Banana Bread

Banana Bread

Ready in 1 ½ hours

Serves~ 6 people

I believe that recipes are guidelines, these can be switched and changed, I grew up with a very hard working mother, gone from morning to dark every day to support our family of 4. Yet she always had time to back for our school lunches. I miss those days, don't we all? The simplicity of being a child, where our only responsibility was to clean our rooms and put our laundry in the hamper. My fondest memories were of me and my mother, on sick days. She would wait until my two sisters were gone to school and me being the slow poke of her three girls, she would look at me and say, "You look sick." with a smile on her face. I remember the excitement, knowing what those words would bring. She would put on her vinyl, Loverboy, or Bob Segar, sometimes a bit of Red Rider, but most fondly I remember the Beatles, and crank the knob. Mouthwatering peanut butter cookies! My job was to press the fork into each one making tail criss cross markings. I remember the joy of opening my lunch box and seeing that shiny apple and those hand made cookies. It's a tradition I kept with my son. Who doesn't need a sick day here and there? Banana bread was rare in our house, we were on a budget and with three girls there were rarely any bananas left. But that thick warm bread with butter melting down our fingers still so fresh in my mind. It's a memory I hold so dearly. Now as I was saying above recipes are guidelines, change it up, add walnuts, or raisins, my partner loves chocolate chips in his. It's personal when we bake, these recipes are more than just recipes. They are words of love, personal gifts we give our children, family and friends. It's almost like magic, a pinch of this and a dollop of that, mix it up with a smile. Don't get me started on how it filled our homes with blissful smells that will stay with us for a lifetime. Food is for sharing, when you give someone food, it is saying I love you, and I want to give you something of myself.

This is a wonderful hearty banana bread, not your typical recipe, I like to add chocolate milk to my batter, it gives the crust a lovely crumbly texture. This creates a thicker batter,and a crunchy outside, and a soft and moist inside. If you like you can substitute almond or soya milk but it will change the texture of the loaf. I don't count calories because many people like to substitute ingredients, I also believe in moderation, and a walk after dinner!

Ingredients

1.2 cups of whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 egg

¼ cup milk or chocolate milk

3 medium ripe bananas

¼ cup of softened butter

1 cup packed golden brown sugar

Preparation

Place flour, salt and baking soda in a large bowl. Set aside.

Place your mashed bananas, egg, milk (or chocolate milk) butter and brown sugar in a bowl mix well.

Add your wet ingredients to your dry ingredient bowl mix well. The batter will be thick.

Pour into a greased bread loaf

Set into a preheated oven at 325 degrees. (This depends on your oven, and temperature, some ovens are low heat so you can go to 350. We know our ovens ladies and gents)

Bake for 1 hour.

Set on a rack to cool! However if you can’t wait I suggest a nice slab of butter on a generous slice. Enjoy!