The smell of baking bananas filled the air...my housemates sniffed it appreciatively while I took the banana bread out of the oven to test it for doneness. I stuck in the knife, only to have it come out dirty again. What was going on? Why was my banana bread taking so ridiculously long to bake? The recipe I was using said 20 minutes, and it had been 25!

But wait! There's the problem! The recipe I was using was for Banana Nut Muffins...and of course muffins don't take as long to bake as a loaf of bread. Originally I had planned on making muffins, but then I'd discovered that I didn't have a muffin tin and my plans changed. Accordingly, so did the oven time. I stuck the bread back in the oven to bake for another half hour.

I have never been a big fan of banana bread, but I can vaguely remember having eaten it once and liked it. This has always me think that somewhere, someone has a recipe for banana bread that I actually do like. Even so, I have never before felt any inclination to make banana bread myself. However, today I was in possession of three overripe bananas that need to be used up.  I eat lunch from time to time in the Dining Halls on campus, which have a policy that you can take one piece of fruit out with you when you leave, and over the course of the week I built up a little stockpile of bananas. Given this, and the fact that a lot of people out there love banana bread, it seemed only appropriate that I should put the bananas into something banana bread-esque.

 I adapted a recipe from My Favorite Kitchen <pontchfood.blogspot.com/2009/06/banana-nut-muffins.html> by changing the amounts of several ingredients and adding a crumb topping to my bread. I also baked it in loaf form instead of in muffin form. My modified recipe is as follows:

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1+1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup melted butter
3 mashed banana
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs

Crumb topping:
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tbsp cold butter

Mash the bananas. Mash 'em good.



Add the vanilla, melted butter, and eggs and mix well. In a separate large bowl, combine the flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, and walnuts. Fold the banana mixture into the flour mixture and stir to incorporate.




Pour the batter into a greased bread pan. Now, make the crumb topping. Mix the flour and the sugar, and cut in the butter. Use your hands to break down the butter and combine it with the flour and sugar. Sprinkle generously over the top of the bread batter.



Bake at 375 degrees for about an hour, until a knife inserted in the middle of the loaf comes out clean.