Some days just aren’t my days. On these days alliwannado is bake. So bake is what I shall do. And bake is what I did.
I didn’t want anything complicated. Something simple that was comforting and delicious. No tricky concoctions. No big mixer. Just some bowls and spoons and some simple baking magic.
Thus we have here: basic banana bread.
When I say basic, I mean basic. This is banana bread at essentially its purest form: 2 parts flour, 2 parts liquid, 1 part egg, 1 part fat. I also added some toasted walnuts and cinnamon, because walnuts, cinnamon, and bananas are like the three best friends and we needn’t separate best friends.
Baking like this is therapy. It’s a no fuss recipe. All we need here is ten ingredients, two bowls, some measuring equipment, and a whisk.
Mix the dry. Mix the wet. Combine the dry and the wet. Stir in some nuts and pop it in the oven. That’s it. That’s all it takes. The only difficult part is waiting for it to bake while your kitchen fills with the sweet banana bread smell.
Even those who “cannot bake” can successfully make this bread happen. I promise you.
When I say that it is basic, I don’t mean to say that is isn’t delicious. It is. This banana bread is goooooood. I want to curl up inside of it and take a warm, cozy, banana bread nap. But since I am not Miss Frizzle and cannot in fact shrink myself to fit inside the banana bread (remember this episode?!), I will instead settle for enjoying it with a big ole cup of coffee and a brand new day. Like I did this morning and will tomorrow morning too.
Last night I decided that with the whole pain in my hip/leg/knee I am just going to stop running. Not one more running step until I walk up to the start line of the Philadelphia Marathon on November 23 and hear the starting gun… or whistle or announcement or whatever they use to signify the start of the run (plus about 5 minutes, because I’ll be at the back of the pack). Then from there I will try to run/walk/survive 26.2 miles while having as much fun as I possibly can. Who knows, maybe with all the rest I will have some sort of Philly Rocky miracle. Riiiiighttt???
In the meantime I will get an x-ray (eeks!) and do lots of yoga and cross training and foam rolling and, let’s face it, baking.
So there will be other days for fancy banana breads with brown butter or coconut oil or peanut butter or chocolate chips or cocoa nibs or all of the above. Today, however, is just a basic banana bread day.
- 2 scant cups all-purpose flour (see note)
- ½ cup + 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
- 2 medium overripe bananas, mashed
- ¼ cup buttermilk
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup walnuts, chopped and toasted
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan.
- In a small bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.
- In a medium bowl, combine the melted butter, mashed bananas, buttermilk, and eggs. Whisk until combined. Having some small banana lumps is completely ok.
- Add the wet ingredients into the dry and stir until just combined.
- Stir in the walnuts, saving some for the top of the loaf.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and sprinkle with the remaining walnuts.
- Bake for 50 minutes or until a toothpick is inserted and comes out clean.
- Let the bread cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes before removing and transferring to a cooling rack.
- Slice and serve the bread warm with your favorite spread. It will keep well for a few days wrapped in plastic wrap or in the freezer for a few months.
Toast the walnuts by placing them on a baking pan in the oven for 5-10 minutes or until fragrant. You can go ahead and put them in right when you start the oven, no need to wait until it is fully pre-heated!
