The Supermom Chef

Banana Nut Bread is one of those foods that was quite often found in my home, but I always hated the stuff. I don’t even really remember why. I remember it being dry, overwhelmingly banana flavored, and just in general not very good. Now this comment is not meant to offend my mom, because she was a great cook…but she just hadn’t found the right recipe yet! A couple of years ago someone gave her this recipe, and due to my distaste for banana nut bread I refused to taste it. Here at home the other day, though, I had some bananas that we hadn’t even touched yet that were going bad. I am very frugal and just couldn’t stand the thought of not even eating a single banana out of the pack I bought so I knew I had to make something. My hubby likes banana bread, so I figured I’d give my mom’s new recipe a shot for him.

Let me just say that while this banana bread was cooling it smelled so good (and even continued to fragrance my house for at least 12 hours after it was made) that even I couldn’t resist it! When I tasted it, I was blown away by the taste! It was not dry at all and it had just enough banana bread without being overwhelming. I couldn’t believe I’ve hated banana bread all my life! Needless to say, I’ll be making this yummy bread often in the future. It makes an easy breakfast for the kids. They like it so much that they call it banana cake. Truth be told, they may not be far off with that name given the amount of sugar in this recipe, but I’ll still consider it healthy for them. Heck, it beats them eating a toaster pastry anyday!

Cream Cheese Banana Nut Bread

1/4 cup butter, softened

2 cups sugar

3 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (about 4)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened

2 large eggs

1 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt; gradually add to butter mixture. Beat on low speed until blended. Stir in bananas, pecans, and vanilla. Spoon into two greased loaf pans. Bake for one hour, or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.