BB

Banana Bread.

One of the most delicious quick breads, ever. I mean... Zucchini bread? P'shaw! Yeah, I adore the moistness of zucch bread, but banana bread can be made year-round and after making these babies, it currently has the title page in my book, the baking one at least.

Get this:
Banana Bread doesn't require rising, and it doesn't employ the electric or stand mixer.
BB also has this way of being a superb vehicle for various spreads. Case in point: me and the mister have enjoyed BB with each of these, with satisfaction creeping across our lips each and every time: good old fashioned butter, freshly ground peanut butter (also, I swoon with cranberries on top of PB on top of BB), honey, cream cheese (esp. the whipped variety), and... fig butter,* which is my latest sweet obsession.

But back to the bread.
Everything about this bread is tremendous.

BB crumbs cascading

But I must confide... This particular recipe was adapted from Smitten Kitchen. SK really knows how to crank up the flavor multiple notches here. Brown Sugar? Why, yes. Cinnamon? Oh yeah. Nutmeg? But of course. Cardamom and roasted walnuts? Come on, now (**oh, sorry, those are a few of my additions). Bourbon? Excuse me?

Well, yes---this recipe calls for bourbon. Now, please, don't get your brow in a furrow over adding alcohol to a quick bread. The addition, I have found, gives this bread a little edge and a luscious crumb, so do the recipe justice and don't skimp!

I am not normally one to borrow recipes to blog about them, but this baby deserves a cross-blogination. Which causes me to wonder---have you checked out Smitten Kitchen yet? If not, I suggest you tip-toe right on over there and try out any one of her recipes. She has mouth-watering photos, fantastic food tips, a killer writing-style, and an indexed recipe list which could make one drool... Or, just get a person off their tush and into the kitch. Whichever inclination you are drawn to, you've got to believe me---it's worth it to check SK out.

jacked-up banana bread courtesy of Smitten Kitchen

With a sweet smile,
{kr ryan}

*fig butter is really more like a jam to me. ...If you know of the "Good to the Grain" cookbook you may have tasted this powerful spread already. {Oh, sweet yummy angels, thank you for sharing this one with me.}

**If you're up for adding walnuts, I toasted 3/4 of a cup and roughly chopped them before adding to the batter (mostly in the middle and on the top of the bread)... The cardamom is a favorite flavor of mine, so I decided to replace the ground cloves in SK's recipe with about a 1/4 tsp to kick it up another notch. Let me know if you try it this way and how you like it.