Thursday Treat 3: Banana Bread

Everyone in our house loves bananas, so they tend to disappear quickly.  Once in a while some happen to be forgotten or they're left out too long and start to go soft, so I use them for baking.  If I don't have all the ingredients on hand, the bananas can be sliced up, put into a container, and frozen for later use.

Banana Bread

To make this you will need:

Two medium sized mixing bowls and spoon
Manual sifter or sieve
Potato masher (trust me on this)
Electric mixer
Bread pan, greased

3 large ripe bananas, sliced
1/3 cup margarine (5 tbsp + 1 tsp)
2 large eggs
1-3/4 cup flour
2-1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup white sugar

Preheat oven to 350 F.
Sift the dry ingredients together into one bowl.
In the second bowl, mash the bananas until they form a lumpy paste.  Add the margarine and eggs, and mix well with a spoon.
Gradually stir in the dry ingredient mixture and mix well.
Beat the batter with the electric mixer on its lowest setting for about 30 seconds. This puts more air into it to facilitate rising.
Pour the batter into the greased bread pan, and let it sit for 10 minutes.
Bake at 350 F for 55 to 60 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
Allow to cool for 10 minutes before turning it out of the pan.

1/2 cup raisins, chocolate chips, or walnuts can be added to this recipe for extra taste.