Banana Date Nut Bread

It has been a long hot summer with me with too much going on ending with a Hurricane.  I am looking forward to a cooler fall and winter.  Here in Florida we are just now starting to get cool fronts coming in to cool things down especially at night.  This now leaves me time to cook and write recipes.  To kick off the season with a recipe for a comfort dessert bread, banana date nut bread.

Great recipe for using up ripe bananas and to make ahead and freeze.  It will keep nicely in the freezer for about 6 weeks.  Moreover the bread is wonderful for fall weather and gift giving.  Baking it fills the house with a wonderful aroma that says comfort and warmth, something we all crave in the fall.  What makes this special from other banana bread is the dates and walnuts.

This recipe make 2 standard loaves.  It is easy and quick to make.  One of the things I keep on hand is powered buttermilk because it is convenient way to have buttermilk on hand for occasional use in cooking.

• Servings: 10 servings
• Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
• Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients:

• 4 ripe bananas (mashed)
• 1/2  cup margarine or butter (1 stick)
• 1 cup sugar
• 4 eggs
• 2 teaspoons banana extract
• 4 cups flour
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 cup chopped dates
• 1 cup chopped walnut

Directions

Preheat oven 350 degrees.  Prepare two standard loaf pans with vegetable spray.

In a large mixing with a electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until creamy.  Add eggs one at a time beating well after each one.  Add mashed banana and banana extract beat until smooth.  Sift flour, soda, baking powder and salt together.  Add half flour mixture and half of buttermilk to the banana batter.  Mix until blended and add the last half of flour with buttermilk.  Mix on medium speed until smooth.  Stir in chopped dates and walnuts. Pour the batter in each loaf pan dividing it equally.  Bake at 350 degrees for 1hr and 10 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.