Recipes: Banana Nut Bread

During my childhood I spent a lot of time in Hurtsboro, Alabama. A tiny town south, somewhere between Auburn, Alabama and Columbus, Georgia. I've written about it once before, when my oldest baby cousin Lowrey was engaged.

Many of my memories are centered around food from my Auntie Ann's incredible kitchen, that was always filled with amazing cooks. My Aunt is an incredible cook, and her homestead was always assisted by it's own cook. The first was Ms. Bessie, Ms. Annie followed after Ms. Bessie retired, and she had big shoes to fill, but she did it well.

I learned how to cook okra, chicken, and other southern favorites by watching these women- even though I didn't know it at the time, it was simply their patience. One of their best staples in that kitchen was banana nut bread. The three of them made it better than any others. They used an old recipe from the kitchen of the mother of one of my Aunt's childhood friends, Fran. The secret to the recipe, other than a stick of butter? The most rotten bananas you can stand to produce. It's that simple. They should be as brown (black, really) and mushy as possible. If so, they are good to go as long as there is no mold on them.

The Girls at my wedding, L-R: Lowrey (oldest of Ann's girls), Auntie Ann (middle Hubbard), Abby (middle), SHB (baby Hubbard), me (SHB's only), Molly (baby), Auntie Madelyn (oldest of the Hubbard women), and Jennifer (oldest cousin)

Ingredients

1 stick soft butter

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

3 large very ripe bananas, mashed- hint more is better

2 cups non rising flour

1 tspn soda

1/4 tspn salt

1/2 cup nuts

Preparation

Cream butter and sugar

Add eggs

Add dry sifted ingredients and mashed bananas alternately

cook in greased/floured loaf pan at 300 degrees for 1 hour

I have one more hint on how to produce the gooey top, that I personally love. After the bread has cooled a little wrap it in plastic and the moisture will rise and produce a more moisture rich bread.