My New Year’s Resolution Banana Bread with Laurel Blount

Mindy here, and I'm pleased to have my friend and fellow Love Inspired author, Laurel Blount, in the kitchen today. So without further ado, take it away, Laurel.

I’m a dyed-in-the-wool planner, so I love making New Year’s resolutions. Keeping ‘em? That’s a whole different story. Like all of you, I’m usually running in about six different directions, so I’m always looking for things to do that fit more than one of my goals.

This year (among other things) I’d like to:

• Feed my kids less store-bought, over-processed food
• Pinch some grocery pennies
• Save time
• Invest more in my most treasured relationships

This fabulously luscious banana bread ticks all these boxes. (Unfortunately, it doesn’t fit my “get some of these pesky pounds off” resolution, just so you know. But hey, nothing’s perfect!)

Like all of us who’ve enjoyed a few too many Christmas goodies, I’m buying more fruit these days. I’m always a sucker for discounted bananas—especially when they’re barely speckled and have just been dumped in the discount bag because they’re strays that have fallen off the bigger bunches.

Of course, before you know it, my lovely yellow bananas are looking more like this:

That’s when I pull out my trusty banana bread recipe. Originally published in a Taste of Home magazine as “Best Ever Banana Bread” I’ve tweaked it just a bit to make it work for me.

For this recipe you’re going to need: 

• 1 ¾ cups all purpose flour
• 1 ½ cups sugar
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 2 ripe bananas, mashed—should equal about a cup
• ½ cup vegetable oil (I use ¼ cup vegetable oil and ¼ cup applesauce. You can also substitute applesauce for all the oil. That changes the texture of the loaf a bit, but it’s still yummy!)
• ¼ cup plus 1 tbsp buttermilk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup chopped walnuts 

Stir together flour, sugar, salt and baking soda. In a separate bowl, mix eggs, bananas, oil, buttermilk and vanilla, then add it to the dry ingredients, stirring just until it’s combined.

Fold in the nuts and pour into a WELL-greased loaf pan. Bake at 325 for about an hour. (Baking time varies, so check it by poking the middle with a toothpick. When it comes out clean, it’s done.) I usually have to slip a knife around the edges of the pan to loosen it a bit before turning it out on a wire rack to cool.

These ingredients make one lonely loaf, and the original recipe warned that it “didn’t double well.” However, the first time I made it, I had a lot of sketchy bananas on hand, so I decided to live dangerously. It doubled just fine, and now I often triple or quadruple this recipe. This saves me tons of time. It also freezes beautifully, and I love that! I can easily thaw a loaf for an impromptu coffee chat with a friend, take one as a last-minute hostess gift, or just pull one out of the freezer to surprise my family with a favorite breakfast on a busy morning.

So, there you go! Home-baked goodness, family time (since I recruit my children to be banana mashers and walnut-choppers), penny pinching (no wasted bananas and fewer overpriced prepackaged breakfast foods), and a convenient way to comfort, bless and connect with my family and friends.

What about you? What’s on your agenda for 2020? Have any tried-and-true tips or recipes you’re willing to share? I’d love to hear!

Mindy again, with a sudden craving for banana bread. Be sure to check out Laurel's latest release, A Rancher to Trust. I'm finishing up this book right now and I'm going to be sad to see it end. Definitely a page-turner, and one you need to check out.

Searching for forgiveness…and a future.

Suddenly a husband…and a father?This bachelor is ready to claim his instant family.

After learning his ex-wife isn’t so ex after all, rebel turned rancher Dan Whitlock is determined to prove he’s a changed man…but Bailey Quinn is just as set on finally ending their marriage. When tragedy makes Dan the guardian of little orphaned twins, he and Bailey are drawn back together. But can she forgive the past and open her heart to the family she’s always wanted?

Get your copy here!

Laurel Blount lives on a small farm in middle Georgia with her husband, their four children, and an assortment of very spoiled animals. She divides her time between farm chores, homeschooling, and writing. She's busy, but she's never bored!

Laurel writes inspirational contemporary romance, and A Rancher to Trust is her fourth title for Harlequin’s Love Inspired. Whenever she's not working, you can find Laurel with a cup of tea at her elbow, a cat in her lap, and a good book in her hand. Stay in touch by subscribing to her monthly newsletter, full of news, down-home recipes and fun giveaways!