Southern Living Banana Bread

Banana bread is another great quick bread that is simple and fast to make.  Both my mom and grandma made it frequently and it was always a favorite of mine.  Almost weekly my grandma would send me back to the dorms with a loaf to share with friends or to have for breakfast.  Such a great treat as a poor college kid! 

I go back and forth between a family recipe and a recipe from the Southern Living Cookbook.  Here is the Southern Living recipe that I am a huge fan of, I hope you love it as much as I do!

I realize there are tons of SL cookbooks so here is a picture of the one this recipe is from.

Banana-Nut Bread
Prep: 15 mins
Cook: 1 hr
Cool: 10 mins.

Ingredients:
2 cups self-rising flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup chopped pecans, toasted (I never toast mine)
1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
3 very ripe bananas, mashed (1-1/2 cups)
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup plain low-fat yogurt - Optional (I never include this and it is still very moist)
1 tsp vanilla extract

Grease and flour bottom of a 9"x5" loaf pan; set aside.
Combine first 4 ingredients in a large bowl; make a well in center of mixture.  In another bowl stir together melted butter, mashed banana, eggs, yogurt, if desired, and vanilla; add to dry ingredients and stir until moistened.  Pour batter into prepared pan.
Bake at 350* for 1 hour to 1 hour and 5 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool on pan on a wire rack 10 minutes; remove from pan and cool completely on wire rack.
Yield: 1 Loaf

For Muffins:
Spoon batter into lightly greased muffin pans, filling 3/4 full.  Bake at 350* for 19-21 minutes or until lightly browned.  Remove from pans immediately.  Let cool on wire racks.
Yield: 20 muffins