Amy's Yummy Banana Bread (Bread Machine)

I developed this recipe initially through trial and error, and have now got it pretty well 'right'. My husband and in-laws love this! A few notes: you will need to keep an eye on the dough during mixing to make sure it isn't too wet. If it looks too wet, try adding 1 tbs of flour at a time until it looks like a rather wet ball of dough (it should be slightly wetter than ordinary bread dough). I also made this to be slightly more 'healthy' than other banana breads - so feel free to add a bit more butter if you feel the need to be decadent! EDIT: After one review, I realised that I should have said this is not intended to be a very sweet recipe; the main flavour should be the flavour of the banana. If you want to make it sweeter, use 1/2 cup of sugar, rather than the 1/4 cup specified.

• Ready In: 2 hrs 45 mins
• Serves: 8-10

Ingredients

• 2  very ripe bananas, well mashed
• 1⁄4 cup sugar
• 1⁄3 cup butter
• 1  teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 1⁄2 cups  bread mix or 2 1⁄2 cups flour
• 1⁄2 cup water
• 1  teaspoon  yeast, heaped

• optional

• 1⁄2 cup pecans (optional)
• 1⁄2 cup sultana (optional)

Directions

1. Mash the bananas, and mix mashed bananas with butter, sugar and cinnamon.
2. Add all ingredients to bread machine pan in the order the manufacturer tells you to do so.
3. Turn bread machine on - use the 'sweet' cycle if yours has one. If not, you will need to watch out that the bread doesn't burn at the end.
4. Keep an eye on the dough as it's mixing - if it looks too sticky (it sometimes does), try adding a tablespoon of flour at a time til it looks right. Don't add more than this at a time, otherwise it may be too much!
5. If using, add the pecans and/or sultanas when the beeper sounds.
6. This recipe will never make a full size loaf for many bread machines, so don't worry if it doesn't look 'full'. If I want mine to rise a bit more I just turn the machine off just before it should bake for an extra 20 mins or so, then turn it back on and set it to 'bake only' for 40 minutes.
7. Check the bread after about 40 mins of baking - my bread maker has a tendency to burn this loaf if left in for longer than this.
8. Enjoy fresh and warm, cold, or toasted, with plenty of butter!