Comfort foods

I began making banana bread a few years ago. I simply followed the recipe in my cookbook and it came out beautiful and yummy! Nowadays, I typically bake off 2 loaves and take one of them into work to share with my office mates. I don't like bananas anywhere NEAR the green stage, so I usually leave them til they are truly ripe and if I eat one everyday, there is always 1 that turns too black for my taste. But 1 banana is not enough to make bread, hence my dilemma. I never knew how to handle the fact that I never had enough bananas to make the recipe all at once (besides buying bananas and letting them all over ripen) until I read that older bananas can go in the freezer until you are ready to make the bread. Now each time I get to the end of the bunch, if one is too far gone, I toss it on a shelf in the freezer and once I get enough, I make banana nut bread. Voila - problem solved!

While cleaning the fridge the other day, I noticed 5 black bananas in my freezer. Two of them were starting to wrinkle as the freezer was sucking the moisture out of them, but they'd been in there at least 6 months so I wasn't surprised. But their flavor is perfect for making banana bread and it had been a LONG time since my last loaf, so I knew it was the right time for baking. I took the bananas out, removed the peels and then cut them so they thaw quickly. Even frozen through, they are easy to cut up with a regular butter knife. Once thawed, I make the recipe as usual. If it were up to me, I'd have plain bread, but the boys in my house like walnuts added, so I include the walnuts for them. I popped the bread in right as we sat down to eat my homemade minestrone soup (YUM!) and as we ate dinner, I reminded of how delicious banana bread smells when it's baking in the oven. After it finished baking, and cooling, I made some mint tea which is a perfect combo for this comforting banana nut bread. Enjoy!

Banana Nut Bread

1 cup sugar
1/3 cup margarine or butter, softened
2 eggs
1 1/2 cup mashed ripe bananas (3 to 4 medium) Note: I like banana-y bread so I use 4 each time
1/3 cup water
1 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

* Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease bottom only of one large loaf pan or three small mini-loaf pans.
* Cream sugar and softened butter in mixing bowl. Add eggs and beat on low until blended. Stir in bananas and water.
* In another bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt and baking powder. Stir in remaining ingredients just until blended. Do not over-beat. Fold in nuts.
* Pour batter into pan, and bake large loaf 55-70 minutes, smaller loaves 45 to 60 minutes. Bread is done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
* Cool in pan for five minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely before wrapping.


What is your favorite, easy to make, after dinner comfort dessert?