Banana Bread

Usually, when I have extra bananas, I turn them into Banana Shakes.  However, it being cold outside, I opted for Banana Bread.  My recipe calls for buttermilk, so I usually need to make a trip to the store for that and another batch of bananas–with high hopes that these ones won’t last until they are brown and spotty. 

(This recipe is for high-altitude (4,000-6,500 ft) cooking, for lower altitudes please decrease flour to 2 1/2 cups.)Banana Bread
Pre-heat oven to 350′ F

1 1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 eggs
1 1/2 cup mashed banana (3-4 medium bananas)
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla

2 3/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
(optional: 1 cup chopped nuts)

Mix sugar, butter, eggs, banana, milk and vanilla with electric mixer until smooth.  Add flour, soda & salt, mix again.  (If you are adding nuts, mix them in as well.)  Dump batter into a greased bread pan and bake for 55-60 minutes, until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Cool on rack for 20 minutes, then remove loaf from bread-pan and cool additional hour.  Keep wrapped in plastic.