Banana Nut Bread – Grandma Jones

My Grandma Jones made moist soft banana nut bread.  It’s the best I have ever tasted. Her secret ingredient was butter milk. It adds a little bit of acidity so the baking soda reacts and the bread raises well.   

The perfect banana for banana bread is when the banana has black speckles all over and the peel has turned soft and crepe-y.

1/2 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups unbleached flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup mashed ripe banana (two bananas)
1/2 cup walnuts
1/2 tablespoon butter milk

1. Start by setting out the butter and eggs. Bringing them up to room temperature will make the batter better. Let them sit for at least an hour at room temperature. If you are in a hurry, microwave the butter for 10 seconds and stir it to distribute the heat. Try not to liquefy the butter. And in the end cold eggs, won’t make bad bread.
2. In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and sugar.  Add the egg, vanilla and butter milk and mix it until smooth. If you don’t have butter milk on hand add a couple drops of lemon juice or vinegar to milk.
3. In a large bowl mix together all the dry ingredients.
4. Add the dry mixture and the banana to the butter mixture. Add a little at a time and mix after each addition. Stir in the nuts. Ideally you will mix just until all the ingredients are moist. Over mixing will react all the baking powder and soda. This makes the texture of the bread dense and heavy. So less work equals better bread. That’s the way it should be.
5. Pour the batter into a greased loaf pan (9x5x3″). Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until a sharp knife poked in, comes out clean.
6. Remove the bread from the pan immediately to avoid soggy crust. Let the bread cool on a rack for at least five minutes before cutting. When cool, cover and store.

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