Recipe of the Month: Banana Bread

At the Catherine Ward House, we make every effort to switch between sweet and savory breakfast dishes every morning. Our blog (and past guest newsletters) will follow suit as we share recipes that we have tested in our kitchen over the past seven years. Last month, we shared our recipe for a Rolled Omelet. This month we share with you a recipe for some great Walnut Chocolate Chip Banana Bread. This recipe is from SmittenKitchen.com – a great cooking blog by the way – with a few minor alterations to suit our taste. This bread is great warm and cold.

Follow the jump for the recipe.

Walnut Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

Prep Time: 15-20 Minutes

Cook Time: 45-50 Minutes

Makes 1 big loaf or 2 mini loafs.

Ingredients:

• 3 to 4 ripe bananas, smashed
• 1/3 cup melted salted butter
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 tablespoon bourbon – I’ve used both Jack Daniels and Jameson, both are good
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• Pinch of salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• Pinch of ground cloves
• 1 1/2 cup of flour
• 1/2 to 1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips – I’ve always eyeballed this (closer to a 1/2 cup than a cup)
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F ( 176 degrees C ).
2. Butter loaf pans (1 – 4×8″ pan or 2 mini pans). Set aside.
3. With a wooden spoon, mix butter into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl.
4. Mix in the sugar, egg, vanilla and bourbon, then the spices. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in. Add the flour last, mix.
5. Once everything is combined, add the chocolate chips and walnuts. Again, this is an eyeballed measurement.
6. Pour mixture into loaf pan.
7. Bake for 50 minutes to one hour, or until a tester comes out clean.
8. Cool on a rack. Remove from pan and slice to serve.