Nana's Banana Bread

I have used the same banana bread recipe for close to forty years, and it was a great recipe. So right before Christmas I went looking for a better one. Makes perfect sense. After  googling and searching through all my recipe books I found a recipe in the Southern Living Cookbook that I decided to try. But, when I went to the fridge, I was missing a couple of ingredients. No problem, I just improvised and modified like any self-respecting country cook would do. And this is the new recipe I came up with:

Nana's Banana Bread

2 cups self rising flour

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup light brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup chopped pecans

1/2 cup butter, melted

3 very ripe bananas, mashed

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 (4 oz.) snack cup applesauce

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Grease two 9 x 5 inch loaf pans.
• In a large mixing bowl combine flour, sugar, brown sugar, and nuts
• In a second bowl lightly beat eggs. Add melted butter, bananas, applesauce and vanilla.
• Add banana mixture to dry ingredients, stirring only until moistened.
• Pour into prepared pans.
• Bake 45 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.
• Invert pans onto wire cooling racks. After 5 minutes, remove pans.
• Yield: 2 loaves.

Nothing warms up a cold day like a slice of warm from the oven bread and a cup of coffee. And, as an added bonus, the entire house SMELLS warm and inviting. When my daughter and the boys came the week after Christmas, I had warm banana bread waiting for them. Jesse was the first to try it, and with wide eyes he said "Nana, this is GOOD!". The other boys concurred. We think this recipe is much better than my old recipe. It is moist, but crusty. My husband says it is the best banana bread he has ever eaten.