Going Bananas for the Bread

I had a request today! I'm heading over to a bbq reunion tomorrow with my leadership class, and we're all assigned to bring either a dessert or an app. My friend asked me to bring my infamously fabulous banana bread. I was of course flattered, but also a little embarrassed. It's so easy to make!

The only trick is to have some super-ripe bananas on hand. At a minimum the bananas should have dark speckles on the skin. For sugar content, for consistency, and for other reasons too I bet. For this reason, banana bread is something that demands to be made, rather than being able to seek it out. One rather gross but completely effective alternative is to freeze your bananas as you go. Before they rot, stick them in the freezer, and let them defrost before you begin this recipe. I've saved them for up to two months and they are totally fine. Be prepared though- the skins turn black in the freezer and look disgusting.

• 3 really ripe bananas


• 1/4 cup nonfat sour cream


• 2 eggs


• 6 tablespoons butter


• 1 tsp vanilla

(Mash the bananas well, and add the rest of the ingredients above in a large bowl)

• 2 cups flour


• 3/4 cup sugar


• 3/4 tsp baking soda


• 1/2 tsp salt


• 1 cup chopped walnuts

Without stirring, put all these ingredients in the bowl- on top of the wet mixture. Give a superficial stir to the dry ingredients to make sure the soda and salt are mixed into the other dry ingredients. After this is done, then softly mix the entire bowl (Yes! ONE bowl to clean!!). If this, or any, dough is mixed too long, it will become very dense and chewy (like pizza dough, which is thrown around the room before it is baked). We don't want that here. So mix it only until you have to!

Pour this mixture into a greased loaf pan and pop it in the oven for probably 55 minutes on 350. Baking requires a much more evenly heated oven than cooking, so I suggest turning the pan every 20 minutes or so. The toothpick test (or a clean knife) can be used to see if this is done- if it comes out looking pretty clean, you're done. Isn't it embarrassingly simple???