Mad About Food: This banana bread recipe with caramel sauce is a tasty breakfast or snack

Spring has sprung but the weather has not caught up yet, so it’s still nice baking weather. If you have a few ripe bananas you can make smoothies or you can bake some warm, buttery banana bread. I opted for making banana bread.

I absolutely love warm banana bread with butter, but I recently added some of my homemade caramel sauce and my supporters love it. Banana bread can be made with the walnuts inside, but I prefer to top it with walnuts. To keep it allergy friendly, simply leave out the walnuts.

There is no amazing story behind my love of banana bread, I just do. It’s a nice comfort food that goes well with your morning cup of coffee or tea. It also can be a great afternoon pick me up with a glass of milk. Either way you slice it you’ll have a wonderful treat that lasts up to a week if it is stored properly in an air tight container. It also can be refrigerated for longer shelf life.

Your banana bread should be moist and flavorful. The aroma alone with get your stomach growling. This recipe like most of my recipes, is versatile and easy to make. I try to keep it as simple as possible so everyone feels comfortable trying their own versions. You can add chocolate chips, use a different kind of fruit and or nuts to create your signature bread. Just be mindful of the moisture content.

You can also try different toppings such as a brown butter icing or no toppings at all. No matter what you decide, make sure you have fun in the kitchen. Explore and experiment. Be courageous yet sensible. We want to enjoy our creations.

Now roll up your sleeves, wash your hands and get started creating your very own version of Banana Bread with Caramel Sauce and Walnuts.

Banana Bread with Caramel Sauce and Walnuts

For the banana bread:

3 ripe bananas

1 stick of butter at room temperature (I use salted)

1 cup of sugar

2 large eggs

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Butter a 9-inch loaf pan.

Using a large mixing bowl, cream sugar and butter until light and fluffy then mash in bananas. Add in the eggs one at a time making sure each is well incorporated before adding the next.

In a separate bowel, mix the dry ingredients.

Next mix together the dry ingredients with the creamed ingredients until well incorporated.

Pour batter into the buttered loaf pan and bake for one hour or until tooth pick inserted comes out clean.

Cool in the pan for 15 minute while you make the caramel sauce. Remove from pan and let cool on a plate or rack completely.

For the caramel sauce:

1 stick of salted butter

1 cup of sugar

2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream

1/2 can sweetened condensed milk

1/2 can evaporated milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

Pinch of salt

In a medium sauce pan on low heat melt butter and sugar together stirring constantly until well incorporated. Let it boil until you begin to see it begin to brown.

Stir until the color is even and ingredients are well incorporated.

When the desired brown color has been reached, slowly add a small amount of evaporated milk and stir until well incorporated. Then add remaining evaporated milk until well incorporated.

After it boils and thickens a little, add in the sweetened condensed milk using the same method.

Let the mixture boil another 10 minutes and then add the heavy whipping cream and remove from stove to cool. (You can adjust thickness of sauce by adding more or less milk/cream.)

After the banana bread has cooled, drizzle with caramel sauce and top with walnuts if desired.

Banana Bread with Caramel Sauce and Walnuts. (Geoff Stellfox/The Gazette)

Banana bread is topped with a caramel sauce and walnuts. (Geoff Stellfox/The Gazette)

Banana bread topped with a caramel sauce and walnuts. (Geoff Stellfox/The Gazette)