Banana Bread

To start a new chapter in Kristie's Kitchen, I've been using some recipes out of cook books that I got when Nick and I got married.  One in particular, "Bride and Groom Cookbook, from Williams Sonoma" we've had sitting on our island for 2 months and when I have time to cook a well thought out dinner, Nick or myself pick a recipe and we give it a go!

This first one is for Banana Bread.  Now, I LOVE to bring baked goods to work and someone told me this was "the best Freaking Banana Bread I've ever had in my life."


What You'll Need: 

• 1 3/4 Cups Flour
• 2 1/4 TSP Baking Powder
• 3/4 TSP Salt
• 1/3 Cup Butter, @ Room Temperature
• 2/3 Cup Sugar
• 1 TSP Lemon Zest
• 2 Large Eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 1/4 Cup Mashed Ripe Banana (about 2 bananas)

Optional: 
1/2 Cups Chopped Walnuts
1/2 Cups Dried Cranberries
*You can also use pecans, dates, or other nuts / dried fruit. Chocolate Chips are also a nice sweet option!

Preheat the Oven to 350, Grease an 8 1/2 by 4 1/2 Loaf Pan with Butter
Sift the Flour, baking powder and salt together into a medium bowl and set aside.
In a large bowl, use a wooden spoon to beat the butter with the sugar and lemon zest, until soft and creamy.
Add 1/3 of the Flour Mixture, stir until fully incorporated.  Repeat until you've added all of the flour.
Mix in the Eggs and Banana until well blended.
Gently fold in the nuts / fruit.

Pour the batter into the loaf pan and bake for about 1 hour- or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Serve warm with butter, or at room temperature... nick loves his nice and warm right out of the oven!

I love this because it doesn't have a lot of sugar in it.  Its fluffy and delicious!

ENJOY!