Fall is in the Air

The summer heat in North Carolina zaps any desire to be in the kitchen ... for me and most everyone I know. Cool mornings around this time of year return my love for cooking. Soon apples will abound in crisps, pies and homemade sauce, then pumpkin treats will follow. Today, all I had were bananas. Over-ripe bananas put in the freezer for just such a day begged to be baked. Okay, it wasn't that dramatic, but I did bake them into my favorite banana bread.

We're enjoying our first home-baked treat in months. Here's the recipe, in case a fresh loaf of banana bread strikes your fancy, too.

Printable Recipe

Amy's Banana Bread
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 stick butter, softened
2 large eggs
3 ripe bananas
2 cups self-rising flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/3 cup buttermilk

Grease and flour bread pan. Preheat oven to 350.
Cream sugars and butter. Whisk in eggs and bananas.
Stir in flour, cinnamon and buttermilk until just combined.
Pour into bread pan and bake 60-70 minutes until toothpick in center comes out clean.
Cool in pan 5-10 minutes. Remove from pan and finish cooling on a wire rack.

Optional Add-ins: 1/3 cup chopped nut meats or 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips