In celebration of the cooler weather we are having, I was eager to get back into the kitchen (because I wanted to not because I had too). As I was trying to decide what I was going to bake I couldn’t help but notice the poor VERY ripe bananas, the kind of ripe that would only last another day or two. So I pulled out my BIG book of printed off recipes and looked at the ones that I have saved on my laptop. I was leaning towards banana bread, but remembered how I was slightly disappointed the last time I made it. It was just missing something.
Not being able to decide on one particular recipe, I decided to take the plunge and attempt to create my own. On a scratch piece of paper I started jotting down what I wanted and how much. Needless to say I was unsure going into this and was pretty sure I would be making a trip to the trash can.
After combining most of the ingredients I almost forgot the most important one…my friend Jack. How can I invite this yummy bread to my little celebration and not offer it a shot or two…you know one for me, one for you, one for me, one for you.. you get the idea. So in the oven it went (I think) and I crossed every part of me that I could, in hopes that I wouldn’t open the door to a banana monster. The timer went off, I slowly opened the door and was beyond excited. I had actually created something that didn’t cook over, wasn’t flat as a pancake and actually was moist and tasted pretty darn good. Now in the past I was never a big ‘nut’ fan when it came to banana bread, so I decided to make some with the nut topping and some without. I have to secretly admit I LOVE the one with the nuts. The combinations of flavors were insanely delicious to me. So I hope that you have as much fun making this as I did. And remember if you don’t like the booze and/or nuts, just leave them out. Indulge!
For the Bread:
2 cups + 4 tbsp flour
½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1 ½ cups sugar
½ cups butter
½ cups vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla
3 eggs
5 ripe bananas mashed
4 tbsp buttermilk
2 tbsp sour cream
¼ cups Bourbon
For the Bourbon Walnut Topping:
¼ cup butter
2 tbsp water
¼ cup brown sugar
¼ cup bourbon
1 cup chopped walnuts (or any nut of your choice)
Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan (or 5-6 mini loafs in which I used).
Sift together dry ingredients and set aside. On medium speed, beat the sugar, butter and oil to combine. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each until combined. Add the mashed bananas, vanilla, buttermilk, sour cream and bourbon; beat to combine. Add the flour mixture and beat until incorporated.
Spread batter into the prepared pans. Bake until a thin knife inserted in the center comes out almost clean, about 60 minutes for the large loaf pan and 30-40 minutes for the mini pans.
To make the topping, combine butter, water and sugar in a sauce pan over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and add bourbon. Return to heat and simmer until it reaches a honey consistency. Remove from heat and add walnuts. Set aside and cover to keep warm.
Cool bread on a rack for 5 minutes. Using a skewer, poke holes all over the top of the loaf and then spoon the topping over it.
And for those who are not fans of nuts….just make the glaze without them.
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