Bananas seem to have only two forms in my house: Green and underripe or nearly all black and just about ready to be thrown out. After the bananas are brought home and the kids are told that they’re not ready for consumption, everybody seems to forget about them until they’re almost no good. That’s where the banana bread comes in!

My banana bread is so moist and delicious, I’ve received nothing but compliments on it. I’m not one of those people to normally give food as gifts (a fruitcake, really?!) but people love my simple banana bread so much that I have been known to put it into small decorative loaf pans and wrap it up as a little gift for acquaintances during the Christmas season.

Ingredients:
1 c flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 c butter/margarine
1 c white sugar
1 c mashed overripe bananas
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 c chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350°. Grease and flour your loaf pan. Sift the flour, salt, and baking soda into one bowl. In a separate bowl, mix together the butter and sugar until it is smooth. Stir in the bananas, eggs, and walnuts until it is well-blended. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry mixture, and stir it all together. Bake 50-55 minutes.

I always baked it for 55 minutes exactly and it came out perfectly until I got an electric stove and now it seems that 50 minutes is better. It’s important to keep an eye on it. The banana bread in the picture looks dark but it is cooked to perfection, very moist and not runny or even remotely crunchy. It’s very full of flavor and impossible to put down!