Ingredients

• • 4 overripe bananas
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup canola oil
  • 2 large eggs at room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

  Prepare a single 9-by-5-by-3 inch loaf pan by greasing it with butter, oil or shortening or spraying it with nonstick cooking spray.

  In a bowl, mash the bananas with a fork. Add the sugar and continue to mash. Add the oil and keep mashing until combined. Beat in the eggs and vanilla until combined.

  In a separate bowl, combine the flour, salt and baking soda. Add the dry ingredients to the banana mixture and stir until just combined. Gently fold in the walnuts.

  Pour the batter into the loaf pan and place the pan in the oven. Bake it for about one hour, or until a toothpick or other tester inserted into the center of the loaf comes away clean.

  Let the bread cool for 10 minutes, then remove the loaf from the pan. Serve warm or let it cool and serve it later. Store banana bread in the refrigerator.

Tips

• Use 1/2 cup of butter, or one stick, in place of the oil. You may also experiment with using other neutral-tasting oils, such as safflower or sunflower, as a substitute for the canola.

  Add chocolate chips, pecans or raisins in addition to or in place of the walnuts. Or omit the walnuts, if you like.

Warnings

• For full banana flavor, use bananas that are mostly brown with only a few spots of yellow left; less-than-overripe bananas will leave your banana bread tasting bland. You can even use bananas that have turned completely black, as long as they haven't started to mold.