Banana Nut Bread

I have tried different recipes over the years and this one is my favorite!

1 1/2 c sugar
3/4 c butter
2 eggs
1/4 tsp salt
2 1/4 c flour
1/2 c buttermilk
1 tsp baking soda
3 ripe bananas, mashed
1 tsp vanilla
1 c chopped nuts

Cream together sugar and butter; add eggs and blend well. Dissolve soda in buttermilk. Mix flour, salt, soda & buttermilk with sugar/butter/egg mixture, beating well. Add bananas, vanilla, and nuts. Pour batter into two greased loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, then reduce heat to 300 and bake for another 30 minutes. To prevent top from browning too much, cover loosely with foil for last 20 minutes, or, put a cookie sheet on the rack above the banana bread. It may not be cooked completely after an hour; to check, gently touch the top middle of a loaf to see if it is semi-firm. If not, continue cooking and check every 5 minutes until it's done.


Tips:

• For quickbreads I always spray the loafpans with Pam, and only on the bottom on the pan. Spraying only the bottom will prevent the batter from creeping up the sides as it bakes, and will result in nicely-shaped rounded loaves. After baking, let cool for 10 minutes and run a butterknife around the edge to loosen and they'll come right out of the pans.

• There are a few recipes I use regularly that call for buttermilk, but I rarely buy buttermilk. To "cheat" just put 1/2 T white vinegar in a 1-cup measure, and fill the rest of the way with milk. This will make 1 cup of sour milk; a great substitute for buttermilk!

• Don't throw away bananas whose skins have turned a little too brown; make banana bread! OR - if you don't have time to make banana bread today, just put them in the freezer. Their skin makes a great container! Leave them in there up to a few months and get them out when you're ready to make some banana bread. Let them thaw partway before peeling. Thawed frozen bananas are very mushy inside but will still be yellow and just perfect for banana bread!