Cooking with Singer: Banana Bread

We've already had a couple of cold nights up here (40 degrees... F* that), so it seems the perfect time for banana bread. Really, any recipe you find will do, but the real secret to good or great banana bread is, in fact, the bananas. Make sure they are turning brown or black. This is because, as a banana goes from green (not ripe) to brown (ripe), the starches inside convert to sugar. Yummy sugar is why the 'overripe bananas' your local grocery store sells are better tasting than the others you buy.

So guy bake this and surprise your significant other to earn enough brownie points to come play COD4 again.

Preheat oven to 325. You'll need either a large bread loaf pan, two small bread loaf pans, or muffin tins. Grease your pan.
1 stick butter (room temperature) and 1 cup sugar, Mix together thoroughly
2 eggs, add one at a time until each is mixed thoroughly,
1 and 1/2 cups mashed bananas (about 3), mixed in,
1-2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp nutmeg (optional but recommended)
1 tsp cinnamon (optional but recommended)
2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda (if your soda is old, like six months or more, double the amount)
Mix the flour, salt, and baking soda together in a separate bowl, then add to your mixer in thirds, letting it mix completely each time. This is tricky, though, because you might not need all of the flour. Bananas will have varying amounts of water in them, so use your judgement, don't let the mix get too thick. It should be like yogurt consistency, maybe (semi-liquid, but not watery)
1 cup of chopped nuts (walnuts or pecans)

Bake at 325 for 45 minutes, then starting checking it (toothpick in the center, or, if you have an instant read thermometer, at least 185F) or do muffins for maybe 15-20 minutes.

Love it Singer....and you are absolutely right about the bananas. My wife makes Banana / Chocolate Chip muffins (mostly for my oldest daughter who loves them) and those bananas are "nasty" when she gets ready to make them. And those muffins are so good they dont last the day when she makes them.....