Basic Banana Bread

I had some over-ripe bananas that I forgot to eat, so I made my favorite Banana Bread recipe.  This is straight out of the Betty Crocker Cookbook, but it's a reliable recipe and works every time.   I didn't have buttermilk on hand, so I combined lowfat milk with a little lemon juice and let it sit awhile.

Basic Banana Bread

from Betty Crocker's New Cookbook


Ingredients:
1&1/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup stick butter, softened
2 large eggs
1&1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas (3-4 medium)
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla
2&1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped walnuts, if desired

Directions:
Mix sugar and butter in a large bowl.  Stir in eggs until well blended.  Add bananas, buttermilk, and vanilla, and beat until smooth.  Stir in the flour, baking soda, and salt until just blended.  Stir in the nuts.  Pour into two greased 8" loaf pans or one 9" loaf pan.

With oven rack in low position at 350º, bake 8" loaves 1 hour, or bake 9" loaf 1 hour, 15 minutes until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool 5 minutes and remove from pan(s).  Cool completely before slicing.  Wrap tightly and store at room temperature up to 4 days, or refrigerate up to 10 days.