated up in the microwave with a bit of butter spread on it. Yum!

Enjoy your baking!