by Isabelle Esteves

Created on: August 15, 2008   Last Updated: August 01, 2009

My motto is never waste a banana. When my bananas get black I peel them, put them in a zip lock bag and freeze them until I am ready to make some banana bread. I then thaw them and they are perfect. Here is one of my favorite recipe. It makes enough to eat and share.

5 cups of white flour

2 cups of sugar

7 teaspoons of baking powder

2 teaspoons of salt

6 tablespoons of vegetable oil

2 cups of 2 % milk

1/2 cup sour cream

2 eggs

2 cups of mashed bananas

1/2 chopped maraschino cherries

optional 2 cups of walnuts chopped roughly

Heat the over to 350. Grease and flour two loaf pans (I like stone).

Place all the ingredients except for the bananas, cherries and nuts into a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer until well blended. Make sure to stop every so often to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl. Add the bananas and blend. Fold in the cherries and the nuts.

Divide the batter between the two pans and place them in the center of the oven. Bake for 50-60 minutes. Use a tooth pick or knife to check if it is done. If it comes out clean, it is done. Place the pans on a rack to cool. Loosen the edges with a knife and remove from pan.

If you want to take it up a notch add 1 cup of chopped dates in place of the maraschino cherries. Another good substitution is 1 cup of mini chocolate chips again in place of the cherries. You can also melt 1/2 cup of chocolate chips and drizzle the loaf.

This recipe will make about 8 good size muffins if you prefer to have a small portable portion.

Serve the loaf sliced and spread with cream cheese or eat plain. This is a good moist bread that keeps for several days in the fridge. It also freezes well.

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