CIAKids : Banana Nut Bread


Banana Nut Bread
Makes 2 loaves
As bananas ripen, their yellow color deepens and brown freckles develop. If you have bananas that are in danger of becoming overripe and black, it is time to make banana nut bread.
© Culinary Institute of America

Ingredients		Amounts
All Purpose Flour		3 cups plus extra for dusting
Salt		1 tsp
Baking Powder		1/2 tsp
Unsalted Butter, at room temperature		1 stick plus extra for greasing
Sugar		1/2 cup
Honey		1/2 cup
Vanilla Extract		2 tsp
Very ripe medium Bananas, peeled and mashed		3
Large Eggs, at room temperature		2
Toasted Walnuts or Pecans, coarsely chopped		1 cup

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 8 1/2-inch loaf pans. 2. Sift the flour, salt, and baking powder into a bowl and set aside. 3. With a mixer, cream together the butter and sugar on meduim speed until light in texture, about 3 minutes. Add the honey, vanilla extract, and bananas and mix until well combined, another 2 minutes. Scrape the bowl down as needed to mix evenly. Add the eggs to the banana mixture one at a time, beating well after each addition. 4. Add the dry ingredients to the banana mixture all at once. Stir by hand just until the batter is evenly moistened. Fold the nuts into the batter, then divide the batter evenly between the prepared loaf pans. 5. Bake until the bread begins to pull away from the edges of the pans and the center of the loaves spring back when lightly pressed with your fingertip, about 1 hour. 6. Remove the loaves from the oven and let rest for 10-15 minutes before turning them out of the pans. Continue cooling on a wire rack before serving.