For the past month I have been craving bananas – like A LOT! It has become my morning breakfast and afternoon snack. I put them on my cereal, ice cream even smothered them with sweeten condense milk as a late night snack.

Don’t you judge now….

But, before we go any further with my love affair with the banana

Lets get one thing out of the way…

Nope, I’m not prego.

But, I have been under its spell for a while now.

What is not to love about them? They taste good, they are easy to grab and go and they are good for you.

When you compare it to an apple, it has four times the protein, twice the carbohydrate, three times the phosphorus, five times the vitamin A and iron, and twice the other vitamins and minerals. It is also rich in potassium and is one of the best value foods around.

If you have been a fan of the blog for a while, you may be scratching your head, since you know how much I dislike desserts made with fruit.

I’m not a fan. Thus the main reasons I have never been a fan of pies, fruit tarts or basically anything that has or contains fruit.

But like anything in life – we have loopholes that we can use to wiggle our ways out of predicaments like these.

Rules are there, to be broken…. right?

I mean if not, then I may not be able to tell you why I hate liver, but love pate. Or that I will eat olives or raisins ONLY if they have been incorporate into a stew or dish – but would not touch those suckers in their pristine state with a ten-foot pole.

I know, I know…Madness. But the stomach wants what it wants.

But the banana? Well the banana has bought itself a free pass. Because it’s the only fruit that I like in anything – muffins, cakes, shakes, fritters, pancakes and bread – specifically banana bread. And when you combine them with fresh lime zest and juice and add walnuts to the whole thing – well, I’m over the moon.

So in order to continue my cravings these past weeks, I had to hit the kitchen and bake me some banana bread.

This recipe is so simple, I’m surprise I don’t make it more often. I mean you can follow the steps to make it, but I’m not going to lie, when I’m press for time, I basically dump everything in the bowl, mix and bake - and it has worked. At the end, you are rewarded with a moist, banana-ny bread with toasted walnuts on top and a hint of lime inside.

Simply, delish.

BANANA BREAD

makes 1 loaf bread

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup mashed bananas (3 medium sized bananas)
4 tablespoons buttermilk
½ tablespoon of grated lime
½ tablespoon of lime juice
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
⅛ teaspoon baking soda
1 cup of walnuts - ½ for the inside (roughly chopped) and ½ for the to

Grease and flour 1 large loaf pan (9 1/4 X 5 1/4-inch) or whatever combination of pans you’d like. Pre-heat your oven to 350 °F.

Prep the ingredients – In a bowl, mix together all the dry ingredients, flour, baking soda, salt and baking powder – put aside

In another bowl, mash the bananas and add the vanilla extract, the lime juice, lime zest and buttermilk – mix and put aside

In the bowl of a stand mixer (or using a hand held mixer), cream butter and sugar together. Add eggs and mix until incorporate with the sugar/butter. Then add the wet ingredients mixture, blend well until all is incorporate. Stop the mixer and add the dry ingredients, mix until you no longer see any flour in the batter.

Last step - Add ½ cup of the chopped walnuts and with a spatula, mix into the batter.

Pour batter into greased and floured pan and bake for 50-55 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Remove from oven and let bread cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Loosen the bread with a knife and carefully remove from pan. Finish cooling on rack. Slice and serve once cooled.

The bread can be wrapped in foil and keep on the counter for 2-3 days (not that it will last that long). It can also be frozen.