My mom used to make banana bread all of the time, and I never understood it. I love bananas, but cannot stand the smell or taste of them when cooked. Then there is my dad who does not like bananas that much normally, but loves banana bread–go figure! Of course my dad likes it when I make it for him, so I willingly suffer through the smells so that he gets his bread. Unlike other treats I might make him, I am never tempted to taste test this. The first time I ever made it I made a double batch and made muffins with the second batch so that my husband could test them to make sure the recipe was okay. (Hence the loads of bananas in my picture).
You can use walnuts, or other nuts…or no nuts! It really doesn’t matter. My dad is a walnut man, so that is what he got! To toast the walnuts, I prefer using a small pan on medium low heat and I just dry roast them, stirring occasionally for a few minutes until they get lightly browned and smell really good. You can buy them pre-chopped if you like. This most recent time I tried to save a few cents by buying in the bulk aisle, but to be honest…I think it cost about the same! Oh well. Maybe these were really awesome walnuts.
fudgingahead 