RECIPE: REC: Mom's Banana Nut Bread. I've been saving black bananas in the freezer all summer,

[joe]

waiting till it's cool enough to bake. I think this recipe goes back to my grandmother, who would have wanted to salvage over-ripe bananas and sour milk in hot weather. Thank heavens for freezers! Anyway, it's really good, and the blacker the bananas, the better.

MOM'S BANANA-NUT BREAD

Makes 1 large (8-cup loaf pan) loaf or 12-14 muffins. (I make 3 recipes to fill 4 6-cup Pyrex loaf pans)

Cream together:

1 cup sugar

½ cup (1 stick) butter

Pinch of Salt (if butter is unsalted)

Mix in, in order:

1 cup mashed bananas (about 3, over-ripe)

4 Tbs. (¼ cup) sour milk (I use buttermilk or yogurt)

1 tsp. baking soda

2 eggs, beaten

Sift together and fold in:

2½ cups flour (I use about ¼ King Arthur's "White Whole Wheat" and the rest all-purpose)

1 tsp. baking powder

Add:

1 cup chopped walnuts

1 tsp. vanilla

Spread in buttered and floured pans (or muffin tins). Bake at 375° until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean, about 1 hour for loaves, less for muffins.

 

[marilynfl]

Joe, how do you keep the bananas from turning to watery mush when they defrost? That's why

I gave up on saving them for bread and just use them in smoothies these days.

Secrets to share???

 

[joe]

I don't. They have to be mashed anyway. I think the riper, blacker ones shrink and dehydrate a bit

so they're not as watery as if they're frozen while still yellow and appetizing.

 

[marilynfl]

Some bananas here go from green directly to dark brown...and not in a good way.

I think those are the ones that degrade to the point where I won't waste a batter on them.