Over at Julie's: Banana-Nut Bread with Crunchy Brown Sugar Topper

Ah, Banana-Nut Bread . . . probably in my top 5 picks as a favorite "grab-n-go" breakfast treat!

There's something so satisfying about sinking your teeth into a moist, thick, slice of banana nut bread slathered with sweet butter . . . Pass the ice cold milk please!

There a few sweet breads with nuts that get better with age as they mellow ~ pumpkin bread, zucchini bread and yes, banana nut bread! I like to cut my Banana-Nut Bread into nice, thick, slices, double-wrap it in plastic wrap, and then store it in the fridge.

Banana nut bread always tastes better if we give it a day or two to for all the ingredients to meld together. The trick is to just have a "taste" before refrigerating, which is sometimes easier said, than done!

This recipe has amazing extras . . . a brown sugar crunch on top, cinnamon, nutmeg and chopped pecans to round out the flavor!

Banana-Nut Bread . . . That's what I'm talkin' about!

Bananas first appeared in North America at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition of 1876, wrapped in foil ~ yours for a dime! I don't know of a household in North America that doesn't love bananas!

They are certainly a versatile fruit we simply can't do without! We love eating them right out of the peel, as a snack, in salads, on cereals, in muffins, cakes, breads, pies, puddings. cookies, dried, fried, mashed, sliced, and diced!

BANANA - NUT BREAD

adapted from ~ DOWN HOME COOKING THE NEW, HEALTHIER WAY

2 cups unbleached flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, freshly grated

4 large, very ripe bananas (2 lbs.)

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1/4 cup butter, at room temperature

2/3 cup cane sugar, scant

2/3 cup firmly packed brown cane sugar, scant

3 large eggs

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1/3 cup buttermilk (1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar, and enough milk to make 1/3 cup - stir)

2/3 cup chopped pecans, or nut of choice

Preheat oven 350F
Grease a 9-inch x 5-inch x 3- inch loaf pan, I use my narrower, longer bread pan.
In a medium sized bowl add flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
Whisk above ingredients together to remove any lumps and to evenly distribute ingredients.
In a medium size bowl, mash bananas with lemon juice, using a potato masher or a fork (you should have between 2-3 cups).
In a large bowl, with the electric mixer set on high, cream the butter.
Add white cane sugar, 1/3 of the brown sugar, and the eggs, one at a time, and vanilla beating until fluffy.
Using a wooden spoon or stiff spatula, blend in the mashed banana.
Stir in the flour mixture, alternately with the buttermilk just until the flour disappears; fold in the pecans.
Pour into the loaf pan; sprinkle with the remaining brown sugar.
Bake for 55 minutes to 1 hour or until the center is set.
Cool in the loaf pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes before running a blunt knife around to remove bread.
Makes 1 loaf.