Banana Bread

Name one person that has ever turned down a slice of banana bread. And kids, OMG they will have it for breakfast, lunch, dinner and in-between snacks, if you let them. It also can be turned into an easy and amazing dessert as well.

Place a slice of banana bread on a plate and shingle it with banana slices then drizzle caramel sauce over it and microwave it for a minute or until caramel sauce is warm/hot. Sprinkle with roasted, slivered almonds or your choice of nuts and garnish with whipped cream. If you are a pro, add a bright green mint sprig. You will be the hero of the day, because no matter how bad you chicken turned out or that you made tuna casserole again, all they will remember is that dessert! You are welcome.

Ingredients:

Pam vegetable spray and all purpose flour for dusting the pan

2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoon baking powder

2 whole eggs

1 stick butter

1 cup light brown sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 tablespoons hot water from tab

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1-1/2 cups mashed, overripe bananas

1/3 cup buttermilk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 300F.

Spray baking pan with Pam and coat with flour. Discard excess.

Combine flour, cinnamon, cloves, salt and baking powder and sift through a fine sieve to remove any clumps. Mix well and set aside.

Crack eggs into a cup or small bowl and whisk until well beaten and set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer combine butter and sugar and beat on medium speed until mixture is light and fluffy and the sugar has dissolved, about 5 minutes. Add beaten eggs and blend well.

Dissolve baking soda in hot water and add to mixture. Add vanilla and blend well.

Add mashed bananas and butter milk to mixture and blend well on moderate speed. At this point the mixture will look broken and soupy.

Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture or fold in by hand with a spatula. Scrap sides and bottom to ensure everything is well combined. Now it should look and feel like a soft dough with the consistency of molasses.

Pour batter into floured pan and set on middle rack in oven.

Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a wooden pick comes out clean. Start checking around 50 minutes into it as every oven is a little different.

Note: Bananas should be overripe and should have brown spots on them. If you like nuts, such as walnut or pecans, you can add a cup of coarsely toasted and chopped nuts to give it a little crunch and flavor pop.