Banana Fanna Fo Fanna

I love, love, love to bake. Mostly, of course, I love eating baked goods. But since I at least attempt to maintain a healthy lifestyle (back on WW as of this AM - time for a pre-holiday body boost!), I very often bake to feed others. Yes, I am that person. Mwah haha. Coming to my house? Prepare to be fed! Too bad this often backfires, though, since the S.O. isn't a sweets-guy, so unless I bring it to work, that leaves those brownies or cake for ME to eat, instead. Oh my.

Ok, new plan. Bake for events, and just for events. Most recently, it was a stadium cake for the football game. Huge success. I used that pumpkin praline recipe and put it in the stadium cake mold, added the flavored frosting around the base and to the "field," and topped it off with some M&M "football players." I only wish I had remembered to catch a photo of that cuteness. I was able to feed others and have a few bites of sweetness myself, too.

This past weekend, I realized I had four extra-ripe bananas on hand. How that happened, since I have been known to eat two or three bananas a day, I have no idea, but there they were, and I didn't want to waste them. My baking bug started to itch ... Banana bread! Yes! And even better, I had an "event" I could "bake it for" (read: still have a few pieces myself, too) - Book Club was meeting at my house this week. Done and done.

Alas, I immediately realized that I only had one egg on hand. Who has only one egg left?! To top that off, I had no milk and only half a stick of butter. Goodness, what a baking fail. But I wasn't deterred. I Googled, found a recipe to start with, amended it and voila, this banana bread was AWESOME. It may not be my momma's banana bread recipe, but it was really delicious and pulled together in a cinch even under tight ingredient restrictions, and so for that, I found it especially fab.

My tip: enjoy with a glass of milk under a blanket on a chilly Fall night :)

Image Source

Banana Bread

Amended from About.com's One Egg Banana Bread

4 large bananas, mashed well with a fork
1 egg
1/2 stick of butter, melted
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 1/2 cup of flour
1/2 cup of sugar
1/2 cup of brown sugar
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of baking soda
2 teaspoons of cinnamon. divided
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 cup walnut pieces

Mix all ingredients in a mixing bowl, reserving one teaspoon of cinnamon; put into a well greased loaf pan. Sprinkle remaining cinnamon on top. Bake at 350° for about 70 minutes, or until a knife inserted in middle comes out clean. Cool in pan on rack for 10 minutes before removing to cool completely.