Banana bread with Irish Butter

Working from home?  The only thing better than cream cheese on banana bread is a thick slab of Kerry Gold Irish Butter… with a cup of coffee.

banana-bread-recipe-2This recipe is the one I tend to use… as a guideline.  It’s from an Amish community in Iowa where we have family friends, and this little local cookbook is full of treasures like Fudge Puddles, Rhubarb Cream Pie, and Cheddar Chowder Soup.  As usual, I sorta loosely measure – a pinch of this, a handful of that.  I usually use frozen bananas – sometimes 3 or four, and then I increase the dry bits to offset.  I toss them peeled into my KitchenAid and mash them up with oil first followed by the eggs and then vanilla. I sometimes save out part of the oil and substitute some chunks of butter.  Then sugar, salt, soda and sometimes a little hint of ginger and/or nutmeg and/or allspice. Flour goes last, and then into the pan.  Weather impacts batter, too, so the rule of thumb is to bake in “a medium oven until done” – And if I use mini loaf pans, I cut the time in half. Just keep an eye on the loafs, and test with a toothpick. Comes out clean = done.

What’s your go-to breakfast?  How do you make your banana bread? Any favorite local cookbooks you use?