Moist Banana Bread

Banana Bread is the simplest of quick breads to bake but it can go quite wrong. . .too many bananas or not enough bananas. . .and well this is just one recipe of many good recipes.

Banana Bread

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Line a large 9 X 5 loaf pan with parchment paper. . leaving the ends without is fine. I just find that this helps in baking the loaf evenly. . .not too brown a crust. Give it a spray of Pam.

• 1 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 cup of oatmeal .. .I used porridge oats that had bran and flax added
• 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Mix together these ingredients and set aside

• 1/2 cup butter
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs lightly beaten
• 2 cups of mashed very ripe bananas .. .I used 5 medium
• 1 cup of finely chopped walnuts .. optional
• 1/2 cup of fine coconut. . . optional
• the nuts and coconut just add a bit of crunch. . .if you like crunch

Cream together the soft butter and brown sugar .. you can use a wooden spoon or a mixer for this.

Add the beaten eggs and the bananas.

Slowly stir in the dry ingredients and the optional nuts and coconut.

Turn the batter into the loaf pan and Bake for 60 minutes. Poke a toothpick in the cracked top and it should come out quite clean. My toothpick still had a wee bit of dampness on it but I declared it done and once sliced .. . it was.

Let it cool completely and then wrap it well in "cling film" .. I like to say that once in a while like they do on TV .. . and in English novels. Pop it in the refrigerator. .

I love banana bread sliced cold from the refrigerator with a bit of cold butter. . .