Classic Banana Nut Bread

I first learned to make this bread when I have to throw away overripe bananas. My daughter clamored for this treat so often that we frequently pick extra bananas from the grocery aisle and let them get overripe. You think it’s funny, but it’s amazing that how you can turn the mushy bananas in to flavorful bread without much effort.

All Purpose flour – 2 cups

Sugar – 1 cup

Baking powder – 2 tsp

Baking soda – ½ tsp

Eggs – 2 large

Bananas – 3 mashed

Vanilla essence – 2 drops

Oil – ¼ cup

Water – ½ cup

Walnuts/Pecans – 1 small packet

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9- by 5-inch loaf pan and line bottom of pan with wax paper or parchment paper. Whisk together flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, and baking soda in a bowl. In another bowl, whisk eggs, add mashed banana, oil and water to it. Add the vanilla essence to it. Now pour this wet mixture in to the dry flour mixture and fold it until everything gets mixed well. It will look like a cake batter. If it’s very thick, add a little bit more water. Pour the batter into loaf pan. Make sure it reaches only about half of the pan. Bake it for 5 minutes, sprinkle the nuts on top of it and bake it for another 35 minutes  until a wooden pick or skewer inserted in center of bread comes out clean. Cool bread in pan on a rack 20 minutes. Invert bread onto rack. Remove paper and turn bread right side up on rack to cool completely.

For kids, you can add  a handful of chocolate chips to the batter.

The secret ingredient is Cereal. Adding half cup of post select banana nut cereal will make the bread extra crunchy and flavorful. You can use any cereals.