Banana what? Banana Bread!

This is what I'd like to think of as a house-keeping post.  Because frankly, no one should go any of their lives without a good loaf of homemade banana bread.  Banana nut is better, and banana chocolate chip is the best if you're feeling decadent and rich.

This is one I've been using since I lived in a house with other cancers (I'm one too, so there was a lot of drama at the house.  Plus I may or may not have slept with one of my roommate's significant others.  I was recently out of a long relationship, also just recently "out," so things got out of control.  Anyway, I remember this recipe because I made it a lot and the roommate who I screwed over said to me, after our confrontation, "I think this might be a good thing.  Sometimes it takes horrible things like this to see people as real instead of just caricatures.  You're a real.  You have real flaws.  You're not just a cartoon in the kitchen baking banana bread."

I moved out shortly thereafter, but I'll never forget what she said.

So dear friends, this is the recipe for Guilty and Sexually Deviant Banana Bread, from the Cartoon in the Kitchen!

Banana Nut Bread

(Modified from Better Homes and Garden's 1981 edition)

1 3/4 C all-purpose flour

1 1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp salt

2/3 C sugar

1 1/2 Tbs shortening

2 Tbs unsweetened applesauce

2 eggs

2 Tbs milk (any kind, even soy!)

1+ C mashed ripe bananas

1/4 C chopped nuts (I like walnuts, personally.  

Or semi-sweet chocolate chips.  They're nuts, right?)

 

Prepare a 8x4" baking pan and preheat oven to 350F.

Stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Set aside.

In a mixer bowl beat sugar, shortening, and applesauce until light (it'll look a little funny because of the sauce).  Add eggs, one at a time until combined, then add milk.  Beat until smooth.  Add flour mixture and banana  alternately, completely combining between additions.  It's best to add 1/3 dry ingredients at a time and 1/2 the banana, finishing on the dry.  Mix until no streaks of flour remain.  Fold in nuts.  

Pour into pan and bake for 55-60 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.  Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then remove to finish cooling on a wire rack.  

It tastes the best if wrapped up and stored overnight.

You can also substitute the applesauce and shortening mixture with light sour cream.  That works out well too!