There’s just something about banana bread, that takes you straight back to your childhood. And my Grandma Dale made some of the best I’ve ever had! After a morning of watching Bob Barker on the Price is Right, The Edge of Night (and umpteen more soaps), The Munsters and the Dialing for Dollars afternoon movie, she would head out to the kitchen and we knew we were in for a special treat! As soon as the smell of sweet bananas and pecans baking in the oven wafted through the house, we could hardly wait for it to be done. She was picky about letting her bananas get “just so” before using, too. We’d say, “Grandma, are the bananas ready yet?” And she’d say, “Nope, they aren’t black enough yet!” You really do have to let the skins turn almost completely black before using to lose that “chalky” taste and become very, very sweet. (*I used  bananas that were more ripe than in the photo, but I just didn’t think they would look very pretty in the pictures.) But she would’ve said to let them get a little blacker! And I would definitely agree!  

  Now, though I love regular banana bread, I make about 5 different kinds that are equally, if not better than, the original. This one is a “clean out the cupboard” recipe that truly has you using up those dabs that you otherwise end up tossing because they’ve gone bad or have staled. This is a nice recipe to make in the springtime to use up all those extras from the winter holidays.  As you can see, that’s the last of my pecans and my last can of pumpkin! Thank goodness! I think the main trick to good banana bread is not only to use very ripe bananas, but to make sure you bake it long enough without over-baking. Only grease the bottoms of the pans, and let them cool for a bit running a knife around the sides to loosen, and let them fully cool on cooling racks before wrapping tightly. 

  Do make sure you wrap them tightly with plastic wrap after cooled, and store in the refrigerator  or on the counter. I prefer to always store one loaf in the fridge and one in the freezer. And sometimes I give the second loaf away. If storing in the freezer, you’ll want to double-wrap them with plastic wrap first and then heavy-duty foil. Or you can wrap in plastic wrap and pop into a ziploc freezer bag, close bag almost all the way,  and use a straw to remove excess air. I honestly don’t know how long they keep in the freezer, because they never last that long in our house!  

Hope you and your family enjoy this as much as we do! And be sure to serve with real sweet cream butter! (Although it doesn’t even hardly need it it’s so moist and delicious!) Makes wonderful gifts, too!

Yield: 2 loaves

Clean out the Cupboard Pumpkin Banana Bread

DRY INGREDIENTS: 2 1/2 cups flour 1 tsp. baking powder 1 tsp. baking soda 1/2 tsp. salt 2 tsp. cinnamon 1/2 tsp. nutmeg 1/2 tsp. ginger 1/4 tsp. ground cloves 1/4 cup sweet angel flake coconut

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Ingredients

DRY INGREDIENTS:

• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp. ginger
• 1/4 tsp. ground cloves
• 1/4 cup sweet angel flake coconut

WET INGREDIENTS:

• 2 large very ripe bananas, (or 2 1/2 medium, or 3 very small)
• 1 (15 oz.) can Libby's 100% Pure Pumpkin, (not puree)
• 1/3 cup canola or vegetable oil
• 2 extra-large eggs, room temp. preferred
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar

REST OF INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 cup golden raisins
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet mini chocolate chips
• 1/3 cup finely chopped pecans

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease bottoms of two 4 1/2 - 8 1/2" bread pans. (*If your pans are a slightly different size, adjust time as needed.)

In large mixing bowl, add dry ingredients and mix with a whisk until well combined. (Stir, lift full whisk up, evenly sprinkle flour mixture over top and repeat until all is mixed.)

In electric mixer bowl, peel and squish bananas into bowl with your hands breaking up. Add rest of ingredients and beat on medium speed until just mixed.

Slowly add dry ingredients, beating on medium-low until all is combined but still lumpy. Scrap sides and bottom of bowl, beat again until just combined.

Fold in rest of ingredients until evenly dispersed. Divide batter into your 2 prepared pans evenly. Bake in center of oven for 55 - 60 minutes until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Cool loaves in pans on cooling rack for 10 minutes. Loosen sides all the way around with a knife, turn out onto racks to cool completely.

When completely cool, wrap each loaf tightly with plastic wrap and store in fridge if desired.

Serve nice, thick slices with real cream butter.