Banana Nut Bread

My aunt's church is having a craft sale and I'm bringing some baked goods to it.  One of the things I wanted to bring was banana nut bread.  Everyone loves it so I decided it would be a safe bet.  I used a recipe from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook and made a couple of changes to suit my tastes.

Banana Nut Bread:
(adapted from Martha Stewart)

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
2 cups sugar
1 1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas (about 3)
1 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup buttermilk

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Spray 3 bread pans with cooking spray; set aside.  In a large bowl mix together the flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer beat the eggs, sugar, and vegetable oil on medium-low speed until combined.  Beat in the flour mixture.  Add the vanilla, banana, nuts, and buttermilk.  Beat until just combined.

Divide the batter evenly between prepared pans.  Bake for 60-65 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.  Transfer to a wire rack and cool for 10 minutes.

Banana Bread French Toast

I've been making banana bread like it's going out of style.  One of my favorite ways to eat it (or any sweet, quick bread) is to make french toast.  It's easy and tastes awesome.

I used banana bread because I had it, but this would also be awesome with pumpkin bread, cranberry nut bread, or anything else you have around.  Also, if you like more cinnamon or nutmeg, then add more spices.

Banana Bread French Toast:

Banana bread, sliced.  This is rich so I would say 2-3 slices per person is fine.
3 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1/3 cup cream or half and half
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Mix everything, except the bread together in a bowl, making sure that everything has combined well.

Heat a skillet over medium heat.  Melt 1 tablespoon of butter.

While the pan is heating, take the slices of bread and place in the mixture.  Let soak for a minute or so and turn so the other side can soak as well.

Place each slice of bread in the hot skillet and cook for a minute or two on each side, until nice and golden brown.  I ate mine with butter pecan syrup, which was amazing but anything you have at home will work.

Banana Pudding

I'm from the South.  Banana Pudding is a big thing.  It's one of the dishes that I remember making with my Grandma.  She would leave my sister and I in charge of laying out the vanilla wafers.  To this day it's one of my favorite desserts, there have been days that I just got banana pudding for lunch.

Grandma's Banana Pudding:

Ingredients:
3 cups cold milk
1 container of cool-whip
2 pkg. (4-serving size each) vanilla instant pudding
1 box vanilla wafers
3-4 medium bananas, sliced

Preparation:

Pour milk into large bowl. Add dry pudding mixes. Beat with wire whisk until well blended. Let it sit for 5 minutes.  Fold in the container of cool-whip.

Layer the bottom and sides of your serving bowl with the wafers and top with layers of banana slices and pudding. Repeat until your serving bowl is full.

Refrigerate for 3 hours.

I don't usually add cool-whip to banana pudding but I was trying to stretch this recipe a little bit.  I had NO leftovers!!  I love banana pudding so much, plus it's an easy thing to make and it can be done the day before.