Fall may not be here yet, but we are soaking up the fall-like temperatures here, in Missouri this week. We started school today (we home school in case you didn’t know) and the kids get to cook and bake as part of their schooling. It helps teach measurements, fractions, following instructions, reading recipes and it teaches them a very important life skill.  Today my oldest child chose to make banana walnut bread and I couldn’t agree more. We woke up to 58 degree temps this morning. It’s August!!

So, I thought I’d share with you one of our family’s favorite comfort foods…

Banana Walnut Bread

 As many of you know, our family strives to eat local, wild, and organic when we can. That being said, we harvest walnuts from the trees on our property, so there’s never a shortage of walnuts around our house and who can complain with all the health benefits walnuts have to offer?

Eating walnuts will help improve cardiovascular healthy, they are full of antioxidants (helping your body fight oxidation), they provide you with omega 3 fatty acids (essential fats, meaning they must come from your diet), they can help lower LDL cholesterol (that’s the bad stuff), they contain anti-inflammatory properties, and studies show eating just a small amount of walnuts each day can lower your risk of some types of cancers. Obviously, you can use store bought and you will get the same benefits.

We do NOT grow our own bananas…We live in Missouri!!!

So, here is what you will need:

*4 ripe bananas (Please do not be scared of the sugar in bananas. They have been given a bad name, but trust me, any fruit is better than no fruit and the vitamins, mineral, and antioxidants in fruit outweigh the sugar content).

* 3/4 cup of apple sauce (we use homemade from locally grown apples)

* 1 cup organic unbleached sugar

* 1 egg

* 1 tsp vanilla extract

* 1 tsp baking soda

* a pinch of salt

*1 1/2 cups of unbleached flour (any type of flour works. I like to experiment with all kinds, including gluten free, whole wheat and Einkorn).

The first step is to mash the bananas in a bowl. This should be really easy if they are very ripe.

Then stir in 3/4 cup of apple sauce. Mine is brown, because it is home made, but you can use store bought also. I recommend buying organic if you are using store bought.

Next, stir in the sugar, egg, vanilla, baking soda, and salt and mix it well. Then add the walnuts.

Add the 1 1/2 cups of flour last and mix well.

When all is mixed pour it into a baking loaf.

And bake at 350 for 1 hour or until a tooth pick comes out clean.

Let it cool before eating and ENJOY!

This is such a delicious bread and it goes great with breakfast! I’m not a fan of sugar, but as long as your diet doesn’t consist of a lot of it, it’s okay to treat yourself to a little slice of comfort food every once in a while.

I love to hear comments. How did your bread turn out? What is your favorite homemade bread?