Banana Pecan Bread

Happy New Year!

I hope this greeting finds you well as we enter into the year 2012. This is a time to make resolutions and to start or try something new in our lives. Sometimes our resolutions don't go as planned, but I look at it not as a failure, I look at it as an opportunity to experience something new and see if it's going to work for me. After all there are just somethings I don't want to or just can't get into because either I don't like it or it's just not my style after all. So don't be afraid to try something new this year if it doesn't work Oh well, you tried and maybe it's just not the year for you to do this new adventure.

Today I thought I would try something new right away this morning. I decided to make Banana Pecan Bread. What better thing to eat on a cold snowy day than a warm slice of Banana Bread? Besides I had these really ripe bananas staring me in the face and I just hate to throw them away. So I opted to make some bread with them.

Now this recipe I found in my October issue of Taste of Home. I know, I know! What was I doing looking at a magazine from October when it's the first of January? Well I had marked this page quite awhile ago and I'm just now getting in the kitchen to make it. I did, however, add one little ingredient to the recipe in hopes of making it a little moister.

This Banana Bread has pecans in it and they absolutely give the bread a magnificent wonderful taste. My little extra ingredient that I added was a 1/4 cup of sour cream. I did this for two reasons. One I thought it would make it a little bit moister. Two I needed to use up some sour cream in my fridge. I think adding the sour cream helped, so if you want go ahead and add some.

One other suggestion I would add to making this bread is to tent foil over the top if it is getting too brown on top. I baked it for 50 minutes and then checked it. It looked like it was getting too brown so I put foil over the top so it wouldn't burn.

I hope you enjoy it!

Banana Pecan Bread
1/2 C butter, softened
1 C packed brown sugar
2 eggs
3 medium ripe bananas, mashed
1/4 C sour cream (my addition)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1/2 C chopped pecans

Directions
1. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in bananas. Add sour cream. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; add to creamed mixture. Fold in pecans.
2. Transfer batter to a greased 9-in x 5-in loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing loaf from pan to a wire rack.

Source: Adapted from the Taste of Home