Banana Bread

I love the smell of freshly baked bread. When we walk in to a coffee shop that bakes its own bread, the smell is heavenly. 

While reading historical novels, the description such as "the smell of freshly baked bread wafting through the air", always left a deep desire in me to learn how to bake bread. I haven't come around learning how to bake a proper bread. But I hope to achieve it one day. As of now, the only bread that I bake is Banana Bread. 

Banana bread is more of a cake than a bread. It can be eaten with jam or on its own. Once made, I  don't even know how it disappears. Most of the time, we are reluctant to eat bananas that has got black spots on it. Well the best part it that this recipe uses ripe bananas. So you really don't have to throw out any bananas. The rest of the ingredients are easy to find in your pantry.

Ingredients:

1. Bananas- 3 (ripe ones)
2. Egg- 1
3. Sugar- 3/4 cup
4. Melted Butter- 1/3 of a cup
5. Baking soda- 1 Tsp
6. Vanilla extract- 1 Tsp
7. A pinch of salt
8. All purpose flour- 1 and 1/2 cups (sifted)
9. Walnuts- 1/2 cup chopped (optional)

Method:

• Mash the bananas in a big bowl using a potato masher or a wooden spoon.
• To this add the egg and sugar. Mix well till the sugar is completely dissolved.
• Once the sugar is dissolved, add the melted butter, baking soda and vanilla extract along with a pinch of salt and mix well
• Mix the flour to the above mixture till the flour is well incorporated
• In another bowl, add the chopped walnuts and sprinkle 1 Tbsp of flour on it and mix well. This will prevent the nuts from getting settled to the bottom when baking
• Add the walnuts to the bread batter and mix gently. This step is optional.
• Preheat the oven at 175 degree celcius
• Take a loaf tin (I used a 30 cm loaf tin. You can use a smaller one). Apply a thin layer of butter inside it. This will help to remove the bread easily
• Pour the mixture into the loaf tin and bake it for 45 minutes or till a tooth pick inserted in the center comes out clean. The cooking time is dependent on the size of your pan and your oven. 
• Once done, allow it to cool for sometime. Slice and serve